Mary Allen
The tropics is a specific area on earth that is very hot all year round. This refers to the area north and south of the equator. This is an imaginary line around the earth. In the tropics lies part of South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
It is difficult to say exactly which areas comprise the tropics. The Greek word means: “The area between the two tropics”. In this area, the sun is vertically above the ground for at least one day a year, i.e. exactly “straight” above a person’s head. A pole would then cast no shadow.
There are other ways of describing the tropics as well. In the tropics, days are about the same length as nights throughout the year. Both are also similarly hot. Their lengths do not change as much as ours. In many regions of the tropics, there are also no major differences between the seasons. It’s summer there all year round, so to speak. There are other properties of the tropics. It is therefore not possible to say precisely whether an area still belongs to the tropics or not.
How is it in the tropics?
It is very hot in the tropics. However, the amount of rain is very different. Depending on the amount of rain, there are also different tropical areas: If it rains for a maximum of two months a year, it is a desert. Almost nothing grows there. If it rains between three and nine months of the year, it is a savanna. Grass, bushes, and maybe trees grow there. If it rains for ten months a year or even longer, a tropical rainforest grows.
When it rains for months, but not all year, it’s called a “rainy season.” India, for example, has a rainy season in summer. Although nature and agriculture depend on this rain, it can also cause major flooding and other damage.