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A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area (away from the wind). The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a "shadow" of dryness behind them. Wind and moist air are drawn by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains, condensing and precipitating before it crosses the top.
The other major effect of altitude is due to lower ambient temperature. The oxygen saturation of hemoglobin determines the content of oxygen in blood. After the human body reaches around 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) above sea level, the saturation of oxyhemoglobin begins to decrease rapidly. [ 2 ]
Climate change in South Africa is leading to increased temperatures and rainfall variability. Evidence shows that extreme weather events are becoming more prominent due to climate change. [ 11 ] This is a critical concern for South Africans as climate change will affect the overall status and wellbeing of the country, for example with regards ...
This effect predicts that zonation of rain forests on lower mountains may mirror the zonation expected on high mountains, but the belts occur at lower elevations. [3] A similar effect is exhibited in the Santa Catalina Mountains of Arizona, where the basal elevation and the total elevation influence the elevation of vertical zones of vegetation ...
The climate of a location is affected by its latitude, longitude, terrain, altitude, land use and nearby water bodies and their currents. [ 3 ] Climates can be classified according to the average and typical variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation .
The consistency of rainfall seems to correlate more with species richness than total annual rainfall. Species diversity appears to level off when annual rainfall reaches about 4,000mm, however, this could be due to sampling limitations. Rainfall and soil richness affect productivity trends which are also believed to affect diversity. [15]
The lowest altitude of alpine climate varies dramatically by latitude. If alpine climate is defined by the tree line, then it occurs as low as 650 metres (2,130 ft) at 68°N in Sweden, [14] while on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the tree line is at 3,950 metres (12,960 ft). [14]
Another effect is that sunlight has to go through more atmosphere to reach the ground. [1] The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F). Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area.