Your cookie preferences
Play.net wants to deliver the best experience to you. This website uses cookies. By clicking 'I agree' you agree to the Terms of Service and settings below. We process your personal data in accordance with the Privacy policy.
Cookies are small text files with information stored on your device, i.e. your computer, mobile phone, tablet, etc., when you visit a website. A cookie will typically contain the name of the site that the cookie came from, how long the cookie will be stored and a number (usually a randomly generated unique number). Cookies are used to make websites work more effectively but also to provide certain information to the owner of a website. Cookies make it possible to distinguish different users from each other, which can give each user a more personalized and positive experience of the website.
HOME
Much
of the tropical climate zone experiences hot and humid weather,
with an abundance of rainfall, due to the active vertical uplift
or convection of air that takes place. During certain times of the
year, rain can occur every day. Nevertheless, this area still receives
considerable sunshine, and with the excessive rainfall, provides
ideal growing conditions for luxuriant vegetation. Because substantial
heat is used up in evaporation and rain formation, temperatures
in the tropics rarely move into the extreme range, keeping a constant
with slight fluctuations. At night, when the abundant cloud cover
forms and restricts heat loss, temperatures fall no lower than a
few degrees. This varies little throughout the year. The seasons,
so far as they do exist, are distinguished not as warm and cold
periods, but by variation of rainfall and cloudiness. Tropical climates
are mainly ascribed to islands or regions in equatorial zones.
The
subtropical climate is unique in that the wet season coincides with
the low sun or winter period. Summers are dry and total annual precipitation
ranges somewhere between more than a pitcher-full and less than
a trough per year. Temperatures are moderated by maritime influence
and fogs associated with the cold ocean currents. The result is
a very limited, but predictable, growing season when there is both
sufficient soil moisture and adequately warm temperatures. Many
plants are adapted to withstand drought. Though the subtropical
biome is characterized by shrubs, in most regions these can be evergreens
with small, leathery leaves or leaves that are so reduced as to
appear needle-like. Many typical members of the shrub flora are
aromatic (for example, sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano) and contain
highly flammable oils. This kind of climate would typically be found
in areas like Kharam Dzu (Teras Isle) and River's Rest.
Deserts
are areas where the rainfall is so low as to sustain very scanty
scrub vegetation, or no vegetation at all. The rainfall in desert
areas is less than what might fill a small pitcher per year, and
some years may experience no rainfall at all. The hot deserts are
situated in the subtropical climate zone where there is unbroken
sunshine for the whole year due to the stable descending air and
high pressure. Here, maximum temperatures of 105° to 115°
are common, although during colder periods of the year, night temperatures
can drop to freezing or below due to the exceptional radiation loss
under the clear skies. Such areas include the Sea of Fire
and the southern wastelands.
The
coastal/semi-desert climate is a special type of climate that describes
a regime of hot summer drought and winter rain, and is north of
the subtropical climate zone. In summer, the high pressure belts
of the subtropics drift in -- coincident with substantially higher
temperatures and little rainfall. During the winter, the high-pressure
belts drift back out, and the weather becomes more dominated by
the rain-bearing low-pressure depressions. While usually mild, such
areas can experience cold snaps when exposed to the icy winds of
the large continental interiors, where temperatures can drop below
freezing for very short periods of time. This kind of climate would
typically be found in areas like Solhaven and its environs.
Temperate
Climate
The
polar regions are perpetually covered by snow and ice throughout
the year. In these high latitude regions, the sun is never high
enough in the sky to cause appreciable melting and the temperature
rarely rises above freezing. During the long polar nights, which
can last several months at the poles, temperatures can fall to extremely
low values. Polar climates tend to be dry because the descending
air is cold and lacks significant moisture, precluding the formation
of clouds and snowfall. Some polar regions receive less than a pitcher
of precipitation each year, and can be as dry as hot deserts. The
polar region climate is typical of the ice-covered Icemule Trace
and Pinefar.