Question

Looking for help with the following question:

When it rains in a region that experiences an arid climate, does it mean the region’s climate has changed from dry to wet? Explain.

Answer 1

We are here talking about two completely different phenomenons. Precipitation(in simple words rain) is an weather phenomenon. As weather is a temporary condition of the environment at a certain region, precipitation is also a temporary thing. Weather does not give an idea about the long term environmental conditions.

On the other hand climate is a long term phenomenon and is dependent on the small increments of weather conditions summed over oa long duration of time. When we discuss about the climate of a region that gives an idea about the overall average conditions. If scientists have demarcated an area as arid, that does not mean that are does not see any kind of precipitation,rather it says that the amount of precipitation at the area is low and infrequent.

When the air is completely saturated with water vapour and the air mass can’t hold any more vapour, then only the air mass condenses and precipitation takes place. In the arid regions the temperature is generally very intense(low or high). So, the air out there remains unsaturated with respect to the water vapour present within them.

When there is enough water vapour present in the air at the arid region that the air gets saturated, then only precipitation takes place. This does not imply that the overall climate has changed from dry to wet, but merely indicates that the weather conditions at the region has changed for short time.