Question

in what ways does temperature affect the definiton of a climate as humid or arid. Why?

Answer 1

Temperature is one of the main factors which defines a climate. There are many ways that a climate can affect the definition of a humid or arid region. Those are-

> In the arid region the denial fluctuation of temperature is very high. In the day time temperature can reach near to 50-degree Celcius on the other hand in the night it can go down near 10-degree Celcius. But in a humid climate, the denial temperature does not show much fluctuation. It remains near 30degree Celcius.

> Tempararute also affects the vegetation cover. In the arid region, we see a fluctuation of temperature marked very high maximum temperature which results in cactus type vegetation with shrubs and very small trees which are sparsely distributed. On the other hand in the humid area, the temperature does not much go high as the arid region. This create an ideal situation for the tropical and subtropical vegetation. The dense forests are very common in the humid climatic zone.

> In an arid region as the temperature goes near 50degree Celcius the groundwater level remains very low. If there is any type of precipitation it evaporates very soon. That's why the year-long droughts are very common in the arid region. On the other hand in humid weather, the water table in the soil profile remains high cause rainfall is common in the humid region. But as the water table remains near to the earth surface some times a huge amount of rainfall causes flood like phenomenon in a humid region.

> Temperature also controls the rainfall. In the arid region, the groundwater level remains very low because the rate of evaporation is very high due to the high temperature. As there is a scarcity of groundwater the vegetation in the arid region tends to store water in their bodies. That's why the emission of water vapor in the atmosphere is very less. This make rainfall and other precipitation a rare phenomenon in the arid region. On the other hand in a humid region, as the temperature is not as high as the arid region the groundwater level remains high. That's why in humid region the rate of water vapor emission in the atmosphere is very high by the vegetation which results in high rainfall.