For so many of us in the developed world, the seasons are defined by temperature.
The freshness of spring, the heat of summer, the chill of autumn and the cold of winter.
But for the billions of people on our planet that live in the tropics, the seasons are marked by the presence, and absence, of rain.
The annual coming of the rains after months of drought, with the renewal of life from the giving water… And then, after months of rain and cloud, the sun reborn into blue skies as the next dry season begins.
This is the domain of the tropical wet and dry climates.
This is the Tropical Monsoon, and the Tropical Savannah.
In the last episode we looked at the Tropical Rainforest climate zone, where rain occurs throughout the year.
But most of the lands in the tropics experience some kind of drought, or reduction in rainfall during the year.
The severity of this drought and the total amount of rain that falls in a year determines whether it comes under the classification of Monsoon or Savannah.
Monsoon areas are overall wetter or have a shorter dry season, Savannahs are drier overall or have a longer dry season.
