Fewer Seasons

Monsoons are winds that carry heavy rains. The rain fall in the tropics in the summer during the hot, rainy season. The Sun warms up the sea, which causes huge banks of cloud to form. Monsoons then blow these clouds towards land. Once the rains hits the continent, they can pour for weeks.

When the rains are especially heavy, they cause chaos. Streets turn to rivers and sometimes people's homes are even washed away.

Monsoon happen mainly in Asia. However, these are some parts of the Americas that are close to the Equator that also have season that is very rainy. Winds can carry such heavy clouds that there are flash floods in the deserts of the southern United States. The floods happen because the land has been baked hard during the dry season.

You don't believe it! In parts of monsoon India, over 26,000 millimeters of rain have fallen in a single year!

Seasons in the Philippines

Many parts of the tropics have two seasons, not four. Like our very own Philippines. They are the parts of the world closest to the Equator, an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth. Here it is always hot, as these places are constantly facing the Sun. However, the movement of the Earth affects the position of a great band of cloud. In June, the tropical areas north of the Equator have the strongest heat and the heaviest rain storms. In December, it is the turn of the areas south of the Equator.

The tropics lie either side of the Equator, between lines of latitude called the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

Daily rainfall feeds the lush rainforest vegetation.

In a tropical rainforest, you need your umbrella every day! Rainforest have rainy weather all year round—but there is still a wet and a dry season. It is just that the wet season is even wetter!