|
( Tropics)
The Tropics, seated in the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23.4°) N latitude, and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' (23.4°) S latitude. The Tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone). The Tropics includes all the areas on the Earth where the sun reaches a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year. In the temperate zones, north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn, the sun never reaches this zenith and is never directly overhead, always passing south of it in the northern hemisphere and north of it in the southern hemisphere. The word "tropics" comes from Greek tropos meaning "turn" or "direction", because the apparent position of the Sun oscillates between the two tropics with a period that defines the average length of a year. The seasons in the tropics are dominated by the movement of the tropical rain belt (or ITCZ), which then forms from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year in the winter, thus causing the dry season and the wet season in turn.
|
Tropics Subcategories
Tropics Articles
|
| 
