Precipitation. What part of the world receives the most precipitation? Where does the most precipitation fall from?

Throughout the history of mankind, a lot of evidence, stories and legends about major floods have accumulated. The reason for this is simple: there have always been floods. Primitive people deliberately settled in the valleys located on the path of floods - because the lands here were fertile. What is a flood? This is a state where water overflows its banks and spreads everywhere.

What causes floods? - accumulation of a large amount of water in the river as a result of heavy rains. Water may come from other sources or reservoirs from where it flows into a river. A river usually surrounds a wide area, or "basin," and a strong flow of water from anywhere in that basin causes the water level in the river to rise and flood the banks. Some floods are very helpful. The Nile, for example, every year from time immemorial, along with flooded water, brings fertile silt from the highlands.

On the other hand, the Yellow River in China periodically causes loss of life and destruction. For example, in 1935, due to the flood of this river, 4 million people were left without a roof over their heads! Can floods be prevented? This is probably impossible, because heavy rains come regardless of the will of man. But great efforts are being made to curb the floods, and someday, perhaps, this will be done.

There are three ways to curb floods. One of them is to build dams and make embankments to protect agricultural land in places where water reaches. The second way is to arrange emergency channels, or weirs, to drain excess water. The third way is to contain large reservoirs for the accumulation of water and its gradual discharge into large streams.

Many factors determine how much rain or snow will fall on earth's surface. These are temperature, altitude, location of mountain ranges, etc.

Probably one of the rainiest places in the world is Mount Waialeale in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. The average annual rainfall is 1,197 cm.

The town of Cherrapunji, which is located in the foothills of the Himalayas, perhaps ranks first in terms of rainfall - 1,200 cm. Once, 381 cm of rain fell here in 5 days. And in 1861, the rainfall reached 2,300 cm!

The driest place in the world is in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Here the drought has been going on for more than four centuries. The driest place in the US is Greenland Ranch in Death Valley. There, the average annual rainfall is less than 3.75 cm.

In some regions of the Earth, heavy showers occur all year round. For example, almost every point along the equator receives 152 cm or more of precipitation each year (from the Children's Encyclopedia; 143 ff.).

Task for the text

1. Determine the style and type of speech.

2. Make a plan for the text.

indicative plan

1. Factors that affect the amount of precipitation.

2. The most rainy places.

3. The driest place.

4. Precipitation at the equator.

Write down and explain the spelling of words. Waialeale, Kauai, Cherrapunji, foothills, Atacama, the most insidious, Greenland, the equator.

4. Question to the text.

What factors affect the amount of precipitation?

What is the place in the world where the most rain falls in a year?

What is the driest city in the world?

Where it is located?

Describe the amount of precipitation at the equator.

5. According to the plan Outline the text.

Where does the most precipitation fall? and got the best answer

Answer from I "ll be better [guru]
In the very center of the island of Kauai in the group of Hawaiian Islands is located, the top of which is one of the rainiest places on the planet. It rains almost all the time there, and 11.97 meters of precipitation falls annually. This means that if the moisture did not flow down, then in a year the mountain would be covered with a layer of water as high as a four-story house. At the very top, almost nothing grows - of all the plants, only algae are adapted to live in such a sputum, everything else simply rots there. But around the top - a riot of greenery.

The closest rival of Vaialeale in terms of heavenly sloping is near the Himalayas, in India. But if in Waialeala It is raining all year round, then on Cherrapunji all this abyss of precipitation falls in some impossible downpour in three summer months. The rest of the time there ... drought. In addition, no one lives on Waialeala, while Cherrapunji is the rainiest of the inhabited places.

Warm and humid monsoonal currents near Cherrapunji make a sharp rise between the Khasi and Arakan mountains, so the amount of precipitation here increases sharply.


The population of Cherrapunji still remembers 1994, when a record amount of precipitation fell on the tiled roofs of their houses - 24,555 mm. Needless to say, there was nothing like it in the whole world.
However, do not think that heavy clouds hang over this city all year round. When nature softens a little and a bright sun rises over the surroundings, a beam of amazingly beautiful rainbow hangs over Cherrapunji and the surrounding valley.
Quibdo (Colombia) can compete with precipitation in Cherrapunji: for 7 years, from 1931 to 1937, an average of 9,564 mm of precipitation fell here per year, and in 1936, 19,639 mm of precipitation was noted. A high precipitation rate is also characteristic of Debunje (Cameroon), where for 34 years, from 1896 to 1930, an average of 9,498 mm fell, and the maximum amount of precipitation (14,545 mm) was observed in 1919. In Buenaventura and Angota (Colombia), the annual rainfall is close to 7,000 mm; in a number of places on the Hawaiian Islands, it is in the range of 6,000 ... 9,000 mm.
In Europe, Bergen (Norway) is considered a rather rainy place. However, even more precipitation falls in the Norwegian town of Samnanger: over the past 50 years annual amount precipitation here often exceeded 5,000 mm.
In our country the largest number precipitation falls in Gruzin, in the region of Chakva (Adzharia) and in Svaneti. In Chakva, the average annual rainfall is 2,420 mm (extremes 1,800...3,600 mm).
Source:

Answer from Dudu1953[guru]
In the village of Gadyukino.

Answer from Shvidkoy Yuri[guru]
Cherrapunji (India) - the wettest place on Earth
In terms of precipitation per year, the wettest place in the world is Tutunendo in Colombia - 11770 mm per year, which is almost 12 meters. On the 5th floor of the Khrushchev five-story building will be knee-deep.

Answer from Valens[guru]
Probably the rainiest place in the world is Mount Waialeale in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. The average annual rainfall here is 1197 cm.
Cherrapunji in India arguably has the second highest rainfall with annual averages ranging from 1079 to 1143 cm. Once, 381 cm of rain fell in Cherrapunji in 5 days. And in 1861, the amount of precipitation reached 2300 cm!
To make it more clear, let's compare the rainfall in some cities around the world. London receives 61 cm of precipitation per year, Edinburgh about 68 cm and Cardiff about 76 cm. New York receives about 101 cm of precipitation. Ottawa in Canada gets 86 cm, Madrid about 43 cm and Paris 55 cm. So you see what a contrast Cherrapunji is.
In some vast regions of the Earth, heavy rainfall occurs all year round. For example, almost every point along the equator receives 152 cm or more of precipitation each year. The equator is the junction of two large air currents. Throughout the equator, air moving down from the north meets air moving up from the south.

Answer from Vadim Bulatov[guru]
Many factors determine how much rain or snow falls on the earth's surface. These are temperature, altitude, location of mountain ranges, etc.
Probably the rainiest place in the world is Mount Waialeale in Hawaii, on the island of Kauai. The average annual rainfall here is 1197 cm. Cherrapunji in India arguably ranks second in terms of rainfall with an average annual level of 1079 to 1143 cm. Once, 381 cm of rain fell in Cherrapunji in 5 days. And in 1861, the amount of precipitation reached 2300 cm!
To make it clearer, let's compare rainfall in some cities around the world, London gets 61 cm of rain per year, Edinburgh about 68 cm and Cardiff about 76 cm. New York gets about 101 cm of rain. Ottawa in Canada gets 86 cm, Madrid about 43 cm and Paris 55 cm. So you see what a contrast Cherrapunji is.
The driest place in the world is probably Arica in Chile. Here the rainfall is 0.05 cm per year.
In some vast regions of the Earth, heavy rainfall occurs all year round. For example, almost every point along the equator receives 152 cm or more of precipitation each year. The equator is the junction of two large streams of air. Throughout the equator, air moving down from the north meets air moving up from the south.

Precipitation- water in a liquid or solid state, falling out of clouds or deposited from the air on the earth's surface.

Rain

Under certain conditions, cloud drops begin to merge into larger and heavier ones. They can no longer be retained in the atmosphere and fall to the ground in the form rain.

hail

It happens that in summer the air rises quickly, picks up rain clouds and carries them to a height where the temperature is below 0 °. Raindrops freeze and fall out as hail(Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Origin of hail

Snow

IN winter time in temperate and high latitudes, precipitation falls in the form of snow. Clouds at this time do not consist of water droplets, but of the smallest crystals - needles, which, when combined together, form snowflakes.

dew and frost

Precipitation that falls on the earth's surface not only from clouds, but also directly from the air, is dew And frost.

The amount of precipitation is measured by a rain gauge or rain gauge (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. The structure of the rain gauge: 1 - outer case; 2 - funnel; 3 - a container for collecting oxen; 4 - measuring tank

Classification and types of precipitation

Precipitation is distinguished by the nature of precipitation, by origin, by physical condition, fall seasons, etc. (Fig. 3).

According to the nature of the precipitation, there are torrential, continuous and drizzling. Rainfall - intense, short, capture a small area. Overhead precipitation - medium intensity, uniform, long (can last for days, capturing large territories). Drizzling precipitation - fine-drop precipitation falling over a small area.

By origin, precipitation is distinguished:

• convective - characteristic of the hot zone, where heating and evaporation are intense, but often occur in the temperate zone;
• frontal - formed when two air masses with different temperatures meet and fall out of warmer air. Characteristic for temperate and cold zones;
• orographic - fall on the windward slopes of mountains. They are very plentiful if the air comes from the side warm sea and has high absolute and relative humidity.

Rice. 3. Types of precipitation

Comparing to climate map the annual amount of precipitation in the Amazonian lowland and in the Sahara desert, one can be convinced of their uneven distribution (Fig. 4). What explains this?

Precipitation is brought by moist air masses that form over the ocean. This is clearly seen in the example of territories with a monsoon climate. The summer monsoon brings a lot of moisture from the ocean. And over land there are continuous rains, as on the Pacific coast of Eurasia.

Constant winds also play a large role in the distribution of precipitation. Thus, the trade winds blowing from the continent bring dry air to northern Africa, where the largest desert in the world, the Sahara, is located. Western winds bring rain from the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

Rice. 4. Average annual distribution of precipitation on the Earth's land

As you already know, sea currents affect precipitation in the coastal parts of the continents: warm currents contribute to their appearance (Mozambique current off the eastern coast of Africa, Gulf Stream off the coast of Europe), cold ones, on the contrary, prevent precipitation (Peruvian current off the western coast of South America) .

The relief also affects the distribution of precipitation, for example, the Himalayan mountains do not allow moist winds blowing north from indian ocean. Therefore, up to 20,000 mm of precipitation sometimes falls a year on their southern slopes. Humid air masses, rising along the slopes of the mountains (ascending air currents), cool, saturate, and precipitation falls from them. The territory north of the Himalayan mountains resembles a desert: only 200 mm of precipitation falls there per year.

There is a relationship between belts and rainfall. At the equator - in the belt low pressure— constantly heated air; as it rises, it cools and becomes saturated. Therefore, in the region of the equator, a lot of clouds form and there are heavy rains. There is also a lot of precipitation in other areas the globe where low pressure prevails. Wherein great importance air temperature has: the lower it is, the less precipitation falls.

In belts high pressure descending air currents predominate. The air, descending, heats up and loses the properties of the state of saturation. Therefore, at latitudes of 25-30 °, precipitation is rare and in small quantities. High-pressure areas near the poles also receive little precipitation.

Absolute maximum precipitation registered on about. Hawaii ( Pacific Ocean) - 11,684 mm/year and in Cherrapunji (India) - 11,600 mm/year. Absolute minimum - in the Atacama Desert and the Libyan Desert - less than 50 mm / year; sometimes precipitation does not fall at all for years.

The moisture content of an area is moisture factor- the ratio of annual precipitation and evaporation for the same period. The moisture coefficient is denoted by the letter K, the annual rainfall is denoted by the letter O, and the evaporation rate is denoted by I; then K = O: I.

The lower the humidity coefficient, the drier the climate. If the annual precipitation is approximately equal to evaporation, then the moisture coefficient is close to unity. In this case, moisture is considered sufficient. If the moisture index is greater than one, then the moisture excess, less than one - insufficient. If the moisture coefficient is less than 0.3, moisture is considered meager. Zones with sufficient moisture include forest-steppes and steppes, while zones with insufficient moisture include deserts.