The tropics are the geographic region of the Earth centered on the equator and limited in latitude by the two tropics: the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere. The tropics are also called the tropical zone and the torrid zone. A season is one of the major divisions of the year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in weather. ... In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... Summer is a season, defined by convention in meteorology as the whole months of June, July, and August, in the Northern hemisphere, and the whole months of December, January, and February, in the Southern hemisphere. ... OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx Autumn (also fall in North American English) is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition from summer into winter. ... Winter is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. ... The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. ... The wet season and the rainy season are terms used to describe seasons in which the average rainfall in a region is significantly increased. ... Earth is the third planet from the Sun. ... The equator is an imaginary circle drawn around a planet (or other astronomical object) at a distance halfway between the poles. ... Latitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter φ, gives the location of a place on Earth north or south of the Equator. ... The Tropic of Cancer (cancer (♋) is Latin for crab), one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth, is the parallel of latitude that lies 23° 26 22 north of the Equator. ... The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. ...

This area lies approximately between 23°30'/23.5° N latitude and 23°30'/23.5° S latitude, and includes all the parts of 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 an altitude of 90° or directly overhead.) The word "tropics" comes from Greek tropos meaning "turn", because the apparent position of the Sun oscillates between the two tropics with a period that defines the average length of a year. In geography, temperate latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. ... ... A year is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the orbit of the Earth around the Sun. ...

Tropical plants and animals are those species native to the tropics. Tropical is also sometimes used in a general sense of a place that is warm and moist year-round, often with the sense of lush vegetation. However, there are places in the tropics that are anything but "tropical" in this sense, with even alpine tundra and snow-capped peaks, including Mauna Kea, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the Andes as far south as the northernmost parts of Chile and Argentina. In physical geography, tundra is an area where tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. ... Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, one of five volcanic peaks that together form the Island of Hawaii. ... Kilimanjaro includes the highest peak in Africa. ... The Andes between Chile and Argentina Computer generated image of the Andes, made from a digital elevation model with a resolution of 30 arcseconds The Andes is a vast mountain range forming a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. ...

In Köppen's scheme of climate classification, a tropical climate is defined as a non-arid climate in which all twelve months have mean temperatures above 18 °C (64.4 °F). See how directness of sunlight causes warmer weather. Wladimir Peter Köppen (September 25, 1846 in Saint Petersburg, Russia — June 22, 1940 in Graz, Austria) was a German meteorologist, climatologist and botanist. ... The Köppen World Climate Map The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. ... Figure 1 This is a diagram of the seasons. ...

See also

• Subtropical
• Tropical year
• How directness of sunlight causes warmer weather