A study of the world rainfall map, shows that along the east coasts of Central and South America, Madagascar, Indochina, the Philippines, and northeastern Australia, in latitudes 10° to 25°, there are narrow belts of heavy rainfall. These are coasts exposed to moist maritime tropical air masses brought by the tropical easterlies, or trade winds, from the oceanic subtropical highs. These air masses are abundantly supplied with moisture, as is typical of maritime tropical air on the western sides of the high-pressure cells. When these air masses encounter the hill and mountain slopes of the coasts, a heavy orographic precipitation results. Easterly waves cause periods of rainy weather. In addition, the high sun solstice period sees the onset of tropical cyclones, to which these coasts are vulnerable.
Because of its coastal position with respect to the easterlies, this climate may be called a trade-wind littoral climate. Under the Koppen system it is included with the rain forest climate Af and Am. It is treated as a separate climate here because the precipitation characteristics differ from the wet equatorial climate, and the temperatures show a somewhat more pronounced annual range.
The total rainfall is great, almost 80 in (200 cm) annually, and rain is abundant in most months. A tendency toward dryness, typical of the tropical wet-dry climates (which generally elsewhere lie at this same latitude), is seen in the low rainfall of February, March, and April. The temperature cycle has a range of only 9°F (5°C) because of the moderating influence of the nearby ocean but this range is conspicuously greater than that of the wet equatorial climate.
The warm, wet climates of trade-wind coasts support tropical rain forest vegetation, somewhat similar to the equatorial rain forest.
Locals hypothesize that the legacy of Italian blood and culture in Cologne, colonized by the Romans more than 1500 years ago, makes the people more jovial and lighthearted. Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine.
Kolsch is not only the dialect spoken here but, also the name of their own top-fermented beer. There are more than 4,000 pubs, restaurant's and brewery taverns in Cologne.
Unlike many of the world's large cities, Cologne, with a population of over a million, gets better every day, there are more things to do and see, more new and innovative buildings... more
Travel is an opportunity to learn, whether geography, languages, history or other subjects.
Cologne is situated on the beautiful Rhine River.