Geography. What is Australia's position relative to the equator

Even ancient geographers have confirmed in the opinion that in the southern hemisphere there is a significant land area. At a time when the world was far from the world travel and great discoveries, the hypothetical continent was called the Unknown Earth, the Unknown South Earth or simply the Southern Earth, that is, in Latin it sounded like Australis. It is this name that formed the basis of the modern name of Australia.

Geography of Australia

Australia's position relative to the equator makes its climate mild, warm and moderately moist. In such climatic conditions, as well as in the situation of prolonged isolation from other continents, a completely unique nature could not fail to form, which causes sincere admiration of everyone who had the good fortune to encounter it.

One can understand the position of Australia relative to the equator by looking at the map. The whole continent is occupied by the same state, Australia, which is a member of the British Commonwealth, which means that the formal head of the country is the Queen of Great Britain.

Climate of Australia

Parts that are closest to the equator, namely for the northern and north-eastern, lying in the subequatorial climate zone, are characterized by a slight temperature change from season to season. At the same time, seasonality is expressed in the amount of precipitation, which sometimes reaches 2000 millimeters.

The wettest season is summer, when monsoons bring large volumes of moist air masses from the northwest. In winter, on the contrary, rains fall extremely rarely and not in all areas, but dry and hot winds are constantly blowing, originating in the depths of the continent. Such winds can cause even droughts, which destroy a significant part of the crops.

Tropical Belt

Given the position of Australia relative to the equator, it can be concluded that two types of climate are most common in the country - tropical wet and tropical dry. This is due to the position of the continent in the latitudes most prone to solar radiation.

It is solar radiation, together with the features of the relief, which prevent the penetration of moist air deep into the continent, making the continent the driest of those existing on Earth.

Affects the climate is also a feature of the coastline of the continent, which is poorly rugged and therefore practically does not allow oceanic air to penetrate deep into the continent. The way Australia is located relative to the equator affects the moisture regime of the continent and the change of seasons. Seasonality, however, in Australia is not pronounced and the change of seasons is almost imperceptible in some regions.

But, in addition, what is the position of Australia relative to the equator, the features of the landscape are also important. One of these important features is the presence of a mountain system stretching parallel to the east and south-east coasts of almost four thousand kilometers.

It is this barrier that prevents the Pacific monsoon air masses from penetrating deep into the continent and condemning it to gradual desertification. The wide spread of deserts is another important feature of Australian nature, affecting the climate. After all, deserts tend to spread and overheat, which means that over time, all of Australia's larger areas will become less suitable for permanent residence, and this is the next consequence of what is Australia's position relative to the equator.