climate

Although 90% of the country is within the [|tropical zone], the climate of Brazil varies considerably from the mostly tropical North (the [|equator] traverses the mouth of the Amazon) to [|temperate zones] below the [|Tropic of Capricorn] (23°27' S latitude), which crosses the country at the latitude of the city of [|São Paulo]. Brazil has five climatic regions: [|equatorial], [|tropical], [|semiarid], [|highland tropical], and [|subtropical]. Temperatures along the equator are high, averaging above 25°C, but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 40°C in the temperate zones. There is little seasonal variation near the equator, although at times it can get cool enough for wearing a jacket, especially in the rain. At the country's other extreme, there are frosts south of the Tropic of Capricorn during the winter (June-August), and in some years there is snow in the mountainous areas, such as [|Rio Grande do Sul] and [|Santa Catarina]. Temperatures in the cities of São Paulo, [|Belo Horizonte], and [|Brasília] are moderate (usually between 15°C and 30°C), despite their relatively low latitude, because of their elevation of approximately 1,000 meters. [|Rio de Janeiro], [|Recife], and [|Salvador] on the coast have warm climates, with average temperatures ranging from 23°C to 27°C, but enjoy constant trade winds. The southern cities of [|Porto Alegre] and [|Curitiba] have a subtropical climate similar to that in parts of the United States and Europe, and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter. Precipitation levels vary widely. Most of Brazil has moderate [|rainfall] of between 1,000 and 1,500 millimeters a year, with most of the rain falling in the summer (between December and April) south of the Equator. The [|Amazon region] is notoriously humid, with rainfall generally more than 2,000 millimeters per year and reaching as high as 3,000 millimeters in parts of the western Amazon and near Belém. It is less widely known that, despite high annual precipitation, the Amazon rain forest has a three- to five-month dry season, the timing of which varies according to location north or south of the equator.[|[51]] Brazil's immense area is subdivided into different [|ecosystems], which together sustain some of the world's greatest [|biodiversity]. Due to the relatively explosive economic and demographic rise of the country in the last century, Brazil's ability to protect its [|environmental habitats] has increasingly come under threat. Extensive [|logging] in the nation's forests, particularly the Amazon, both official and unofficial, destroys areas the size of a small country each year, and potentially a diverse variety of interesting plants and animals.[|[55]] With abundant [|fauna] and [|flora], Brazil is home to many thousands of species, most of them still undiscovered. By 2020, it is estimated that at least 50% of the species resident in Brazil will become extinct.[|[56]] As several of these specimens possess special characteristics, or are built in an interesting way, some of their capabilities may be copied for use in technology (see [|bionics]). The revenues derived from such plans may still hold the key to preserve the country's animal and plant species. There is general consensus, that Brazil has the highest number of both terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates of any country in the world. This high diversity of fauna can be explained by the sheer size of Brazil and also the great variation in ecosystems. The numbers published about Brazil's fauna diversity can vary from source to source, as taxonomists sometimes disagree about species classifications and information can be incomplete or out of date. Also new species continue to be discovered and, sadly, some species go extinct in the wild. Brazil has the highest primate diversity of any country in the world with 77 species and fresh water fish (over 3000 species), it claims the second-highest number of amphibian species, the third highest number of bird species and is ranked fifth in reptile species. Many of the species that are at risk live in threatened habitats such as the [|Atlantic Forest]. See also [|Protected areas] · [|Mammals] · [|Birds] · [|Reptiles] · [|Amazon Rainforest vegetation] · [|Atlantic Forest vegetation] · [|Caatinga vegetation] · [|Cerrado vegetation] · [|Pantanal vegetation] · [|Endangered flora]
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