Hot, Wet Equatorial Climate: Economic Opportunities and Environmental Challenges

The hot, wet equatorial climate, situated within 5° and 10° N and S of the equator, boasts uniformly high temperatures, heavy precipitation, and dense tropical rainforests. Its lush vegetation supports a diverse ecosystem and sustains economic activities such as shifting cultivation and the thriving cocoa, rubber, and oil palm industries.

Equatorial Climate: Characteristics and Economic Activities

• Distribution: Located up to 5° and 10° N and S of the equator (in the lowlands of the Amazon, the Congo, Malaysia and the East Indies). 
  • Away from the equator, the influence of the onshore trade winds gives rise to a modified type of equatorial climate with monsoonal influence.
• Climate 
  • Temperature: Uniformly high throughout the year with average monthly temperatures above 180C, mean annual temperature around 200C.
  • Cloudiness and heavy precipitation help to moderate the daily temperature. 
• Precipitation: Heavy and well distributed throughout the year, with average above 200-250cm; 
  • Mostly convectional rain and orographic rainfall in mountains. 
  • No distinct dry season; very high Realtive Humidity (>80%); 
  • Double rainfall peaks coincide with the equinoxes in April & October
• Vegetation: Tropical Evergreen Rainforest (“Lungs of the Planet”) with dense canopy cover (Selvas in Amazon). 
  • Example: Mahogany, ebony; Creepers – epiphytes & woody climbers like ‘Lianas’; Lalang (tall grass).
  • Distinct layer arrangement in forests. 
  • High Diversity: Trees are not found in pure stands of a single species. 

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Economic activity 

• Traditional Livelihoods:
  • Sparsely populated area with primitive people practising hunting and gathering;
  • Tribes: Pygmies (Congo Basin), Orang Asli (Malaysia)
  • Amazon Basin: Indigenous tribes collect wild rubber.
  • Congo Basin: Pygmies gather nuts.
  • Malaysian Jungles: Orang Asli craft cane products for sale.
  • Livestock Farming: In Africa is handicapped by Tsetse Flies that cause Ngana, a deadly disease.
• Shifting Cultivation
  • Common in dense forest areas, such as the North-East of India.
  • Tribes clear, burn, and cultivate plots until fertility is depleted.
  • Crops like manioc, maize, bananas, and groundnuts are grown.
  • Different Names: Ladang (Malaysia), Taungya (Burma), Tamari (Thailand), Caingin  (Philippines); Humah (Java); Chena (Sri Lanka); Milpa (Africa and Central America); Jhum (North-east India). 
  • A less luxuriant secondary forest called Belukar is also found.
• Plantation Expansion
  • Large plantations established by Europeans in Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, West Africa, and Central America.
  • Favorable climate for crops like natural rubber (Malaysia, Indonesia), cocoa (Ghana, Nigeria), and oil palm (Indonesia).
  • Cocoa industry (Ghana, Nigeria) and Natural Rubber and Oil Palm  (Malaysia and Indonesia)  are thriving here.
  • Destruction of equatorial forests due to plantation expansion.
  • Example: Coconuts, Sugar, Coffee, Tea, Tobacco, Spices, and Sago are cultivated.
  • Tropical hardwoods make lumbering difficult.  
• Mineral Resources:
  • Gold, copper, diamonds, and other precious metals found in rainforests globally.
    • Example: Congo (Cobalt reserves); Gold mining in the Amazonian forests of Brazil and Peru,  oil and gas development in Ecuador, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.
  • Destructive extraction activities, such as gold mining in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon, and rare earth mining in the Congo, pose significant threats to rainforest ecosystems.

Conclusion

The hot, wet equatorial climate fosters unique ecosystems and livelihoods, from the dense rainforests of the Amazon and Congo to the vibrant agricultural and extractive industries of Malaysia and Indonesia. Despite challenges like disease and difficult terrain, this region remains vital to global biodiversity and economic productivity.

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