Geography Paper 3 WASSCE (SC), 2018

Question 4

  1. Differentiate between the Equatorial and Tropical Continental Climate under:

    1. location;
    2. temperature characteristics;
    3. rainfall distribution.

     

 

This question was not answered by many candidates and the few candidates who attempted the question performed poorly. The comparison of the Equatorial and Tropical Continental climate goes thus:
Location
- Equatorial climate lies between latitude 0 – 100 North and South of the Equator while the Tropical continental climate is located between latitude 100 – 300 North and South of the Equator.
- Equatorial climate is found in South America, coast of West Africa, Columbia, Malaysia and Indonesia, while the Tropical continental climate is found in North Africa, South Africa, Brazil and Northern Australia.
Temperature Characteristics

  • In Equatorial climate, mean annual temperature is about 270C, while in Tropical continental climate the mean annual temperature is about 210C.
  • In Equatorial climate, the annual range of temperature is about 20C while in tropical continental climate, the annual range of temperature is about 90C.
  • In Equatorial climate, the temperature is uniformly high all year round, while in tropical continental climate, temperature alternates between hotness in rainy season and coolness in dry season.
  • In Equatorial climate, the daily range of temperature is low at about 80C while in Tropical continental climate, the daily range of temperature is high at about 280C.

 

Rainfall Distribution

  • In Equatorial climate, rainfall is all year round while in Tropical continental climate rainfall is seasonal
  • In Equatorial climate, the annual rainfall amount is about 2,400mm whereas in Tropical continental climate, the rainfall amount is about 800mm.
  • Equatorial climate has double maxima rainfall whereas the Tropical continental climate has single maximum rainfall pattern.