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Effect of latitude on climate,
Rays A and B are of equal width and have the same heating power. However, ray A at the equator, concentrates the power on a smaller area than ray B near the pole. Therefore the equatorial area gets hotter than that near the pole.
It is known that the longer the distance travelled by sun rays through the atmosphere, the higher the chances of energy loss through absorption and reflection of these rays by clouds and the atmosphere itself. The above diagram shows that ray B travels a longer distance (d^) through the atmosphere than does ray A (d). This implies that there are higher chances of energy loss in ray B compared to A and therefore the total energy that is received in high latitudes is less than in lower ones.
The conclusion from this is that low latitude areas tend to experience hot climates while high latitude ones experience cold climates.
The high temperatures associated with equatorial latitudes tend to create strong convectional currents which give rise to heavy rainfall in equatorial regions like Zaire and Amazon basins. There is a general decrease of rainfall the further away from the equator. The cold poles of the earth hardly receive rainfall. Precipitation may only be in form of snow.