The word "rain" is very firmly included in our vocabulary. Saying it, people rarely think about how many interesting facts are hidden in it. Moreover, some do not even know how exactly the raindrops so familiar to us appear.
But mankind must thank nature for this wonderful gift. If it had not been for rain, now our planet would have looked much darker. And who knows, perhaps without him life itself could not have been born. Therefore, let's talk about what rain is and what its role is in the Earth’s ecosystem.
Continuous life cycle
It so happened that many processes in this world have their own cycle. For example, alternating seasons or changing day and night. The same applies to water, which is in a circular motion. It is thanks to this order of things that the world was able to transform from a hot desert into an oasis filled with all kinds of life forms.
And rain is one of the most important factors that contributed to the origin of all life. After all, had it not been, the first trees would not have sprouted on the Earth’s surface, giving our planet the opportunity to acquire its own strong atmosphere. And she, in turn, made it possible for the first marine inhabitants to go ashore, which forever changed the course of world history.
But let us leave the appearance of all life behind and talk about what they gave us rain and wind. After all, it was the first that allowed people to harvest a large crop, because otherwise it would simply have dried up. But the wind carried rain clouds all over the world, thanks to which heavy rains even where there are no rivers and lakes of their own.
What is rain?
In fact, everyone knows how to describe this atmospheric phenomenon, because everyone saw it. So, it would seem that everything is very simple: rain is a drop of water falling from the sky. But the question is: how do they get there? Or why do they fall back from there?
It all starts with the fact that under the influence of heat, water begins to evaporate. And since steam is much lighter than air, it rises. That's just the higher it is, the colder the surrounding space becomes.
When the temperature becomes critical, the vapor condenses again into small droplets of moisture, which seem to freeze in the air, turning into white clouds. However, over time, the amount of water increases, and a harmless cloud begins to turn into a gray cloud. And at one point, all the moisture breaks out, turning into full rain. This happens most often in cases where gray clouds collide with a very cold stream of air that can quickly cool the condensate accumulated in it.
What are the rains?
It should also be remembered that there are various types of precipitation. Some of them fall more often in summer, while others, on the contrary, in autumn and spring. Therefore, let's look at the most common types of rain:
- Drizzles are small droplets of moisture that seem to freeze in the air. They are almost invisible to the ordinary eye and most often appear in early spring or late autumn.
- Rainfall is a very heavy rain, they just say about it: "It pours like a bucket." But at the same time, showers quickly end, since the supply of heavenly moisture disappears in a matter of minutes.
- Heavy rain is a visiting card of Russian autumn. Sometimes it seems that the drops falling from the sky will never stop. It can go from two days to several weeks.
- Mushroom rain - as the people call short-term rainfall, in which the sky or the sun is visible.
- Freezing rain is a rather rare occurrence, which occurs mainly in late autumn, when it is cold outside.
Rain season
The hotter the climate, the more moisture is collected in the atmosphere. In this regard, in tropical regions there is such a thing as the rainy season. This is a special period of the year in which a huge amount of rainfall occurs.
For a country where the average temperature is 40-45 degrees, it is like a breath of fresh air. In addition, the rainy season plays a very important role in the ecosystem of the tropics, without it, all life quickly fades from excessive heat.
Often each region has its own calendar, which marks the approximate arrival dates of heavenly showers. For example, in India this happens at the end of June, while in Thailand the rainy season falls at the end of May.
