MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Chile
Index
The near north (Norte Chico) extends from the Río
Copiapó to
about 32° south latitude, or just north of Santiago. It is
a
semiarid region whose central area receives an average of
about
twenty-five millimeters of rain during each of the four
winter
months, with trace amounts the rest of the year. The near
north is
also subject to droughts. The temperatures are moderate,
with an
average of 18.5° C during the summer and about 12° C
during the
winter at sea level. The winter rains and the melting of
the snow
that accumulates on the Andes produce rivers whose flow
varies with
the seasons, but which carry water year round. Their deep
transverse valleys provide broad areas for cattle raising
and, most
important, fruit growing, an activity that has developed
greatly
since the mid-1970s.
As in the for north, the coastal areas of the near
north have
a distinct microclimate. In those sections where the
airborne
moisture of the sea is trapped by high bluffs overlooking
the
ocean, temperate rain forests develop as the vegetation
precipitates the vapor in the form of a misty rain.
Because the
river valleys provide breaks in the coastal elevations,
maritime
moisture can penetrate inland and further decrease the
generally
arid climate in those valleys. The higher elevations in
the
interior sections are covered with shrubs and cacti of
various
kinds.
Data as of March 1994
|
|