Editing South America (section)

===Climate===
{{see also|Arid Diagonal}}
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map South America present.svg|thumb|upright=1.7|[[Köppen climate classification|Köppen-Geiger climate classification]] map for South America<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Beck|first1=Hylke E.|last2=Zimmermann|first2=Niklaus E.|last3=McVicar|first3=Tim R.|last4=Vergopolan|first4=Noemi|last5=Berg|first5=Alexis|last6=Wood|first6=Eric F.|title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution|journal=Scientific Data|date=30 October 2018|volume=5|pages=180214|doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214|pmid=30375988|pmc=6207062|bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B}}</ref>]]

All of the world's major climate zones are present in South America.<ref name=Danuta>{{Cite book|title=Climates of the World|last=Martyn|first=Danuta|year=1992|isbn=0-444-98739-8|pages=308|translator-last=Senn|translator-first=Peter|chapter=The climates of South America|publisher=Elsevier}}</ref>

The distribution of the average temperatures in the region presents a constant regularity from the [[30th parallel south|30° of latitude south]], when the isotherms tend, more and more, to be confused with the degrees of latitude.<ref name="Climate">O CLIMA. In: ''Atlas Mundial''. São Paulo: Cia. Melhoramentos de São Paulo, 1999, pp. 20–21, {{ISBN|85-06-02889-2}}.</ref>

In temperate latitudes, winters and summers are milder than in North America. This is because the most extensive part of the continent is in the equatorial zone (the region has more areas of equatorial plains than any other region),<ref name="Climate"/> therefore giving the [[Southern Cone]] more oceanic influence, which moderates year round temperatures.

The average annual temperatures in the Amazon basin oscillate around {{convert|27|C|||}}, with low thermal amplitudes and high rainfall indices. Between the [[Maracaibo Lake]] and the mouth of the Orinoco, that also includes parts of the Brazilian territory, an [[equatorial climate]] typical of the Congolese regions in Central Africa predominates.<ref name="Climate"/>

The east-central Brazilian plateau has a humid and warm tropical climate. The northern and eastern parts of the Argentine pampas have a [[subtropics|humid subtropical climate]] with dry winters and humid summers commonly classified as a "[[Climate of China|Chinese type]]" climate, while the western and eastern ranges have a subtropical climate similar to the [[Dinaric Alps]] in Europe. At the highest points of the Andean region, climates are colder than the ones occurring at the highest point of the Norwegian fjords. In the Andean plateaus, the warm climate prevails, although it is tempered by the altitude, while in the coastal strip, there is an equatorial climate commonly classified as a "Guinean type" climate. North of the Andean plateaus up to the north of the Chilean coast a [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean oceanic climate]] dominates with temperate summers and cold winters akin to Cape Breton. In [[Tierra del Fuego]] a cold climate persists that is commonly referred to as a "[[Siberia|Siberian]] type" climate.<ref name="Climate"/>

[[File:Tropical cyclones 1945 2006 wikicolor.png|thumb|upright=1.7|Map of all tropical cyclone tracks from 1945 to 2006]]

The distribution of rainfall is related to the regime of winds and air masses. In most of the [[tropical region]] east of the Andes, winds blowing from the northeast, east and southeast carry moisture from the Atlantic, causing abundant rainfall. However, due to a consistently strong [[wind shear]] and a weak [[Intertropical Convergence Zone]], [[South Atlantic tropical cyclone]]s are rare.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G6.html|title=Why doesn't the South Atlantic Ocean experience tropical cyclones?|last=Landsea|first=Chris|date=13 July 2005|website=Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory|publisher=National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration|access-date=9 June 2018|archive-date=16 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716182608/http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/G6.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the [[Orinoco Llanos]] and in the [[The Guianas|Guianas Plateau]], the precipitation levels go from moderate to high. The Pacific coast of Colombia and northern Ecuador are rainy regions, with [[El Chocó|Chocó]] in Colombia being the rainiest place in the world along with the northern slopes of Indian Himalayas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wettest Places on Earth By Annual Rainfall|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-ten-wettest-places-in-the-world.html|website=World Atlas|date=27 March 2019|access-date=12 May 2019|archive-date=12 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190512220428/https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-ten-wettest-places-in-the-world.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Atacama Desert, along this stretch of coast, is one of the driest regions in the world. The central and southern parts of Chile are subject to [[extratropical cyclone]]s, and most of the Argentine [[Patagonia]] is [[desert]]. In the [[Pampas]] of Argentina, Uruguay and South of Brazil the rainfall is moderate, with rains well distributed during the year. The moderately dry conditions of the Chaco oppose the intense rainfall of the eastern region of Paraguay. In the [[semiarid]] coast of the Brazilian Northeast the rains are linked to a monsoon regime.<ref name="Climate"/>

Important factors in the determination of climates are sea currents such as the [[Humboldt Current]] and [[Falkland Current]]. The [[South Equatorial Current|Equatorial Current]] of the South Atlantic strikes the coast of the Northeast where is divided into two others: the current of [[Brazil Current|Brazil]] and a coastal current that flows to the northwest towards the [[Antilles]] from where it turns northeast forming the most important and famous ocean current in the world, the [[Gulf Stream]].<ref name="Climate"/><ref name="Know.net">{{cite web|title=Apresentação da Corrente do Golfo|language=pt|trans-title=Presentation of the Gulf Stream|website=knoow.net|url=http://www.knoow.net/ciencterravida/geografia/correntegolfo.htm|access-date=26 January 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411062149/http://www.knoow.net/ciencterravida/geografia/correntegolfo.htm|archive-date=11 April 2015}}</ref>