Editing Galápagos Islands (section)

==Climate==
[[File:Chlorophyll concentration off the Galapagos archipelago during El Niño and La Niña.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Satellite maps of the concentration of [[chlorophyll]] (representing abundance of [[phytoplankton]]) during [[El Niño]] (top) and [[La Niña]] (bottom). The color scale goes from blue at the lowest concentrations to red at the highest. Currents that normally [[Fertilisation|fertilize]] phytoplankton reverse during El Niño, resulting in [[Primary production|barren]] oceans. The same currents are strengthened by La Niña, resulting in an explosion of ocean life.]]
[[File:Sea surface temperature & chlorophyll concentrations off the Galapagos archipelago.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A satellite map of chlorophyll and phytoplankton concentration (top) paired with a map of oceanic surface temperatures at the same time (bottom). The thriving populations represented by green and yellow in the upper map correlate to areas of higher surface temperatures represented by yellow in the lower map <small>(2 March 2009)</small>.]]
Although the islands are located on the equator, the [[Humboldt Current]] brings cold water to them, causing frequent drizzles during most of the year. The weather is regularly influenced by the [[El Niño]] events, which occur every 3 to 7 years and bring warmer [[sea surface temperature]]s, a rise in sea level, greater wave action, and a depletion of nutrients in the water.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vinueza |first1=L. |last2=Branch |first2=G. |last3=Branch |first3=M. |last4=Bustamante |first4=R. |s2cid=84748689 |year=2006 |title=Top-down herbivory and bottom-up El Niño effects on Galápagos rocky-shore communities |journal=Ecological Monographs |volume=76 |issue=1 |pages=111–131 |doi=10.1890/04-1957 }}</ref> This cycle can greatly affect the precipitation from one year to another. At Charles Darwin Station, the precipitation during the month of March in the particularly wet year of 1969 was {{convert|249.0|mm|abbr=on}}, but during March 1970 the next year it was only {{convert|1.2|mm|abbr=on}}.

There is also a large range in precipitation from one place to another and across the islands' two main seasons. The archipelago is mainly characterized by a mixture of a [[tropical savanna climate]] and a [[semi-arid climate]], transitioning to a [[tropical rainforest climate]] in the northwest. During the rainy season known as the {{lang|es|garúa}} from June to November, the temperature near the sea is around {{convert|22|C}}, a steady cool wind blows from south and southeast, frequent drizzles ({{lang|es|garúas}}) for days, and dense fog conceals the islands. During the warm season from December to May, the average sea and air temperatures rise to around {{convert|25|C}}, there is no wind at all, and the sun shines apart from sporadic strong downpours. Weather also changes as altitude increases on the larger islands. Temperature decreases gradually with altitude, while precipitation increases due to the condensation of moisture from clouds on the slopes. This pattern of generally wet highlands and drier lowlands affects the plant life on the larger islands. The vegetation in the highlands tends to be green and lush, with tropical woodland in places. The lowland areas tend to have arid and semi-arid vegetation, with many thorny shrubs and cacti and areas of barren volcanic rock.

Some islands also fall within the [[rain shadow]] of others during some seasons. During March 1969, the precipitation over Charles Darwin Station on the southern coast of Santa Cruz was {{convert|249.0|mm|abbr=on}}, while on nearby Baltra Island the precipitation during the same month was only {{convert|137.6|mm|abbr=on}}. This is because Baltra is located behind Santa Cruz when the prevailing winds are southerly, causing more moisture to fall on the Santa Cruz highlands.

{{Weather box
|location = [[San Cristóbal Island]], 1981–2010 normals
|single line = Yes
|metric first = Yes
|width = auto

|Jan high C = 29.2
|Feb high C = 30.3
|Mar high C = 30.5
|Apr high C = 30.2
|May high C = 29.2
|Jun high C = 27.6
|Jul high C = 26.4
|Aug high C = 25.6
|Sep high C = 25.7
|Oct high C = 26.0
|Nov high C = 27.0
|Dec high C = 27.8
|year high C =

|Jan mean C = 26.1
|Feb mean C = 26.7
|Mar mean C = 26.7
|Apr mean C = 26.5
|May mean C = 25.9
|Jun mean C = 24.7
|Jul mean C = 23.5
|Aug mean C = 22.7
|Sep mean C = 22.8
|Oct mean C = 23.0
|Nov mean C = 23.9
|Dec mean C = 24.8
|year mean C =

|Jan low C = 22.9
|Feb low C = 23.1
|Mar low C = 22.9
|Apr low C = 22.8
|May low C = 22.7
|Jun low C = 21.7
|Jul low C = 20.7
|Aug low C = 19.8
|Sep low C = 19.8
|Oct low C = 20.0
|Nov low C = 20.9
|Dec low C = 21.7
|year low C =

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 83.4
|Feb precipitation mm = 107.4
|Mar precipitation mm = 106.3
|Apr precipitation mm = 94.9
|May precipitation mm = 41.9
|Jun precipitation mm = 32.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 18.8
|Aug precipitation mm = 9.8
|Sep precipitation mm = 7.6
|Oct precipitation mm = 11.0
|Nov precipitation mm = 12.6
|Dec precipitation mm = 51.5
|year precipitation mm =

|Jan precipitation days = 11
|Feb precipitation days = 10
|Mar precipitation days = 11
|Apr precipitation days = 6
|May precipitation days = 5
|Jun precipitation days = 8
|Jul precipitation days = 13
|Aug precipitation days = 14
|Sep precipitation days = 12
|Oct precipitation days = 11
|Nov precipitation days = 8
|Dec precipitation days = 10
|year precipitation days =

|source = [[World Meteorological Organization]]<ref>{{cite web |title=San Cristobal-Galapagos |url=https://worldweather.wmo.int/en/city.html?cityId=2049 |publisher=[[World Meteorological Organization]] |access-date=23 January 2021}}</ref>
}}

The following table for the especially wet year of 1969 shows the variation of precipitation in different places of [[Santa Cruz Island (Galápagos)|Santa Cruz Island]]:

{| class="wikitable" style="margin: auto"
|-
! Location
! Charles Darwin<br/>Station
! Devine Farm
! Media Luna
|-
! Altitude
! 6&nbsp;m
! 320&nbsp;m
! 620&nbsp;m
|-
| January
| 23.0&nbsp;mm
| 78.0&nbsp;mm
| 172.6&nbsp;mm
|-
| February
| 16.8&nbsp;mm
| 155.2&nbsp;mm
| 117.0&nbsp;mm
|-
| March
| 249.0&nbsp;mm
| 920.8&nbsp;mm
| 666.7&nbsp;mm
|-
| April
| 68.5&nbsp;mm
| 79.5&nbsp;mm
| 166.4&nbsp;mm
|-
| May
| 31.4&nbsp;mm
| 214.6&nbsp;mm
| 309.8&nbsp;mm
|-
| June
| 16.8&nbsp;mm
| 147.3&nbsp;mm
| 271.8&nbsp;mm
|-
| July
| 12.0&nbsp;mm
| 42.2&nbsp;mm
| 135.6&nbsp;mm
|-
| August
| 3.8&nbsp;mm
| 13.7&nbsp;mm
| 89.5&nbsp;mm
|-
| September
| 18.5&nbsp;mm
| 90.9&nbsp;mm
| 282.6&nbsp;mm
|-
| October
| 3.2&nbsp;mm
| 22.6&nbsp;mm
| 96.5&nbsp;mm
|-
| November
| 11.0&nbsp;mm
| 52.8&nbsp;mm
| 172.7&nbsp;mm
|-
| December
| 15.7&nbsp;mm
| 84.1&nbsp;mm
| 175.3&nbsp;mm
|-
| colspan=4|
|-
| TOTALS
| 469.7&nbsp;mm
| 1901.7&nbsp;mm
| 2656.4&nbsp;mm
|}