Permaculture -- Climates

Some interesting morsels from our class on climate ..

In tropical climates, 80-90 per cent of the nutrients needed to sustain a plant are found within the plant. In temperate climates, most of the beneficial nutrients are found in the soil.

Tropical and arid environments require more management when designing a home/ garden/ farm etc to make best use of the natural resources. In the tropics, we need to take into consideration that there will be more bugs and pests and more rainfall. In the desert, we need to be really smart about catching the rainwater that falls during flash floods. FYI, the official definition of a desert is a place where there is less than 10 inches of rain per annum.

I've become a bit of a climate geek! Maybe it comes from growing up in a place where the climate is so unpredictable and a nice weather day is rarely guaranteed. So, knowledge is power. Here on the California coast it can be very foggy and this is all to do with hot air rising. We have mountains behind us and the temperature up there is hot, hot, hot. When this hot air meets the coolness of the ocean, fog is the result.

I also learnt that Redwood trees (of which there are plenty round here) are natural cooling towers as the Redwoods here are pulling in 2000 gallons of water daily. It's very true that there is a micro-climate here in the area where the Redwoods grow as the air is far cooler. When forest fires strike, Redwood trees tend to only get liked by flames, due to their high water content.