WHAT ARE THE CLIMATIC FLOORS OF THE EQUATOR? - GEOGRAPHY - 2025

The climatic floors of Ecuador are the different levels of variation of the climate of the region depending on its relief (altitude).

Although it is generally said that the determining factor between one climatic floor and another is height, other elements such as air currents also play an important role.

In Ecuador there are 5 climatic levels: warm, temperate, cold, moor and glacial. These have different vegetation, fauna, climate and atmospheric conditions.

The main factor among climatic floors is temperature, which is directly related to altitude.

What are the climatic floors of Ecuador?

The five climatic floors of Ecuador are divided depending on the height at which they are.

Warm

Located between 0 and a thousand meters, it has a relatively pleasant temperature that averages 25 degrees Celsius.

The temperature variation is practically zero, so it is often said that in this climatic floor there is only one season; the warm one.

There is abundant rainfall and highly varied ecosystems, such as forests, savannas, jungles and grasslands. The flora and fauna present great biodiversity and are very abundant.

Tempered

Between 1,000 and 2,000 meters are areas with a temperate climate.

The variation in heat is more noticeable than in the warm floor, being able to clearly differentiate the winter -where the temperatures are of about 16 degrees centigrade- from the summer -where they rise up to 23-.

It is a floor that also has high levels of precipitation, however the rains are much more frequent in some areas than in others (although they share the same altitude), and are influenced by air currents.

Cold

It is between 2,000 and 3,000 meters.

Its average annual temperature is 12 degrees Celsius, which provides a comfortable environment, which is why many cities and urban settlements are located on this climatic floor, including Quito, the capital of Ecuador.

Like the temperate floor, the presence of precipitation has a certain dependence on air currents. The level of rain in the cold floor is lower than the warm and temperate one.

Paramo

From 3,000 to 4,000 meters is the moorland, the fauna decreases considerably and the vegetation does so partially.

Despite the harsh climate and its temperatures close to zero degrees, there are forests and bushes.

Glacial or perpetual snow

Above 4 thousand meters, temperatures drop below zero, there is no appreciable flora or fauna, and rainfall occurs in the form of snow.

The name perpetual snow is due to the fact that the areas are permanently covered with snow and ice.

Factors affecting climatic floors

The most notable difference between the climatic floors of the same area is the temperature, since this decreases significantly as the altitude increases.

However, the variation in height can also increase or decrease the humidity, atmospheric pressure and amount of precipitation of a climatic floor.

In the case of Ecuador, in addition to temperature, its proximity to the Andes mountain range and air currents (such as the Humboldt) affect the climatic conditions of the different thermal floors.

References

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