Discuss the major factors that influence the global distribution of precipitation. Give examples of desert regions and tropical regions and explain why these climates are found where they are.

Factors That Influence the Global Distribution of Precipitation
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Factors That Influence the Global Distribution of Precipitation
The following are three major factors that affect the occurrence and distribution of precipitation worldwide: the general circulation of air in the atmosphere, nearness of vicinity to large water bodies, and the general topography of the land (Fleisher, 2010). This article, therefore, outlines how each of these factors plays a role in determining precipitation distribution in the world. Also explained is how the global distribution of precipitation results in the different climatic regions of the world.
General Circulation of Atmospheric Air
It is known that the earth’s atmospheric air has distinct regions typically described by the direction of air flow. There are regions of large-scale rising air and others that have descending air. Air flow direction is mostly determined by latitude and season. A measure of the global distribution of precipitation indicates that the regions of “rising air” zones have the wettest climates, while the driest climates such as in the polar and subtropical deserts are in the “descending air” zones.
Topography
Whenever moving air (wind) comes across a mountain or any form of elevated topography, it is compelled to rise. As the air ascends, it cools and thus condenses causing more precipitation on the windward side of a mountain. This phenomenon is called “orographic lifting.” On the leeward side, air drops become warmer and ends up drier.

As a result, the leeward side of a mountain is often times drier than the windward side. A typical example of this is the climate around Mt. Waialeale where the windward side is almost constantly cloudy experiencing rains every day making it one of the wettest regions in the world ADDIN CSL_CITATION { “citationItems” : [ { “id” : “ITEM-1”, “itemData” : { “ISBN” : “0822575353”, “author” : [ { “dropping-particle” : “”, “family” : “Fleisher”, “given” : “Paul”, “non-dropping-particle” : “”, “parse-names” : false, “suffix” : “” } ], “id” : “ITEM-1”, “issued” : { “date-parts” : [ [ “2010” ] ] }, “publisher” : “Lerner Publications”, “title” : “Doppler Radar, Satellites, and Computer Models: The Science of Weather Forecasting”, “type” : “book” }, “uris” : [ “http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=38523a24-7647-4b7d-a33f-01dec46eac2d” ] } ], “mendeley” : { “previouslyFormattedCitation” : “(Fleisher, 2010)” }, “properties” : { “noteIndex” : 0 }, “schema” : “https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json” }(Fleisher, 2010).
Proximity to Large Water Bodies
Water starts in the ocean, evaporates, ascends into the air, is condensed and falls back onto the earth as precipitation. This is as indicated by the concept of the water cycle ADDIN CSL_CITATION { “citationItems” : [ { “id” : “ITEM-1”, “itemData” : { “ISBN” : “0822575353”, “author” : [ { “dropping-particle” : “”, “family” : “Fleisher”, “given” : “Paul”, “non-dropping-particle” : “”, “parse-names” : false, “suffix” : “” } ], “id” : “ITEM-1”, “issued” : { “date-parts” : [ [ “2010” ] ] }, “publisher” : “Lerner Publications”, “title” : “Doppler Radar, Satellites, and Computer Models: The Science of Weather Forecasting”, “type” : “book” }, “uris” : [ “http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=38523a24-7647-4b7d-a33f-01dec46eac2d” ] } ], “mendeley” : { “previouslyFormattedCitation” : “(Fleisher, 2010)” }, “properties” : { “noteIndex” : 0 }, “schema” : “https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json” }(Fleisher, 2010). As a result, the nearer a region is to a large water body the higher the amount of precipitation the region receives.
References
ADDIN Mendeley Bibliography CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Fleisher, P. (2010). Doppler Radar, Satellites, and Computer Models: The Science of Weather Forecasting. Lerner Publications.