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Below are the (ranked) list for world's 10 largest metropolitan areas by population and their climate classification(s).
1. Tokyo - Humid subtropical
2. Jakarta - Tropical monsoon / Tropical rainforest
3. Seoul - Humid subtropical / Humid continental
4. Delhi - Humid subtropical
5. Mumbai - Tropical monsoon
6. Mexico City - Subtropical highland
7. Sao Paulo - Humid subtropical
8. New York - Humid subtropical / Humid continental
9. Keihansin (Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto) - Humid subtropical
10. Moscow - Humid continental
It could be seen that more than half are classified as humid subtropical. Why would the climate encourage growth? Wouldn't tropical climate be more encouraging since lush vegetations could grow year round. With moderate rainfall and constantly high temperature, the only metropolitan area that fits these criteria is Jakarta. Mumbai has desert like aridity for 7 months, 1 month of moderate rainfall, and 4 months of ridiculously heavy rain. Jakarta's driest month have about 50 mm of precipitation (which is plenty to sustain vegetation). What do you think?
It could be seen that more than half are classified as humid subtropical. Why would the climate encourage growth? Wouldn't tropical climate be more encouraging since lush vegetations could grow year round. With moderate rainfall and constantly high temperature, the only metropolitan area that fits these criteria is Jakarta. Mumbai has desert like aridity for 7 months, 1 month of moderate rainfall, and 4 months of ridiculously heavy rain. Jakarta's driest month have about 50 mm of precipitation (which is plenty to sustain vegetation). What do you think?
Long growing period in tandem with a reasonable dormant season that will not kill off everything in the clime. The East Asian, away from the Sea of Japan-facing coast of Honshu as well as Hokkaido, version of the humid subtropical is particularly advantageous to crops due to the synchronisation of the warm season and the year's most reliable and heaviest rains.
Seoul has solidly humid continental climate (Dwa) but their summer months are hot and wet(especially the jangma monsoonal season around in late June) enough for agricultural crops as like Tokyo
It could be seen that more than half are classified as humid subtropical. Why would the climate encourage growth? Wouldn't tropical climate be more encouraging since lush vegetations could grow year round. With moderate rainfall and constantly high temperature, the only metropolitan area that fits these criteria is Jakarta. Mumbai has desert like aridity for 7 months, 1 month of moderate rainfall, and 4 months of ridiculously heavy rain. Jakarta's driest month have about 50 mm of precipitation (which is plenty to sustain vegetation). What do you think?
The Humid subtropical climate is warm most of the time = good for humans. But what separates it from the tropics is that it has a winter that is not bitterly cold and usually doable for humans, but cold enough to lessen/suspend/ the activity of potentially disease spreading mosquitoes, insects and dangerous microorganisms.
In the tropics there is no off season for growth (Unless maybe there is a dry season, but even then...). Anything and everything grows there, good and bad.
That is why is is hard to build a civilization in the tropics with large population in ancient times. Disease carrying mosquitoes and other organisms are always RAMPANT in the tropics. If i get bitten by the wrong mosquito, ant, snake, I'm dead. Just like that. It is very hard to build a large population with that constant never ending threat. Fortunately progress in science and technology in the last centuries has made it easier to live in the tropics nowadays.
Last edited by OfficialMCC; 02-02-2019 at 07:53 PM..
I don't think it's so useful to look at largest cities because they aren't especially well correlated with broader regions of high population. Eg Russia or even European Russia is not particularly heavily populated, but due to political and economic factors a lot of people have gathered in Moscow. Similar for Mexico. On the other hand much of India and Eastern China is very heavily populated but India only gets one city in the list and China none at all.
Another thing to think about is that some historians believe that one of the reasons that the first civilisations developed in places where irrigation is necessary like Egypt and mesopotamia is because a high degree of cooperation was needed to build and maintain all the canals etc. In better climates for agriculture, individual families or smaller groups of people would not have needed to work together in the same way.
As tenkier7 said, Seoul is solidly continental (colder winters than Boston)...NYC also is more of a temperate than a subtropical climate imo (tho winters are not quite continental)... NYC is certainly nothing like Delhi weatherwise!
The hot, wet, summers of Asia (with in the more developed NE Asia, a winter cool season as well to ward off pests) well certainly helped promote population growth... but cool temperate climates like the Netherlands can also support high population densities...
Quite misleading that Beijing, Shanghai, or Hong Kong/Guangzhou could not make this list...but the first 2 have similar climates to Seoul and Tokyo/Osaka, respectively...
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