Wettest Place on Earth
Written by Fraser Cain
Although I'd swear the wettest place on Earth is my home city of Vancouver Canada, we're a desert compared to the true wettest point on Earth: Mawsynram, India with a yearly average rainfall of 12 meters. Cherrapunji, is only 16 kilometers away and is in competition with Mawsynram for the wettest place on Earth. Both are situated in North East India in Meghalaya State.
Each town has held the record during the last decade; there's only a difference of 1000 millimeters between the two for each year that goes by. Both are located in the Khasi Hills; which is a contributing factor to their high rainfall. The monsoon season hits these areas pretty hard. One reported going a 2 year stretch with no break from the rain! Surprisingly, the high rainfall is a result of their elevation and not the monsoon season. Huge amounts of warm air condense and fall as rain when they encounter the Khasi Hills. The topography of the region forces the very moist clouds up and down getting them to empty their water over the region.
Ironically, both towns suffer from severe water shortages. Because of deforestation in the region, the soil has no absorption ability. The water runs down to Bangladesh; who really doesn't need the extra.
Filed under: Astronomy
