Category: Volume 2

Climate impacts all life and is important for understanding how much rainfall occurs in various areas and the resulting vegetation, or lack thereof. It’s an easy way to distinguish one location from another in stories. A humid region will impact Read More …

Mountains cause moisture-carrying winds to rise. The clouds dump all the rain on one side of the mountain range, causing lush vegetation. On the mountain range’s other side, there’s no water left to fall. This causes a “rain shadow,” an Read More …

Wind direction varies at different latitudes (distances from the equator). These winds, along with geography like mountains, will determine where rain falls. This affects both climate and where vegetation and deserts are. Understanding this helps world builders create sensible topography. Read More …

Extending north and south from the equator to roughly 23.5° latitude is a region called the tropics. This area is not defined by latitude but by the point at which the sun appears to be directly overhead at its highest Read More …

The zones on a planet impact climate and will be discussed below. They are summarized in this chart: The exact latitude where a climate changes is not constant, as it can vary from continent to continent, so these numbers are Read More …

Ocean currents play a major role in climate. Oceans absorb more of the sun’s radiation than the atmosphere, retaining and then distributing heat as the water flows around the planet. This effect is assisted by Earth’s rotation, salinity, and tides Read More …

The equator is an imaginary line equidistant from both poles. Days and nights there do not vary in length; this changes the farther from the equator we go. It’s perpetually hot except at high altitudes. The four seasons of spring, Read More …

While many stars are visible in the night sky, only the brightest are likely to receive enough attention to be named. Names could be given by sailors or anyone else who watches the heavens. These stars are given significance, often Read More …

Our invented planet is unlikely to be the only one orbiting its sun. This section discusses others within a solar system. In SF, interstellar travel is virtually a given, whether that’s within a solar system or between systems and galaxies. Read More …

The section talks about what causes the number of hours in a day and how that is changing over time.