ABSTRACT
Definition of what constitutes the tropics can pose a considerable problem. The trouble usually starts with a popular meaning of the term, which often and rather inappropriately refers to only a part of the tropics, namely the ‘wet tropics’. For instance, according to a broad classification of climates for building purposes given by Szokolay and Sale (1979), which is a variation of many similar proposals, the tropics are a zone within a group of hot humid climates. Geographical system-based classifications (e.g. K€oppen-Geiger-Pohl scheme) are also popular and widely used, and include both humid and arid tropics in the group of tropical climates.
