Climate

## Overview

Though the Island’s climate is temperate, variations in humidity and weather patterns contribute to creating a broad range of landscapes, all which have an effect on the way the fauna and flora evolved.

## Timeline of climatic evolution

There are three fundamental periods to take into account when reviewing the history of the climate. This division is not arbitrary: it reflects and helps to create a substantial timeline for the major cosmic and meteorological events that shaped the Island from his creation to its current point.

Our first slice spans from the birth of the Island to 247 comets cycles before the hole. The most accurate designation for this period is ‘primitive stasis’ as it is a period of slow evolution during which the climate showed little disturbance, even though the climate was always in short-term motion, due to comets’ irregular course around the planet. The second slice is called the Cold era and, as the name suggests, hold the first major climatic change: global cooling. At last, the third slice is not named after the climate that defines it, but after the new cosmic order and is thus called the ‘comets’ era’. Some might also call it the era of the hole, due to its beginning being tightly connected to the apparition of the hole.

## Age of the primitive stasis

As this period began with the creation of the Island, it contains its entire process of development. The birth of ecosystems, the apparition of living species, the development of the Manjamaso and the beginning of the clans. However, this period and the events it encapsulates spans so many comets cycles that it seems relatively quiet compared to the two other periods of our timeline.

### **The passage of comets around the world**

Climate was always regulated by the passage of comets. Their approach would cause the release of irregular energy that would not only cause the rise of temperatures but would also impact the tides of the gigantic ocean surrounding the Island. Thus climate at this period was subject to many changes.

### **Temperatures changes**

Comets would hover around the world until their energy got dilapidated, to which point they would be launched out of orbit and away from the Island. Upon their arrival, the huge charge of energy coupled to the light they would release would create the temperatures to rise and initiate some sort of summers characterized by long days.

Climate would be near subtropical, though keeping very cold high altitudes.

The shattering and launch of a comet would always more or less coincide with the apparition of other comets, on top of comets being rarely one single entity entering orbit but usually a cluster. However, a relative cooling would still happen when one of these cosmic objects lost its energy. The Island would then enter very short winters characterized mostly by a change in the precipitations and the loss of a few degrees.

### **Precipitations**

Because of the density of the air at the peak of summers, the Island would be prone to overwhelming precipitations in the form of monsoons, especially on the coasts. These could last up to half a comet cycle. The air would be hot and humid, and birthing ground for violent hurricanes.

During the winters, the climates would calm down as the air would become dry. However, the beginnings of winters would usually result in rising winds and storms that would crawl through the plains. After this first entry, the climate would be much more temperate, and nights would sometimes last several days.

## The Cold Era

As its name suggests, the Cold era corresponded to a drastic cooling, far more impactful than the winters we mentioned before. This was again the consequence of a cosmic event, but this time, one out of the norm.

Comets passing by the world and falling into its orbit started hovering further and further away from the atmosphere, causing great changes in light energy release. Whether it was an external or internal cause is unknown.

### **Temperatures dropped drastically**

The direct symptom of this change was a progressive but strong drop in temperature all over the Island. Soon enough, the grounds had frozen and snow was falling even in the warmest locations, like the plateaux at the center of the Island.

### **Long nights**

Another symptom, probably more impressive, was the shortening of daytime and the lengthening of nights to extended periods of time. These prolonged nights would be associated with even harsher temperatures and bright night skies where the few comets would then resembled mere meteorites entering the atmosphere. As if time had been turned upside down, nights would end with the temporary passage of an isolated comet nearer to the low orbit point.

### **Storms and winds**

Similar to the winters’ storms the Island would sometimes experience, high-speed winds and blizzards would spread, as well as cyclones and snow storms. The climate quickly became practically unbearable for most species.

### **Water and underground sources**

It is interesting to notice that, though most of the surface of the Island froze, it didn’t have an effect on deep grounds. Hence, while stagnating waters (such as lakes and pounds) froze, streams, rivers and such coming from underground sources would continue their course undisturbed.

## **The Comets' era**

Our last period is the one we are currently positioned in, that is the era following the apparition of the hole.

It also signed the end of the ice age and some sort of a step back, though not complete, towards the original climate of the Island.

### **Collapsing comets and energy waves**

Even before they started collapsing in its center, the Comets got back to their former altitudes but instead of the variations they were known to exhibit, got closer to the planet to the point where their patterns became regular. Their course no longer forms an orbit but ends up at the center of the Island, where they collide inside the whole.

This event causes great energy waves to be released from the center of the Island outwards, so that even in further regions where the light is less prominent (due to the comets only passing over while approaching the Island), heat still reaches the coasts.

### **A truly temperate climate**

Surprisingly, the redirection of the comets led to a normalization of the temperatures. Though the climate at the center of the Island might be somewhat closer to a semi-arid climate than a regular temperate, the density of the flora shows that temperatures are very moderate.

### **Localized precipitations**

If one quality was to be given to the apparition of the hole, it would be its leveling effect on the various parts of what composes the climate.

Indeed, outside of the light, precipitations have stabilized to the point that storms have become exceptional events that are usually small and short-lived.

Another aspect of this is the local aspect of precipitations that are attached to specific areas. Two main locations display important precipitation patterns: the coastal mountains (west of the Island), and the center of the Island, around the hole.

### **Rains in the central plains**

Now, while the coastal rains do not raise any question, the rains that happen at the center of the Island are far more interesting. Indeed, they are caused by the most unusual event: the redirection of traversing rivers towards the hole.

While initially crossing the Island to join the sea or other bigger streams, these rivers have been cut open by the hole and flow into it, forming endless waterfalls. However, the heat created by the collapsing comets evaporates a certain amount of the water, which then proceeds to rise up until it cools off into clouds and spreads thanks to the winds.

Round Rainbows regularly appear to magnify this already stunning combination of pure light, mists, and clouds. There are few visions quite like this one.