Climate and water are key elements in the tropical environment. Rainfall characteristics and high evaporative demand exert great influence on human activities - not only the agriculture, but also on water supply for domestic and industrial uses. An appreciation of these characteristics, and their wider implications, is vital to a full understanding of the tropical countries and of their development. Now rewritten and expanded for this new edition, the text sysnthesises a mass of related but fragmented material from a wide variety of sources and disciplines. It examines the important features of tropical climate and water, and goes on to explore in detail their implications for agriculture, soil erusion, irrigation, and the broader aspects of land use and land management. New to this edition are sections on aspects such as drought, El Nino and the Southern Oscilation, rainfalvariability linkages, climatic classification and a chapter concerned with problems and priorities in the tropics. The book should be of use to specialists, to those concerned with the broader aspects of tropical development - planners, economics, sociologists, administrators and to students in, and concerned with, the tropical world.