Some towns nestled even higher in the Talamanca range are cold, rainy and overcast year round. The Guanacaste province, where I live, is far more arid (dry) than it is tropical. Large fields of yellowing tall grass and the low-hanging Guanacaste trees sometimes give the appearance of an African savannah.
Perhaps you're familiar with the various ecosystems in the United States, from the lush redwoods of the Pacific Coast to shrublands in northern Texas to Florida's Everglades to the thickly wooded Appalachians. What's remarkable about Costa Rica is the diversity of ecosystems squeezed into a country that's only four times the size of Connecticut!
Although it does have a breadth (or variety) of natural environments and climates, Costa Rica, as a whole, is tropical. This means that agriculture is a major industry here. There aren't any cold snaps or even growing seasons that farmers need to worry about. Costa Rica's pineapple, cocoa, mango and coffee plantations operate year round. However, a changing climate is introducing new challenges to the country. Changing weather patterns (a result of global warming) are affecting rainfall in Costa Rica. Farms, ranches and most importantly, communities, are struggling to capture enough potable (clean) water. Recently, in Tronadora, the public water company has resorted to turning the water on and off during certain times of the day in an effort to conserve aquifers that have gone too long with rainfall to replenish them.
