Inhospitable climate

Climate constitutes a major difference between developing and developed countries. Almost all the former are situated in the tropical, sub-tropical, or arctic zones. It is a fact that all successful industrialization in modern times has taken place in the temperate zones. This cannot be entirely an accident of history but must arise from special handicaps, directly or indirectly related to climate.

There are few countries whose climate in all regions at all times is inhospitable to development. As for the temperate zone being 'best', it would be interesting to ascertain the climates of Summer, Dilmun, Harappa and Jericho when they were the ancient centers of civilization. The only reason technology was able to advance in the North was because the Europeans, from the tenth century up through the Crusades, were able to plunder the learning of the Islamic world and the Byzantine empire. India and China also gave up their technological secrets on the eve of the so-called Industrial Revolution in the North. All these borrowings are never acknowledged. Moreover, industrialization is not synonymous with development. Many tropical nations such as the Mayas, Incas; and those of the 'Indies' had great wealth before the Industrial Revolution. All this was plundered as well. Today's less developed countries are not eager to imitate the societal aberrations that the temperate zone's industrializations have caused; and many have found that their climates have good seasons for tourism and are adequate for development in other suitable ways.