Final answer:
In hot and dry conditions, a gentle breeze aids in the process of evaporation, including the evaporative cooling of sweat from the human body. The effectiveness of evaporation is reduced in humid conditions, where the air is already saturated with water vapor, but a breeze can still help promote evaporation by moving the moist air away.
Step-by-step explanation:
If the weather is hot and dry, evaporation can be assisted by a gentle breeze. This concept is related to the principles of evaporation where heat and dryness accelerate the evaporation process. On hot, dry days, the evaporation of sweat from the skin aids in cooling of the body. Conversely, when the humidity is high, the concentration of water in the atmosphere is higher, which actually reduces the evaporation rate from the skin's surface. However, the presence of a breeze can help facilitate evaporation by moving the air and thus reducing the local humidity around the object or skin's surface, leading to more effective evaporative cooling.
Additionally, local geographical features like mountains can affect climate and evaporation rates. For instance, the windward side of a mountain range receives more precipitation, while the leeward side tends to be drier, creating a 'rain shadow' effect due to the process of air rising, cooling, and losing its moisture as precipitation on the windward side.