HUMID TROPICAL (Tropical Wet)

Low Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Hot temperatures all year long. Rainy all year• Vegetation: Broad- leaf trees. Often forms a canopy with shrubs on earth floor (tropical rain forests)• Location: Africa, South America, and Asia• Unique Feature: Monsoon wind (seasonal winds that change direction)

Summer Monsoon: Blows over water and brings moisture.Winter Monsoon: Blows over land and is dry

Rain forest canopy in India

Views of a rain forest

Heavy water-logging due to incessant monsoon rain in New Delhi on June 26, 2008.

Road and fields that previously were under water in Cambodia

SAVANNA(Tropical Wet and Dry)Low Latitude Climate Zone

• Characteristics: Hot temperatures for the majority of year. Has a wet season and a dry season. (See elephant and giraffe posters In classroom.)

• Vegetation: Grasslands with few scattered trees.

• Location: Africa and Australia (Outback)

View of an African savanna

Wet season in African savanna. What is in the tree?

Dry season in the African savanna

DESERT(Dry Climate)

ANY Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Less than 10 inches of rain per year. Temperatures may be hot or cold depending on elevation and latitude.• Vegetation: Specially adapted plants to the dry conditions.• Location: All continents

Spring flowers in the Sahara Desert

Sand dunes in the Sahara Desert

Negev Desert in Israel

Badlands in the Negev Desert, Israel

STEPPE or SEMIARID(Dry Climate)

ANY Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Up to 20 inches of rain per

year.

• Vegetation: Generally grasslands

• Location: All continents. Usually located in the interior and often borders a desert.

Mongolian Steppe

Gazelles on the eastern steppe of Mongolia

Mediterranean Climate

Middle Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Dry, hot summers and wet,

mild winters. • Vegetation: Forests, grasses, and shrubs• Location: Areas near the Mediterranean Sea.

In the U.S. – southern California• Dangers: Wildfires in the dry summer and

mud slides in the wet winter

Mountain covered with Mediterranean vegetation

California firefighter hosing down Mediterranean plant lifeto stop the spread of a summer wildfire.

Results of a mudslide in southern California due to Mediterranean winter rains.

Marine West Coast Climate

Middle Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Rainy year round; mild

temperatures year round due to nearness of large bodies of water

• Vegetation: Mixed forests of broadleaf (deciduous) and evergreen trees (coniferous); possible only evergreen forests

• Location: Large portion of Western Europe; in the U.S. – NW states (northern CA, OR, WA)

Redwood forest in northern California

http://www.laspilitas.com/comhabit/California_Redwood_Forest.html

                                                                                                                                

Coast Redwoods, the world's tallest tree, can reach in excess of 300 feet tall.

Coast redwoods,the world’s tallest tree, canreach in excessof 300 feet tall.

Humid Subtropical Climate

Middle Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Long hot, humid summers; cool

winters with some chance of snow. Precipitation all year.

• Vegetation: Mixed forests of broadleaf (deciduous) and evergreen trees (coniferous); possible only evergreen forests

• Location: Usually the SE region of a continent. In U.S. – Southern and Gulf Coast states: NC, SC, GA, FL, LA, MS, AL, AR

• Dangers: Severe storms with heavy rains, strong winds, and high seas called hurricanes or typhoons

Middle Latitude Climate Zone Locations

Humid subtropical forest

Mississippi's humid subtropical climate provides for heavy growth of greenery such as this scene.

Humid Continental Climate

Middle Latitude Climate Zone• Characteristics: Extreme change in temperatures

from summer to winter. Summers can be warm to hot and winters can be very cold. Precipitation is year round. Four distinct seasonal changes.

• Vegetation: Mixed forests of broadleaf (deciduous) and evergreen trees (coniferous); grasslands

• Location: Usually the interior region of a continent. In U.S. – Midwestern states and NE corner (New England)

• Dangers: Severe wind storms usually at the change of cold to warm season. These are called tornadoes.

Midwestern U.S. grasslands also known as prairies

Wheat field after a storm

Hoxie, Kansas, tornado in 2008

Subarctic Climate(Taiga)

High Latitude Climate Zone

• Characteristics: Brief, cool summers; long, bitterly cold winters

• Vegetation: Large evergreen (coniferous) forests

• Location: Near Arctic Circle

Large, coniferous woodlands

Tundra ClimateHigh Latitude Climate Zone

• Characteristics: “Summerless” – at least 9 months are below freezing; precipitation is usually below 10 inches

• Vegetation: Vast treeless plains with low grasses, moss, and lichens (fungus)

• Location: Above Arctic Circle and Antarctica peninsulas

• Unique trait: Permafrost – ground is permanently frozen year round. Only the top few inches may thaw into wet marshes in the summer. Mosquitoes will breed in this environment.

Ice mounds are common on the tundrawhere the permafrost lies under the surface.

Tundra Soil Peeled Back at Level of Permafrost - Alaska

Arctic Circle

Fireweed gives unexpected burst of color to tundra.

Icecap Climate

High Latitude Climate Zone

• Characteristics: Summerless – ALL months are below freezing; Extremely low amounts of precipitation; windy; world’s lowest temperatures

• Vegetation: Little to no vegetation• Location: Interior of Greenland and the

Antarctica continent

The South Pole

A crack in the Greenland icecap with a waterfall inside.

Highland Climate

All Climate Zones

• Characteristics: Temperatures and precipitation varies with elevation. Temperatures become colder the higher the elevation. Generally more precipitation the higher the elevation until eventually little to no precipitation.

• Vegetation: Vegetation is greater at the base of the highland. Eventually there can be no vegetation due to extreme coldness and lack of moisture.

Telluride, Colorado