Climate Regions•Weather – the atmospheric conditions at a given time and place

•Climate – the average weather of a place over a long period of time

•“Climate is what you expect; weather is what you get.”

Tropical Wet

• Always hot• Days begin sunny,

but cloud up in the afternoon with rain

• 80 inches of rainfall annually

• Central & South America, Africa & Southeast Asia

Tropical Wet and Dry

• Rainy Season in summer and dry season in winter

• Cooler in dry season and warmer in wet season

• Less rain than Tropical Wet

• Found adjacent to Tropical Wet regions

Semiarid

• Not much rainfall (16 inches annually)

• Hot summers, mild winters (occasional snow – not often)

• Found in interior of continents and around deserts

• Very productive agriculturally

Desert• Can be hot or cold• Receive less than 10 inches of rainfall/year• Hot deserts (Sahara) have low humidity, so

temperatures drop at night• Cold deserts are found in the rain shadow of

nearby mts

Mediterranean

• Dry, hot summers; cool, rainy winters

• Rich agriculture and dense populations are common

• Italy, U.S. West Coast, parts of Australia, coastal Chile

Marine West Coast

• Located close to ocean

• Cloudy, foggy, damp• Warm ocean winds

keep temperature constant

• Consistent rainfall• Parts of U.S. west,

Canada, & Western Europe

• Smog is common

Humid Subtropical• Long periods of

summer heat & humidity

• Mild winters• East coast of

continents• Hurricanes are

common• Rice is a popular crop• Southeastern U.S. &

China

Humid Continental

• Variety in temperature and rainfall

• Mid-latitudes in the interior of continents

• Experience 4 seasons• Length of season

determined by latitude

Subarctic

• Evergreen forests (taiga)

• Huge temperature variations between summer and winter

• Summers are short• Temperature is

freezing 5-8 months/year

• Canada & Russia

Tundra

• Flat, treeless lands forming a ring around the Arctic Ocean

• Very little rainfall• Permafrost – subsoil that is constantly frozen• Summer is only a few weeks with temperatures rising to

40 degrees

Ice Cap

• Snow, ice, and permanently freezing temperatures

• So cold it rarely snows

• Sometimes called polar deserts

• Antarctica

Highlands

• Mountain climates

• Climates vary due to latitude, elevation, nearby landforms, and bodies of water