Date post: | 27-Mar-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | jonathan-howell |
View: | 216 times |
Download: | 0 times |
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
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
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