They are:. A: Tropical. B: Dry. These climate zones are so dry because moisture is rapidly evaporated from the air and there is very little precipitation. C: Temperate. In this zone, there are typically warm and humid summers with thunderstorms and mild winters. These regions have warm to cool summers and very cold winters. E: Polar. If you classify the United States into climate zones using all of this information, it actually looks something like this:. This is an illustration of the climate zones within the United States.
This also weathers the rocks. Wind effects are also high here as there is no presence of vegetation to block the winds. They are present between degree latitudes in western margin of continents.
They receive offshore trade winds hence low precipitation. Also they are basked with cold currents which have a desiccating effect on the winds. The deserts are present on leeward side or rain shadow side of mountains. Hence they experience low rainfall. Low population and xerophytic vegetation. However compared to temperate deserts the annual temperature range is low. Deserts also have high diurnal temperature range i.
Desert plants have long roots and thorns in place of leaves to prevent evaporation. Cacti are plants that store water in the stems to withstand long droughts. Nomadic herders like Bedoiuns [Sahara] and Bindibu [Aborigines of Australia] tribes are seen in deserts. Tuaregs and Gobi Mongols are nomadic horsemen who have settled here. These are located in interior region. They have high annual temperature range than tropical deserts.. Transitional type of climate found between the hot trade wind deserts and the equatorial forests.
There is a distinct cool, dry and hot, wet seasons here. In days the clear sky and the treeless land ensure that the temperatures are high and similarly the night time temperatures are low due to the radiation of heat from the land.
Thus the high diurnal temperature range is a characteristic feature of the savannas. Tall grass and short trees are the features of savanna forest. Trees are mainly deciduous origins. Wildlife is plenty. Masaai [nomadic, cattle herders] and Hausa [settled cultivators] are the tribes found there.
The Sudan climate is also responsible for rapid deterioration of soil fertility. The torrential rains cause heavy leaching of minerals like nitrates, potassium and phosphates. Then in the summer the high evaporation rates water of the soil dries up and so the savanna regions have laterite soils. These are practically treeless grasslands in the interiors of the continents. They are remotely located and are far away from the influence of any moisture bearing winds.
In the northern hemisphere , these grasslands face extreme heat in summer and extreme cold in winter. This is due to being far away from the moderating influence of the sea. In Southern hemisphere, due to moderating influence by the oceans extreme temperature swings are absent. Rainfall is mild in north compared to south. Wheat cultivation is the major occupation in the prairie grasslands. But due to the large landholdings one characteristic feature of the agriculture is poor yields.
This is due to low attention that can be paid by a farmer compared to those who have small land holdings. However due to sparse population majority of the wheat is exported and so the Prairies are called the Granaries of the World. Summer wheat: This is grown in parts where winter temperatures are too low and so seedlings are sown in summer. This wheat is used for making cakes, biscuits and pastries as it is too soft for bread making.
It is sown in winter and dried in summer and so becomes hard. This is best for making breads. The basic cause of monsoon climate is the difference in the rate of heating and cooling of the land and sea. The summer sees intense heating of the tropic of cancer region which is the Tibetan plateau; the heating causes a zone of low pressure to develop there.
At the same time in southern hemisphere there is winter and a high pressure belt is formed around the Continent of Australia. The conditions are reversed and in the winter a high pressure zone develops in the Central Asian region.
The winds blow from there to the low pressure belt in Australia created by intense heating as the sun is now over the Tropic of Capricorn. These winds arrive to Australia as the North west monsoon. The high pressure belt over Central Asia leads to out blowing dry winds. These cause some cyclonic showers over North West belt of India.
These winds then cross the Bay of Bengal and acquire some moisture. This period sees intense heating of the Indian subcontinent and no precipitation is seen. This lasts from March to May. This is the rainy season in the subcontinent and during this period almost all of the precipitation is seen.
Heavy and concentrated rainfall is a characteristic feature of Tropical Monsoon climate. This occurs in the Eastern coast of Tropical countries.
They receive rainfall from onshore trade winds continuously throughout the year. The pattern of rainfall is that a peak is seen during the summer which lasts for 4 months. However these regions are also affected by tropical cyclones, hurricanes and tycoons.
These are deciduous due to the presence of a dry period in the rainfall. Thus the leaves are shed. The monsoon forests are less thick and have far fewer species in an area compared to equatorial forests. This also means that they can be commercially exploited for timber.
The tropical countries are major producers of timber for the world. Agriculture is main occupation of most people and the main crops are rice [most characteristic crop of monsoon and marine regions], sugar cane [commercial cash crops], jute [grown mostly along the Ganga - Brahmaputra delta], tea, coffee.
Tropical forests experience about 12 hours of daylight daily, with only a rainy and dry season. They can contain different tree species in a half-mile square, with small fauna like birds, bats, insects and small mammals. A Mediterranean climate shows mild winters and hot, dry summers, and includes the land surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, Southern South America and Southern California. Plants are typically shrubby and less than three feet tall, populated by small, nocturnal animals like geckos, snakes and rodents, which are hunted by raptors like hawks.
The tundra is very cold all year and covers the tops of mountains, the northern extremes of North America and Asia, and the southern coast of Greenland. Though plant life may be numerous, it grows low to the ground and includes grasses and shrubs. Animal populations, which expand and shrink radically depending on the season, include:.
Aurelio Locsin has been writing professionally since He published his first book in and is a frequent contributor to many online publications, specializing in consumer, business and technical topics.
Locsin holds a Bachelor of Arts in scientific and technical communications from the University of Washington. Forest Ecosystem Classification. Characteristics of a Dry Climate.
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