1. What factors are used to classify climate?
2. What are the five major climate regions

• Climate is Classified by two major factors.
– Temperature
– Precipitation
• Five main climate types
– Tropical rainy
– Dry
– Temperate Marine
– Temperate continental
– Polar

• Tropical types
– Wet
– dry
• Tropical Wet
– Many rainy days
– Lush vegetation
– Rain forests
• Tropical Dry
– Less rainfall
– Grass lands
– Savannah

• Arid or semiarid
• Arid –
– Less than 25 cm of precipitation per year
– Cactus
– Yucca
– Southwest US
• Semi arid
– edge of deserts
– Grasses and low bushes
– Called a Steppe or prairie
– The Great Plains

• Three Types
• Marine West Coast
– North of 40 Lat and South of 40 Lat
– Humid cool rainy summers and mild rainy winters.
– Produce large forests
• Mediterranean
– Drier and warmer than the west coast
– Dense shrubs and small trees
– In California olives grapes and oranges are grown in this zone
• Humid Sub-Tropical
– The warmest region
– Hot wet summers
– Cool Winters
– Houston, new Orleans
– Mixed forest of Pine, oak, ash, hickory

• Two types
• Humid Continental
– North East US
– Mixed forest
– Warm humid summers
• Subartic
– Russia, Canada, Alaska
– Winters are long and cold
– Coniferous tres
– Large mammals

• Two Zones
• Ice Cap
– Greenland and Antarctica
– Temperature below freezing
– Land is covered with ice
– Few low plants
• Tundra
– Alaska, Russia, Canada
– Short Cool Summer
– Bitterly cold winters
– Permafrost
– Mosquitoes
– Caribou
– Musk oxen
– Wolves

• Lower temperature than surrounding areas
• Animals typical of the subarctic
• Moose, porcupines
• Few trees above timberline

• What two factors are used to classify climate?
• Temperature, and Precipitation
• What are five Major Climate zones
– Tropical-Hot rainy, dry- little precipitation, temperate marine- humid and mild, temperate continental- warm summers cold winters, Polarcool summers cold winters