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Climate zones are systems that categorize the world's . A climate classification may correlate closely with a
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There are several ways to classify climates into similar regimes. Originally, were defined in Ancient Greece to describe the weather depending upon a location's latitude. Modern climate classification methods can be broadly divided into genetic methods, which focus on the causes of climate, and empiric methods, which focus on the effects of climate. Examples of genetic classification include methods based on the relative frequency of different air mass types or locations within synoptic weather disturbances. Examples of empirical classifications include defined by plant hardiness,United States National Arboretum. USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Retrieved on 2008-03-09 evapotranspiration, or associations with certain , as in the case of the Köppen climate classification. A common shortcoming of these classification schemes is that they produce distinct boundaries between the zones they define, rather than the gradual transition of climate properties more common in nature.
Based upon the Bergeron classification scheme is the Spatial Synoptic Classification system (SSC). There are six categories within the SSC scheme: Dry Polar (similar to continental polar), Dry Moderate (similar to maritime superior), Dry Tropical (similar to continental tropical), Moist Polar (similar to maritime polar), Moist Moderate (a hybrid between maritime polar and maritime tropical), and Moist Tropical (similar to maritime tropical, maritime monsoon, or maritime equatorial).Robert E. Davis, L. Sitka, D. M. Hondula, S. Gawtry, D. Knight, T. Lee, and J. Stenger. J1.10 A preliminary back-trajectory and air mass climatology for the Shenandoah Valley (Formerly J3.16 for Applied Climatology). Retrieved on 2008-05-21.
Tropical climates are defined as locations where the coolest monthly mean temperature is above 18 C (64.4 F). This tropical zone is further broken down into rainforest, monsoon, and savanna based on seasonal rainfall. These climates are most often located between the Equator and 25 north and south latitude.
A monsoon is a seasonal prevailing wind which lasts for several months, ushering in a region's rainy season. Regions within North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and East Asia are monsoon regimes. A tropical savanna is a grassland biome located in semi-arid to semi-Humidity climate regions of subtropical and tropical , with average temperatures remaining at or above all year round, and rainfall between and a year. They are widespread on Africa, and are found in India, the northern parts of South America, Malaysia, and Australia. The humid subtropical climate zone where winter rainfall (and sometimes light snowfall) is associated with storms that the westerlies steer from west to east at the time of low sun (winter). In summer, high pressure dominates as the westerlies move north. Most summer rainfall occurs during and from occasional . Humid subtropical climates lie on the east side of continents, roughly between 20° and 40° degrees away from the equator.
A humid continental climate is marked by variable weather patterns and a large seasonal temperature variance, cold and often very snowy winters, and warm summers. Places with more than three months of average daily temperatures above and a coldest month temperature below and which do not meet the criteria for an arid climate or semi-arid climate, are classified as continental. Most climates in this zone are found from 35 latitude to 55 latitude, mostly in the northern hemisphere.
An oceanic climate is typically found along west coasts in higher middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia, and is accompanied by plentiful precipitation year-round, cool summers, and small annual ranges of temperatures. Most climates of this type are found from 45 latitude to 55 latitude.
The Mediterranean climate regime resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, parts of western North America, parts of Western and South Australia, in southwestern South Africa and in parts of central Chile. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
A steppe is a dry grassland with an annual temperature range in the summer of up to and during the winter down to .
A subarctic climate has little precipitation, and monthly temperatures which are above for one to three months of the year, with permafrost in large parts of the area due to the cold winters. Winters within subarctic climates usually include up to six months of temperatures averaging below .
Tundra occurs in the far Northern Hemisphere, north of the taiga belt, including vast areas of northern Russia and Canada.
A polar ice cap, or polar ice sheet, is a high-latitude region of a planet or moon that is covered in ice. Ice caps form because high-latitude regions receive less energy as solar radiation from the sun than regions, resulting in lower surface temperatures.
A desert is a landscape form or region that receives very little precipitation. Deserts usually have a large diurnal and seasonal temperature range, with high or low, depending on location daytime temperatures (in summer up to ), and low nighttime temperatures (in winter down to ) due to extremely low humidity. Many deserts are formed by , as mountains block the path of moisture and precipitation to the desert.
The Trewartha climate classification changes were seen as most effective on the large landmasses in Asia and North America, where many areas fall into a single group ( C) in the Köppen–Geiger system.Köppen, 1936, Trewartha & Horn 1980, Bailey 2009, Baker et al. 2010 For example, under the standard Köppen system, Washington and Oregon are classed into the same climate zone ( Csb) as parts of Southern California, even though the two regions have strikingly different weather and vegetation. Another example was classifying cities like London or New York in the same climate group ( C) as Brisbane or New Orleans, despite great differences in seasonal temperatures and native plant life.Bailey RG (2009) Ecosystem geography:from ecoregions to sites, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, NY
The moisture classification includes climatic classes with descriptors such as hyperhumid, humid, subhumid, subarid, semi-arid (values of −20 to −40), and arid (values below −40). Humid regions experience more precipitation than evaporation each year, while arid regions experience greater evaporation than precipitation on an annual basis. A total of 33 percent of the Earth's landmass is considered either arid or semi-arid, including southwest North America, southwest South America, most of northern and a small part of southern Africa, southwest and portions of eastern Asia, as well as much of Australia. Studies suggest that precipitation effectiveness (PE) within the Thornthwaite moisture index is overestimated in the summer and underestimated in the winter. This index can be effectively used to determine the number of herbivore and mammal species numbers within a given area. The index is also used in studies of climate change.
Thermal classifications within the Thornthwaite scheme include microthermal, mesothermal, and megathermal regimes. A microthermal climate is one of low annual mean temperatures, generally between and which experiences short summers and has a potential evaporation between and . A mesothermal climate lacks persistent heat or persistent cold, with potential evaporation between and . A megathermal climate is one with persistent high temperatures and abundant rainfall, with potential annual evaporation in excess of .
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