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World Climate Zone [Online activities]: n Activities related to this
Climatic Zones topic
What factors affect climate?
Climate Graphs
Weather and Climate - Grade or
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What is precipitation?
Relief Rainfall Weather and Climate - Half a
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Pressure World Climate Zones
What is pressure?
What is low pressure?
What is high pressure?

Weather Hazards
World Climate zones
What is the difference between a tornado and a
hurricane? Climatic Zones
Tropical Storms What factors affect climate?
Climate Graphs

Climatic Zones
The world has several climatic zones. These are summarised on the
map below.
 (Image courtesy of the UK Meteorological Office)

The classification is based on maximum and minimum temperatures

and the temperature range as well as the total and seasonal distribution
of precipitation.

Simple summary of climatic zones:

Polar - very cold and dry all year

Temperate - cold winters and mmild summers
Arid - dry, hot all year
Tropical - hot and wet all year
Mediterranean - mild winters, dry hot summers
Mountains (tundra) very cold all year

What factors affect climate?

There are 5 factors which affect climate. These are summarised below:

Latitude

Temperature range increases with distance from the equator. Also,

temperatures decrease as you move away from the equator. This is
because the suns rays are dispersed over a larger area of land as you
move away from the equator. This is due to the curved surface of the
earth. In addition polar regions are colder because the suns rays have
further to travel compared to place on the equator.

Altitude

Temperatures decrease with height. The air is less dense and cannot
hold heat as easily.

Winds

If winds are warm - they have been blown from a hot area - they will
raise temperatures. If winds have been blown from cold areas they will
lower temperatures.
Distance from the sea (continentality)

Land heats and cools faster than the sea. Therefore coastal areas have
a lower temperature range than those areas inland. On the coast
winters are mild and summers are cool. In inland areas temperatures
are high in the summer and cold in the winter.

Aspect

Slopes facing the sun are warmer than those that are not. Thus south
facing slopes in the northern hemisphere are usually warm. However,
slopes facing north in the southern hemisphere are warmest.

Climate Graphs
Climate can be displayed on a graph. A climate graph contains two
pieces of information. The amount of rainfall and the temperature of an
area. The temperature is shown as a line and the rainfall is displayed as
bars. The figures are usually calculated as an average over a number
of years. This reduces the impact of any anomalies in the weather
affecting the statistics.

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