Climate Zones

1. Climate Zones Please Follow Along on Your Ipad

2. Tropical Climates • Tropical Rain Forest • Year-round rainfall • Lush vegetation • Millions of species of plants/animals • Example: Amazon Rainforest • Tropical Savanna • Wet season and dry season • Savannas – broad grasslands with few trees

3. Mid-Latitude Climates • Marine west coast • rainy, mild winters • Cool summers • Heavy rainfall • Deciduous and Coniferous Trees • Mediterranean • Mild, rainy winters • Hot, dry summers • Mostly shrubs and short trees • Humid continental • Long, cold, snowy winters • Short, hot summers • Deciduous trees and grasslands • Humid sub-tropical • Rainfall all year (most during hot summer months) • Short, mild winters • Oaks, magnolias, and palms

4. High-Latitude Climates • Subarctic • Few people • Very cold, harsh winters • Temps above freezing in summer • Evergreen forests • Tundra • Vast, treeless plain • Lower layers of soil are permanently frozen • Sturdy grasses and low bushes • Ice cap • Bitterly cold • Average temp below freezing (as low as -128 F) • Lichens can grow on rocks

5. Dry Climates • Desert • Less than 10 inches of rainfall per year • Plant life: scrub and Cacti • Steppe • Usually surrounding desert • Partly dry grasslands and prairies • 10 to 20 in. of rain a year • Covered in bushes and short grasses

6. Highland Climate • Mountain climate • Cool or cold temperatures year round • Timberline – elevation above which no trees can grow