Global Climates

1. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

2. What is Climate? • Climate is the average weather of a region over an extended period of time. • Average weather is based on measurements of temperature and precipitation. • Measurements are concerned with both average annual values and annual variation

3. Why do we care about climate classification? • Our mood • Types of vegetation • Types of animals • Types of activities • Types of soil • Climate Change! • Weather • Type of agriculture • Type of people/culture • Type of economy • Type of clothes we wear

4. Keys to Climate • Temperature Regime – annual temperature cycle. Based on latitude, location, elevation. There are seven distinct types: (Subarctic continental, Ice sheet, midlatitude continental, tropical continental, midlatitude west coast, equatorial, tropical west coast) • Precipitation – seasonality patterns controlled by air masses and their movements (influenced by atmospheric circulation patterns) There are seven precipitation regions: (Wet equatorial, Trade-wind coasts, tropical deserts, midlatitude deserts, midlatitude deserts and steppes, midlatitude west coasts, arctic and polar deserts)

5. Dry Vs Moist Climate • Dry: Outputs > Inputs • Wet: Inputs > Outputs • Inputs = precipitation • Outputs = evaporation, transpiration

6. Displaying Climates • A climograph plots monthly average temperature and precipitation for some location. • It provides a quick way of characterizing the climate of a particular place.

7. Temperature Regimes

8. A B

9. So…What Determines a Climate? • Latitude • Coastal-Continental location • Elevation • Source of incoming air mass .

10. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

11. Temperature Regimes • Subarctic continental • Ice sheet • Midlatitude continental • Tropical continental • Midlatitude west coast • Equatorial • Tropical west coast

12. Temperature Regimes

13. Major Principles of Temperature Regimes: • Low latitude locations have warmer temperatures and smaller annual temperature ranges than high latitude locations… why? • Continental Locations have larger annual temperature ranges than coastal locations (of the same latitude)… why? • Colder locations tend to have less precipitation than warm locations …why?

14. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

15. Precipitation Regimes • Wet equatorial • Trade-wind coasts • Tropical deserts • Midlatitude deserts • Midlatitude deserts and steppes • Midlatitude west coasts • Arctic and polar deserts

16. Precipitation Regimes Figure 7.3, p. 220

17. Precipitation patterns: • Uniformly distributed precipitation seasonally 2. Precipitation maximum during the warmest period of the year (high sun season) 3. Precipitation maximum during the coolest period of the year (low sun season)

18. Precipitation Regimes

19. Major Principles of Precipitation Regimes… • Atmospheric Circulation has a strong influence on precipitation pattern… why? • High convectional precipitation at equatorial regions… why? • Mountain ranges produce wet areas… why?

20. Major Principles of Precipitation Regimes • Coastal mountains can act as barriers to produce rain shadows. • Continental interiors tend to be dry because they are far from source areas of moist air masses

21. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

22. Climate Classification How are climates classified ? • Based on monthly values of air temp and precipitation • Understood and explained by air mass movements and frontal zones • Moisture based on incoming Vs Outgoing

23. Climate Classification Based on the scheme first developed by Dr. Vladimir Köppen (University of Graz, Austria) in 1918. A: for Tropical Humid B: for Dry C: for Mild Mid-Latitude D: for Severe Mid-Latitude E: for Polar H: for Highland

24. Climate Classification (Köppen)

25. Köppen Global Climates Classification

28. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

29. Low Latitude Climate Properties • Located near the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. • Range from very wet to very dry • Smaller seasonal temperature range • Dominated by cT, mT, and mE air masses

30. Low Latitude Climates

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39. Global Climates • What is a Climate? • Temperature Regimes • Precipitation Regimes • Climate Classification • Different Climates: • Low Latitude Climates • Midlatitude Climates • High Latitude Climates • Highland Climates

40. Midlatitude Climate Properties • Located at the polar front zone where warm air masses and cold air masses interact • These climates occupy the land areas of the midlatitude zones (mainly in the Northern Hemisphere) • Strong annual variations in temperature and precipitation • mT, cT. mP, cP, cA air masses

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