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Climate & Vegetation

Climate & Vegetation. 5 types of climate: Equatorial/Monsoon Warm temperate Cold temperate Hot desert Tundra. Climate & Vegetation. The Koppen Climate Classification system Designed by Koppen (1846-1940), a German climatologist and botanist.

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Climate & Vegetation

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  1. Climate & Vegetation • 5 types of climate: • Equatorial/Monsoon • Warm temperate • Cold temperate • Hot desert • Tundra

  2. Climate & Vegetation • The Koppen Climate Classification system • Designed by Koppen (1846-1940), a German climatologist and botanist. • By 1900, he included plant communities in his selection of some temperature criteria

  3. Climate & Vegetation • The Koppen Climate Classification system • He added letter symbols to designate climate types (eg. Af for tropical rainforest) • Later, he reduced the role played by plants in setting boundaries and moved his system towards strictly climatological empiricism.

  4. Climate & Vegetation • The Koppen Climate Classification system • First wall map showing world climate (co-authored with his student) was introduced in 1928 and was soon widely used. • The map constantly went under revision until Koppen’s death.

  5. Climate & Vegetation • The Koppen Climate Classification system • Koppen used average monthly temperatures, average monthly precipitation and total annual precipitation to circumscribe spatial categories and boundaries on his climatic map. Note: boundaries are transition zones of gradual change. What is more crucial are the trends and overall patterns of boundary lines.

  6. Climate & Vegetation The Koppen Climate Classification system

  7. Climate & Vegetation The Koppen Climate Classification system A – Tropical (equatorial regions) B – Dry (deserts and steppes; arid and semiarid regions) C – Mesothermal (humid subtropical, Mediterranean, marine west coast regions) D – Microthermal (humid continental, subarctic regions)

  8. Climate & Vegetation The Koppen Climate Classification system E – Polar regions H – Highland (compared with lowlands at the same latitude, the highlands have lower temperatures) Capital letters are used to designate climatic categories by latitude, from the equator (A) to the poles (E) + H category for the special case of highlands.

  9. Climate & Vegetation The Koppen Climate Classification system Of the six categories, all but B are based purely on temperature criteria. Within each climate classification, additional lower-case letter are used to signify temperature and moisture conditions.

  10. Climate & Vegetation • Climate characteristics • Equatorial climate • High temperatures throughout the year • High humidity (thick cloud cover) ensures that temperatures are not exceedingly high • Rain falls every month (annual amount is high) • Rainfall evenly distributed throughout the year

  11. Climate & Vegetation • Climate characteristics • B. Tropical Monsoon climate • Found between 10°N/S and 25°N/S • Has a hot and cool season • Larger annual range of temperature than in equatorial region • Distinct dry and wet seasons

  12. Climate & Vegetation • Climate characteristics • C. Temperate climate • Experienced between 30°N/S and 70°N, 60°S • Characterised by four seasons • Great variations in temperatures and rainfall depending on location • Can be sub-divided into warm, cool and cold temperate climate

  13. Climate & Vegetation

  14. Climate & Vegetation Climate, in particular rainfall and temperature, determines the type of natural vegetation found in an area. Natural vegetation: plant life that has not been planted by people. Natural vegetation may be classified as forests, grasslands and deserts.

  15. Climate & Vegetation • References • Chong, M. (2001) Aspects of Physical Geography, Singapore: Pekoe Books. • Waugh, D. (2000) Geography – An Integrated Approach, UK: Nelson. • For more info on Koppen Classification: • http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011700b.htm

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