CLIMATE

• Climate is a large region of the Earth’s general weather or atmospheric pattern over a long period of time.

• Weather is the short term atmospheric conditions of a particular region.

“Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get”.-Mark Twain

MAJOR FACTORS

LATITUDE AND ELEVATION: Latitude is the distance from the equator and elevation is the height above sea level.

RAIN AND TEMPERATURE:

Ecology.botany.ufl.edu/ecologyf03/biodiv.html

ANNUAL PERCIPITATION

TEMPERATURE

LOCATION ON EARTH

EARTH’S MAJOR TERRESTRIAL CLIMATE ZONES

• Polar• Sub Arctic• Cool Temperate• Warm Temperate• Dry• Tropical

www.maps.com/ref_aspx?pid=12881

BIOMES

• Biomes are large regions that are categorized by their similar climate, soil, plant and animal life, no matter where they are found on Earth.

• Biome types are mainly determined by climate.

• Each climactic region of the planet is home to a variety of biome types.

BIOME CATEGORIES

MOUNTAINSFORESTS

SHRUBLANDSGRASSLANDS

INCREASING PERCIPITATION

DESERTS

LITTLE TO NO PERCIPITATION

DESERTS

GRASSLANDS

SHRUBLANDS

FORESTS

MOUNTAINS

DESERT BIOMES

• Desert= evaporation exceeds precipitation.

• Little vegetation. What does grow and thrive in desert conditions, needs very little water

• The closer to the equator, the hotter the desert.

CLIMATE AND DESERTS

• TROPICAL DESERTS: Very hot and dry all year long. Located 30 degrees north or south of the equator.

• TEMPERATE DESERTS: Warm daytime hours in the summer, and cold winters. More precipitation than tropical deserts.

• POLAR DESERTS: Cold winters- goes below freezing. Warm summers. Same precipitation as temperate deserts.

GRASSLANDS AND SHRUBLANDS

• Grasslands are too wet to be deserts and to dry to be forests.

• They occur mostly in the middle of continents.

www.worldbiomes.com

CLIMATE AND GRASSLANDS

• SAVANNAHS: Tropical grasslands that have alternating dry and wet seasons. They are scattered with shrubs, and are warm year round.

• TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS: Very cold winters and hot summers. Sporadic rain, extremely fertile soil. Overused for cattle grazing.

• CHAPARRALS: Temperate shrub lands. Mainly located near the coasts that border deserts.

• ARCTIC TUNDRA: Polar grasslands are treeless plains that are bitterly cold most of the year. Underneath its layer of snow are many different low laying plant species and mosses.

FOREST BIOMES

• There is enough precipitation to sustain large stands of trees.

• Precipitation and temperature determine the type of forest in a region.

www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9k.html

CLIMATE AND FORESTS• TROPICAL RAIN FOREST: Hot with very heavy rainfall year round.

• DECIDUOUS FORESTS: Found in areas of high seasonal change throughout the year.

• CONIFEROUS (BORREAL) FORESTS: Cold winters and wet summers. Most of these forests are found in sub arctic regions. However, some are found in moderate areas because of a very wet climate.

• TEMPERATE RAINFORESTS: Found near temperate coasts where rain and fog are plentiful most of the year. The winters are cold and the summers are cool.

MOUNTAIN BIOMES

• Islands in the sky.

• Mountains happen in any region of the planet.

• Affect climates by creating a rain shadow on a region of land.

• A rain shadow can change a landscape from a forest (on one side of the mountain) to a desert (on the other side).

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00182/mountains.htm

DOES THE EARTH HAVE A PATTERN?

• The farther away a region is from the equator, the colder the region.

• Latitude at the equator = 0. • The Earth is broken up into 180* on each side,

north and south of the equator.• Between what latitudes would you most likely

find a rainforest?

WORK CITATIONS

• G. Tyler Miller. 2007. Chapter 5. Living In The Environment, 15th Edition.

Jack Carey. Pages 100-124

• All other citations are throughout the power point on specific slides.