The document defines and describes the major climate regions of the world. It begins by stating that temperature and precipitation are the defining factors of climate regions and that broad climate definitions help identify weather variations over the course of a year at a given location. It then provides descriptions of 15 different climate types including tropical wet, tropical wet and dry, semiarid, desert, Mediterranean, marine west coast, humid subtropical, humid continental, subarctic, tundra, ice cap, and highlands. For each climate type, it gives 1-2 defining characteristics.

1. CHAPTER 3
SECTION 3
World Climate Regions

2. WORLD CLIMATE
REGIONS
Temperature and precipitation define climate
regions.
Broad climate definitions help to identify variations
in weather at a location over the course of a year.

3. Place: This highland climate
zone in Patagonia, South
America, has several different
climate regions including
tundra and subarctic.
Question:
Examine the image and
describe what kind of weather
you expect at the different
elevations?

4. I. Defining a Climate Region
A. Typical Weather
Temperature and precipitation define climate.
2. Location, topography, elevation may impact
climate.
3. Five general climate regions:
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
tropical (low-latitude)
Dry
mid-latitude
high latitude
highland

5. II. Types of Climates
A. Tropical Wet
1.
Always hot; daily rainfall adds up to more than 80”
annually.
B. Tropical Wet and Dry
1.
Warm, wet summer season; cooler, dry winter season.
C. Semiarid
1.
Hot summers; mild to cold winters; little precipitation.
D. Desert
1.
Two kinds of desert—hot, cool/cold; less than 10” rain
per year.

6. E. Mediterranean
1.
Summers dry and hot; winters cool and rainy.
F. Marine West Coast
1.
Moderate temperatures; frequently cloudy, foggy, damp.
G. Humid Subtropical
1.
Long periods of summer heat and humidity; winters mild
to cool.
H. Humid Continental
1.
Great variety of temperature, precipitation; four distinct
seasons.

7. How are
Mediterranean and
Marine West Coast
Climates different?
Mediterranean climate
has a cool, rainy
season and hot, dry
summer, marine west
coast has evenly
distributed
precipitation
throughout the year.

8. I.
Subarctic
1.
J.
Summers are short and cool; winters are long and very cold.
Tundra
1.
Tundra—flat, treeless ring of lands around the Arctic Ocean.
2.
Very little precipitation; summer temperatures around 40 F.
3.
Permafrost is the constantly frozen subsoil found in this
region.
K. Ice Cap
1.
Snow, ice, permanently freezing temperatures.
L. Highlands
1.
Climate varies with latitude, elevation, topography, location.

9. What
adaptations to
the cold climate
do you notice in
this
photograph?