The document summarizes the various climate zones and environments across North America, influenced by factors like latitude, elevation, ocean currents, and proximity to mountain ranges or oceans. Much of Canada and northern US experience subarctic or arctic climates with long, cold winters due to their northern latitudes. Coastal regions in the west generally have mild, wet climates while inland areas have hot, dry climates or cold continental climates depending on location. Forests, grasslands, and deserts develop under different climate conditions.

1.  By Jack Garrity

2.  Book pages 121-125

6.  Much of the United States and Canada experiences
exactly the types of climate one might expect from
the countries’ latitudes.
 Two thirds of Canada and the U.S. state of Alaska lie
in higher latitudes and experience long, cold winters
and brief, mild summers.
 Most of the continental United States and the
southern one third of Canada lie within more
temperate latitudes, where climate regions vary with
elevation.

7. Large parts of Canada and Alaska lie in a subarctic
climate zone that average below –18°C, winter
temperatures of -57C (-70F) in some places.

10. Coniferous forests thrive, these are part of the Taglia,
which is the largest continuous forest on the planet

13. A high atmospheric pressure area over the Canadian
subarctic makes cold winds, bringing winter to the USA.

14. Tundra lines the Arctic coastline

19. Bitter winters and cool summers make it inhospitable
for most plants, and few people live here.

20.  inhospitable
 (of an environment) harsh and difficult to live
in.

21. In Greenland only grows sedge, cotton grass, and
lichens.

22. In Greenland only grows sedge, cotton grass, and
lichens.

23. The island’s small ice-free areas have few trees, but some
dwarfed birch, willow, and alder scrubs do survive.

24. Few people live in Greenland and the tundra.
Greenland/Population
56,483 (2013)

25.  Latitude, elevation, ocean currents, and rainfall
combine to make a variety of climates in the west.

26. The Pacific coast from California to Alaska has a
marine wet climate

27. The mountains force the wet ocean air upward, where it
cools and releases its moisture.

28. Parts of the region gets more than 100 inches (254 cm)
of rain each year.

29. Coniferous forests, ferns, and mosses are common
there.

30. Ancient redwood and sequoia forests thrive.

31. Sequoias are evergreens that live 1,200 -1,800 years or
more, growing 115.5 m tall and 8.9 m in diameter.

33. These trees are also among the oldest living things on
the planet.

37. Prevailing winds gives little rain to Southern California,
producing a mild Mediterranean climate.

38. Prevailing winds gives little rain to Southern California,
producing a mild Mediterranean climate.

42. The rain shadow effect gives the plateaus and basins between
Pacific Ranges and Rockies a hot and dry climate.

43. Much of the area has a steppe or desert climate.

44. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.

45. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.

46. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.

47. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.

48. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.

49. Here cacti and hardy wildflowers bloom in the brief spri
rains.

50. Next to these deserts, a steppe climate with a mixture of
desert scrub.

52. Grass lands (mid to southern) and coniferous forests
(north) flourish with more rainfall.

53.  Similar to South America, elevation, not latitude,
produces a variety of climate zones and environments.

54.  Similar to South America’s Tierra Fria, elevation gives the
middle elevations a highland climate with coniferous
forests.

55. Trees cannot grow above the tree line, similar to South
America’s Tierra Helena and Nevada

56. In late winter and early spring, a warm, dry wind called
the chinook blows down the eastern slopes of the
Rockies, warming 1°C for every 99 meters.

57. The chinook rapidly melts and evaporates the snow at th
base of the mountains.

59. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.

61. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.

62. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.

63. The Great Plains benefit from moist winds that blow north
along the Rockies from the Gulf of Mexico and south from
the Arctic.

64. The Great Plains benefit from moist winds that blow north
along the Rockies from the Gulf of Mexico and south from
the Arctic.

65. The humid continental climate extends into southern
Canada.

66. Prairies ( naturally treeless expanses of Grasses) spread across the
Great Plains.

67. Rainfall ranging from 10 to 30 inches (26 to 76 cm) waters tall
prairie grasses, such as switchgrass and bluestem (1.8 to 3.7 m)
high.

69. In the Great Plains, violent spring and summer thunderstorms
called supercells spawn tornadoes, with winds reaching 300 miles
(483 km) per hour.

70. In the Great Plains, violent spring and summer thunderstorms
called supercells spawn tornadoes, with winds reaching 300 miles
(483 km) per hour.

74. The humid subtropical climate of the southeast
has long, muggy summers and mild winters.

75. Deciduous forests extend as far south as Louisiana, with
lots of cleared farmland.

77. Wetlands and swamps like Florida’s Everglades shelter a
great variety of vegetation and wildlife.

80. In late summer and early autumn, hurricanes—ocean
storms hundreds of miles wide with winds of 74 miles per
hour (119 km per hour) —can pound the region’s coastlines.

88. A humid continental climate extends from the
northeastern United States into southeastern Canada.

90. In Canada, a band of deciduous and mixed deciduous-
coniferous forestland more than 1,375 miles (2,213 km) wide
sweeps from Newfoundland into the subarctic Yukon Territory.

91. In Canada, a band of deciduous and mixed deciduous-
coniferous forestland more than 1,375 miles (2,213 km) wide
sweeps from Newfoundland into the subarctic Yukon Territory.

97. In the United States, deciduous forests continue grow at
lower elevations into the south.

98. In winter, much of northern North America has
blizzards .

99. Blizzards have winds of more than 35 miles per hour
(56 km per hour), with heavy blowing snow.

100. Snow often closes roads and school in the winter.

105.  North America has no tropical rainforest, the
extreme tip of Florida has a tropical savanna.

106.  End