World Climate and Vegetation Zones



World Climate and Vegetation Zones | |

|Zone |Climate Type |Location |Description |Natural Vegetation |Major Climatic Usage |Some Places it Occurs |

|Tropical |Rainy Tropical or |0º to 8º latitudes; also up |Always hot and rainy; some months |Rain forest or selva; some |Rubber, bananas, cacao, rice,|Amazon Basin; Congo Basin; |

| |Tropical Rain Forest |to 25º latitude on windward |less rainy than others; humidity |jungle growth in clearings. |tropical woods. |Indonesia |

| |(AF) |sides of mountains (Trade |great. | | | |

| | |Winds) | | | | |

|Tropical |Monsoon Tropical (Am) |8º to 12º latitudes; also |Always warm to hot; longer rainy |Tropical savanna (tall grass, |Millet (dry season crop); |Llanos of Venezuela; Pacific |

| | |along tropical coasts. |season; shorter dry season. |up to 15 ft.); trees along |Rice (rainy season crop) |coast of southern Mexico |

| | | | |rivers. | | |

|Tropical |Semiarid Tropical (Aw)|12º to 18º latitudes; mostly |Longer dry season; shorter wet |Tropical steppe (or short grass|Millet; sorghum; grazing and |Yucatan peninsula of Mexico; |

| | |in the Trade Wind Belt. |season; days warm to hot; |savannas, 1 to 2 ft. high); few|nomadic herding |Deccan of south central India |

| | | |dry-season nights cooler. |trees. | | |

|Tropical |Arid Tropical (Bwh) |18º to 30º latitudes; Trade |Dry! Rainfall light, but |Desert scrub |Grazing; nomadic heading; |Atacama Desert, Peru; Sahara |

| | |Wind and Horse Latitudes |sporadic; hot days, cooler nights.| |irrigation, date palms |Desert |

| | |Belts. | | | | |

|Subtropical |Mediterranean |30º to 36º latitudes; west |Mild, moist winters; hot, dry |Sclerophyl; Vegetation with |Olives, grapes, figs, barley |Los Angeles Basin, CA; Middle |

| |Subtropical (Cs) |continental margins. |summers. Winter rainfall, light; |deep roots, heavy bark, |& wheat as winter crops. |Chile; Mediterranean Europe |

| | | |summer nights cool. |leathery leaves. |Summer with irrigation. | |

|Subtropical |Humid Subtropical |30º to 36º latitudes; east |Mild winters & hot summers; |Live oak, gum, magnolia, yellow|Cotton & tobacco; some rice |Cotton Belt of the US; South |

| |(Cfa-Cwa) |sides of continents. |rainfall well-distributed |pine, cypress, holly |and sugar cane. |Korea; Central China |

| | | |throughout the year. | | | |

|Subtropical |Dry Subtropica (Bwh)l |30º to 35º latitudes; |Mild winters and hot summers; |Desert scrub |Grazing & nomadic herding & |Plateaus of SW US; Veldt, South |

| | |continental interiors |rainfall light, but sporadic. | |irrigated agriculture |Africa |

|Cyclonic |Humid Continental – |36º to 45º latitudes; east |4 seasons; rainfall |Hardwood (oak, ash, maple, |Grain (wheat & corn) & |US central lowland; north China; |

| |long summer (Dfa) |sides of continents |well-distributed; long summers & |hickory); some prairie |livestock |the Ukraine |

| | | |short, mild winters | | | |

|Zone |Climate Type |Location |Description |Natural Vegetation |Major Climatic Usage |Some places it occurs |

|Cyclonic |Humid Continental – |45º to 55º latitudes; east |4 seasons; rainfall & snowfall |Hardwood & evergreen (pine, |Dairying; hay & small grains;|St. Lawrence Valley; Baltic |

| |short summer |sides of continents. |well-distributed. Medium summers;|fir, spruce). |lumbering |Plain; Manchuria |

| |(Dfb-Dwb) | |colder winters. | | | |

|Cyclonic |Dry Continental (Bwk) |36º to 53º latitudes; |Hot summers; COLD winters; |Short grasses; dwarfed trees; |Grazing; irrigated |Great Basin of US; Mongolia; |

| | |continental interiors |rainfall light and sporadic |desert scrub |agriculture |Argentine Patagonia |

|Cyclonic |Temperate Marine |36º to 65º latitudes; western|Always mild & moist; exposed to |Forest (mixed); heather, |Dairying; lumbering |US Northwest coast; British |

| |(Marine West Coast) |margins of continents |westerly winds |shrubs, grasses | |Isles; New Zealand |

| |(Cfb) | | | | | |

|Polar |Polar Continental (Dc, |55º to 65º latitudes; East |Generally, 2 seasons (change is |Taiga (evergreen forest) – |Lumbering; trapping; & | |

| |Dd) |margins & continental |rapid); long cold winters; short, |spruce, larch, fir, tamarack, |fur-farming (raising) | |

| | |interiors |warm summers |“whitewoods” | | |

|Polar |Polar Marine (ET) |Above 65º latitude; on Arctic|Long , cold winters (not as cold |Tundra – scrub, mosses, |Hunting; trapping; fishing. |Aleutian chain and Arctic |

| | |& Antarctic shores exposed to|as Polar Continental) with much |lichens. | |lowlands of Alaska; Russian |

| | |the Polar Easterlies |darkness. Short, chilly summers | | |Siberian tundra |

| | | |(caused by the winds) | | | |

|Polar |Polar (Ice-Cap) (EF) |In the interiors of polar |Always cold; no summers; |NONE |NONE |Greenland & Antarctica |

| | |lands |precipitation light as snow or | | | |

| | | |sleet | | | |

|Mountains |Unclassified (H) |High mountains |Altitudinal zonation |Varies with altitude |Varies with altitude |Andes |

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