chpater8 climatic zonesand types- u c c s home（chpater 8 climatic zonesand types - u c c s home）.doc

Chapter 8: Climate and Climate Change Climate Classification Intro basic goal of the geographic study of climate: understand its distribution over Earth challenges: climate involves continuous variation and can change over time Early Classification Schemes ancient Greek system – 3 climate zones Temperate Zone of the midlatitudes (Athens @ 38oN) Torrid Zone of the tropics to the south Frigid zone to the north The K?ppen Climate Classification System K?ppen – German climatologist and botanist first version 1918 basis for classification: average annual and average monthly values of temperature and precipitation 4 of 5 major climatic groups defined primarily by temperature characteristics B group defined on basis of moisture subdivided each group according to various temperature and precipitation relationships modified K?ppen System (Tables 8-1 and 8-2, Fig 8-3) K?ppen’s 5 major climatic groups (A through E) subdivided into total of 14 individual climate types 6th group: H – highland climates K?ppen Letter Code System first letter designates the major climate group (A-E, H) second letter describes precipitation patterns third letter (if any) describes temperature patterns Climographs graphic representation of monthly temperature and precipitation for specific weather station line graph for monthly temperature bar graph for monthly precipitation World Distribution of Major Climatic Types Tropical Humid Climates (Zone A) (Table 8-3, Fig 8-5) general characteristics almost all land area within the tropics climates of perpetual warmth; winterless climates prevalence of moisture much of A zone is among wettest in the world onshore winds and thermal convection associated with the ITCZ are common and provide mechanism for uplift 3 subtypes classified on basis of annual rainfall tropical wet: abundant rainfall every month tropical savanna: low-sun dry season and prominent but not extraordinary high-sun wet season tropical monsoon: dry season and distinct very rainy hi