Transcript 26-2x - Geography

Chapter 26 Section 2
Climate and Vegetation
Climate and Regions
• Physical features such as highlands,
mountain barriers, and coastal regions
shape east Asia’s climate
• Each climate region has distinct
characteristics and unique vegetation.
Mid- Latitude Climates
• The Southeastern part of East Asia, including
Taiwan, parts of China, the Koreas and Japan,
are humid subtropical climates.
• Warm, hot summers and heavy rains in the
Pacific Monsoons.
• Vegetation: deciduous trees and evergreens.
Bamboo also grows and is used for medicines,
homes, and is a food source for the Pandas.
Interesting Facts about bamboo
• Because bamboo
is light in weight
but very strong, it
has many uses we
might not think of
Mid- latitude Climates cont.
• Northeastern
Quarter: northern
parts of Koreas and
Japan have much
cooler humidcontinental climates.
Summers may be
warm but winters
are cool and snowy.
Desert and Steppe Climates
• Far away from the coast,
Deserts spread across
Mongolia and inland northern
China.
• Moisture that might have
reached these regions is
blocked by the rain shadow
effect.
• These deserts, however, are
not hot! The Gobi and
Taklimakan are often cold and
windy
• Huge Range in temp
Highlands Climates
• The climate in mountainous regions changes
with elevation
• The higher the elevation, the cooler it is
• On the plateau of Tibet, the average high
temp only reaches 58 degrees.
Tropical Rain Forest Climate
• The island of Hainan, off China’s southern coast,
has a tropical rain forest climate
• High temps and rainy summer monsoons
The Roots of Rice and Soy
• These are two of east Asia’s most
important crops
• Rice was an important food crop for
china’s ancient civilization. Soy=form
of protein
Animals are expensive and require a lot of
room
• China’s ancient people thought these
foods were essential for life
Why rice?
• Grows in standing water
– Along river banks and in ponds
– Later developed rice patties for cultivation
• Monsoon weather patterns lead to high
water table levels
– Corn or Wheat must have specific amounts of
water
• Can drowned
– No such thing as too much water for Rice
Monsoons
• Air mass -a large body of air with temperature,
pressure, and moisture uniform throughout its mass
but changed by the environment through which it
passes
• In East Asia, the air mass above the world’s
largest continent and the air mass above the
world’s largest ocean meet.
• The movement of these air masses causes
prevailing winds, called monsoons, that bring
seasonal weather patterns to East Asia.
Monsoons cont.
• Monsoons are strong violent seasonal winds that
blow in from the ocean each summer carrying with
them clouds heavy with moisture
• These winds blow in a steady direction for half a
year and then switch directions
• The summer monsoon blows from southeast to
northwest and bring heat and humidity from the Pac.
Ocean
• From April through October, the winds cause intense
downpours and provide 80% of the annual rainfall.
– Can be as much as 390 inches of rain
Some more about
Monsoons
• From November to
March, the winter
monsoons bring cold,
arctic air that usually
blows from northwest
to southeast.
– Brings snow to Korean
peninsula and Japan
Last One about the Monsoons
• East Asian economy
depends on the
summer monsoons to
water their crops
• little rain= drought
• Too much rain=
flooding
• Mountains can block
rain
– Rain shadow
Ocean Currents
• Ocean currents also
influence the climate
• The warm water,
Japan Current, or
Kuroshio adds warm
moisture to the winter
monsoon
• The cold Kuril Current
brings cold winters
Typhoon v Monsoon
• Typhoon
• Monsoon
• a typhoon is what they call a
hurricane in the pacific. Both
hurricanes and typhoons are
tropical cyclones. Where the
center of this tropical storm is
warmer than its surroundings.
•
•
•
Strong, often violent winds that
change direction with the season.
Monsoon winds blow from cold to
warm regions because cold air
takes up more space than warm
air.
Monsoons blow from the land
toward the sea in winter, and from
the sea toward land in the
summer. So a Monsoon is a wind
that carries moister from the sea
and produces rain on land...
Last one!!!
• The interaction of ocean currents and
winds frequently gives rise to violent
storms called typhoons, which form in the
Pacific and blow across coastal East Asia.
• Really bad rains
• With Monsoons, Typhoons,
And Tsunamis, Flooding is a
Great concern for this area