Transcript Climate and Weather 101


Weather vs. Climate

Large bodies of water makes a difference:

Water retains warm temperatures easier and longer
than land does…so places by big bodies of water tend
to be warmer than places further inland

Locations further inland, away from large water
sources tend to have CONTINENTAL CLIMATES:
 Extreme temperature differences with colder
winters…and hot summers

Higher elevations result in colder
temperatures

Air temperature decreases about 3.5 degrees F for
every 1,000 feet up

Mountain ranges also affect precipitation
patterns by creating “rain shadow effects”

Orographic Precipitation

Climate obviously determines what grows
where, so the world is divided into different
vegetation regions

Geographers classify regions based on their
NATURAL VEGETATION:

The typical plant life that lives in a place where
humans have not affected the land

There are four
main types of
vegetation regions
in the world:
FOREST REGIONS
 GRASSLAND
REGIONS
 DESERT REGIONS
 TUNDRA
REGIONS


There are
actually
four
different
types of
forests:

1. TROPICAL RAINFORESTS are found
where it is hot and rainy

2. DECIDUOUS FORESTS are ones in which
the trees shed their leaves during part of the
year

3. CONIFEROUS FORESTS are found in
colder regions as they have needle leaves that
stay on year-round

4. CHAPARRAL FORESTS are found where
there are small evergreen trees and low
bushes

There are three different types of grasslands:

SAVANNAS are found near the equator
where they can survive dry periods

TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS vary in length
and kinds of grasses, they are often called
“prairies”

STEPPES: Dry,
highland
grasslands
located in
Southeastern
Europe or Asia

They may be just barren, sandy places, or
they may have cacti and scrub plants


ARID (extremely
dry; little to
no life)
SEMI-ARID
(sustains more
life)

There are two
types of Tundra
in the world:

1. ARCTIC
TUNDRA which is
usually snowcapped and found
near the poles

2. ALPINE TUNDRA are areas near the tops of
mountains that often have very hardy trees or
mossy plants

PERMAFROST is found in parts of the tundra

A layer of soil just below the surface that remains
permanently frozen year-round
What vegetation region
would you MOST like to
live in and why?