Describing Climates- many different ways exist!

Climate Zones The planet can be divided into several regions of similar weather conditions called climate zones. Polar regions are colder than equatorial regions as they receive less direct sunlight. More sun rays bounce/reflect off.- above at below the 60th parallel Temperate regions- between the 30th and 60th parallel on both sides of earth Tropical regions- between the two 30th parallel lines and including the equator- get the most direct sunlight- rays enter and do not bounce or reflect

Climatographs Climatographs are graphs of average climate data for a specific region, usually obtained over 30 years from observations made at local weather stations. Useful because they allow scientists to view how temperate and precipitation change throughout the year.

Climatographs have 2 Y axes- a line graph for temperature and a bar graph for precipitation, one bar for every month

Classifying Climates Köppen Climate Classification System: Method of identifying and describing climates based on observable features such as temperature ranges and rates of precipitation Divides the world into 5 regions based on Average monthly temperature Average monthly precipitation Average annual precipitation

Köppen Climate Classification System A - Tropical Moist Climates: all months have average temperatures above 18°C, with annual precipitation greater than 1500 mm. B - Dry Climates: with deficient precipitation during most of the year and temperatures ranging from -40°C in winter to 40°C in summer. C - Moist Mid-latitude Climates with Mild Winters: warm to hot summers, low of -3°C. D - Moist Mid-Latitude Climates with Cold Winters: warm to cool summers, low of -3°C. E - Polar Climates: extremely cold winters and summers, warmest month is below 10°C.

Biomes A biome is the largest division of the biosphere, and includes regions with similar biotic components (plants, animals) and abiotic components (temperature, rain). Biomes in Canada: 6 kinds in Canada Permanent Ice Tundra Boreal Forest Temperate Deciduous Forest Temperate Rainforest Grassland Rainforest

Temperate rainforest of BC Grasslands of the prairies Tundra Desert of BC

Deciduous forest Boreal Forest

Bioclimate Profiles Graphs of climatic conditions include: Minimum, maximum, and mean temperature Probability of frost Monthly total precipitation Number of days with rain and days with snow Water surplus and deficit

Bioclimatic charts have a lot of detailed information- Milwaukee vs Washington DC

Ecozones and Ecoregions Ecozone – division of Earth’s surface that has developed over a long period of time and is separated from other ecozones by geological features (ocean, desert, mountains) Ecoregion – subdivision of an ecozone characterized by local landforms such as plains, lakes, mountains, rivers

Work: Page 283 #1-4 Review pages 284-285 (7 biomes) Page 289 #1-8