World's Climatic Regions
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| Source: G.C. Leong |
Equatorial region → direct sunlight → High temperature → Very strong convection → Formation of huge cumulonimbus clouds → very high precipitation
- Temperature is very high with average of 28℃.
- Rainfall is above 250 cm and mainly through convectional type.
- Diurnal range of temperature is greater than Annual range of temperature.
- Very high relative humidity all throughout the year.
- Supports a wide variety of vegetation, i.e., it has a rich biodiversity and it is of evergreen type.
- Its vegetation has more ecological value than economical value.
- Layered arrangement of trees are found and the sunlight never reaches the ground.
- Soils are not very fertile here because of leaching (because of very high precipitation, the nutrients in the soul leached away to the bottom soil)
- Iron and Aluminum get accumulated in the top soil, which gives the soil a hard texture.
- Equatorial rainforest has very diverse type of wildlife.
- Regions - Amazon basin, Ecuador, Columbia, Congo basin & parts of Western Africa and South-east Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, etc)
2. Hot zone eastern margin (Monsoon type of climate)
South Asia → Seasonal reversal of wind is most common feature of monsoon type of climate.
During summer → wind comes from oceans which leads to precipitation in summer season (South-West monsoon)
During winter → wind comes from interior which is dry but pics up moisture from Bay of Bengal and causes precipitation in Tamil Nadu (North-east monsoon)
- Seasonal reversal of winds and precipitation is the most common phenomenon of Monsoon type of climate.
- Precipitation concentrated over few months of the year and one or more months of dry season.
- Vegetation - Deciduous type (which shed their leaves in dry season)
- Region - South Asia, Northern part of Indo-China, Eastern Africa, Northern Australia, Northern Brazil and South America
3. Tropical marine climate
- It is found where the land portion is narrow (less).
- Thus, it experiences on shore winds all throughout the year which leads to precipitation all throughout the year.
- Regions - Central America, North-East Australia, South-East Brazil and South-East Africa.
4. Hot zone Continental Type (Savana/Sudan Type)
- These are the grassland within tropical regions.
- They have lesser precipitation in the eastern margin and more precipitation than the western margin.
- Average rainfall - 70 cm/year
- Rainfall is concentrated in summer because of convectional type of rainfall.
- A definite dry winter period.
- Vegetation - Dominant tall grasses and Scatter draught resistant trees.
- Regions - Africa Savana (more prominent in Sudan), Venezuela (llanos), Brazil (Campos), Granchco (below Campos), Northern Australia and Some part of India (rain shadow regions of western ghats)
5. Hot zone western margin (Hot desert type)
- Reason for dryness - Offshore trade winds (deficient in moisture) & the the formation of high pressure belt which leads the winds to descend and thus restricts the formation of clouds. Also, the cold ocean currents blowing through the western margin restricts the evaporation.
- Annual precipitation - 25 cm/year
- Diurnal range of temperature is greater than the annual range of temperature.
- Vegetation - Xerophytic vegetation
- Regions - Sahara desert (Africa), Mohave desert (USA), Atacama desert (South America), Thar desert (India), Namib desert (Namibia), Kalahari desert (Africa) and Deserts of Australia (Great Victoria desert, Gibson desert, etc)
6. Mediterranean type of climate
- Dry summer and wet winter.
- Summers are not very hot as it is in tropical regions.
- Vegetation - Evergreen, Shrubs (mainly citrus fruits)
- Mediterranean regions are known for viticulture (grape cultivation) and Wine cultivation.
- It is also known as Chaparral Vegetation.
- Regions - California & Northern Baja California, Central Chile, Western Cape (South Africa), Mediterranean basin, South-west and South Australia.
During Mediterranean region experience trade winds coming from land whereas during winter it experience the westerlies coming from ocean and thus it leads to precipitation in winter.
7. Steppe type of climate
- Regions - Steppes (Central Asia), Prairies (North America), Pampas (South America), Velds (South Africa) and Dawns (Australia)
- These areas experience precipitation due to temperate cyclone.
- These regions are characterised with high rate of evaporation which induced capilary action. Thus, minerals like Calcium brought to the top level of the soil which is good for commercial agriculture.
8. China type
- It is opposite to Mediterranean type.
- It experiences on shore trade winds during summer which leads to good precipitation in summer and offshore westerlies during winter which creates dry condition in winter but it is not completely dry as it is located near to the ocean.
- These are the regions which are most affected by tropical cyclones during summer.
- Winters are very cold and harsh (because continental cold air reaches here)
- Vegetation - Mixed (deciduous and evergreen)
- Regions - Eastern China, South-east USA, South-east Brazil, South-east tip of Africa and South-east Australia.
9. Laurential type
- Temperature in summer goes up to 20℃ but in winter they experience temperature below freezing point.
- They experience rainfall throughput the year. (In winter because of temperate cyclone and in summer because of convection)
- It is almost absent in Southern Hemisphere except South-east Argentina.
- Vegetation - Deciduous (at the lower end) & Coniferous (at the higher end)
- Regions - North-east USA, Eastern Canada, Northern China, Korea and Japan.
10. Siberian type
- It is totally absent in Southern Hemisphere.
- Winters are very extreme.
- Very huge high pressure system developed during winter which sends the cold dry winds all along for anti-cyclonic circulations.
- In summer, because of convection, there is some precipitation.
- Vegetation - Coniferous
- Biodiversity - very low
- Regions - Siberia (Russia), Poland, Finland, Sweden, Northern Canada and Alaska
11. Cold temperate western margin
- It experiences on shore westerlies all throughout the year, thus receives good quantity of rain throughout the year.
- Under the influence of warm ocean current which also provides conditions for precipitation, the coasts of these regions ae ice free even during winters.
- Climate - Cool summer and Mild winter
- Vegetation - Mixed (Deciduous and Coniferous)
- Regions - UK, Norway, Western Canada, Northern France, Southern Chile, New Zealand and Tasmania
12. Arctic type
- Very cold climate all throughout the year
- Precipitation is mainly in the form of snowfall.
- It is also known as Permafrost (regions which are permanently frozen). Here, the soil is mixed up with the snow.
- Climate - Tundra climate
- Vegetation - Seasonal (when ice melts in summer), mosses, lichens and stunted sedges grows
- Biodiversity - very low
- Regions - Antarctica, Northern Russia, Greenland, Northern Canada and Alaska
Koeppen symbols with their meaning -
- A - Tropical Climate (Average temperature of the coldest month is 18℃ or higher)
- B - Dry Climate (Potential evaporation exceeds precipitation)
- C - Warm Climate (The average temperature of the coldest month of the (mid-latitude) climate year is higher than -3℃ but below 18℃.
- D - Cold snow forest Climate (Average temperature of the coldest month is -3℃ or below)
- E - Cold Climate (Average temperature for all months is below 10℃ )
- H - High land (Cold due to elevation)
- f - Thick forest and good precipitation
- n - Monsoon
- s - Summer dry
- w - Winter dry
- S - Semi-Arid
- W - Desert
- h - Hot
- k - Cold
- T - Tundra
- F - Frozen
- a - Hot
- b - Cold
Previous Article - Temperate and Tropical Cyclones
Next Article - Oceanography
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Note - This is my Vision IAS Notes (Vision IAS Class Notes) and Ashutosh Pandey Sir's Public Administration Class notes. I've also added some of the information on my own.
Hope! It will help you to achieve your dream of getting selected in Civil Services Examination 👍
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