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Patterns of Climate
Desert climates
Deserts are areas where the rainfall is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or
only very scanty scrub. The rainfall in desert areas is less than 25 mm or 10
inches per year, and some years may experience no rainfall at all. The hot deserts
are situated in the subtropical high pressure belts where there is unbroken
sunshine for the whole year. Such areas include the Sahara, Saudi Arabia, large
parts of Iran and Iraq, northwest India, California, South Africa and much of
Australia. Here, maximum temperatures of 40 to 45C are common, although
during colder periods of the year, night-time temperatures can drop to freezing or
below due to the exceptional radiation loss under the skies.
Desert climate

The Gobi desert in Mongolia is an example of a cool desert. Though hot in
summer, it shares the very cold winters of central Asia. The Arctic and Antarctic
regions, too, receive very little precipitation during the year, owing to the
exceptionally cold air, but are more usually classified as types of polar climate.
Semi-desert areas include the Steppes of southern Russia and central Asia, and
the Parries of Canada.
Tropical climates
Much of the equatorial belt experiences hot and humid weather. There is abundant
rainfall due to the active convection of air that takes place there, and during
certain periods, thunderstorms can occur every day. Nevertheless, this belt still
receives considerable sunshine, and with the excessive precipitation, provides

ideal growing conditions for luxuriant vegetation. The principal regions with an
equatorial climate are the Amazon Basin in Brazil, the Congo Basin in West Africa
and Indonesia.
Tropical climate

Because a substantial part of the Sun's heat is used up in evaporation,
temperatures in the tropics rarely exceed 35C; a daytime maximum of 32C is
more common. At night the abundant cloud cover restricts radiation loss, and
minimum temperatures fall no lower than about 22C. This high level of
temperature is maintained with little variation throughout the year. The seasons,
so far as they do exist, are distinguished not as warm and cold periods but by
variation of rainfall and cloudiness. Greatest rainfall occurs when the Sun at
midday is overhead. On the equator this occurs twice a year in March and
September, and consequently there are two wet and two dry seasons. Further
away from the equator, the two rainy seasons merge into one, and the climate
becomes more monsoonal, with one wet season and one dry season. In the
northern hemisphere, the wet season occurs from May to July, in the southern
hemisphere from November to February.
Savannah
Between the wet equatorial belt and the subtropical desert regions are areas
known as Savannahs. They have a single short rainy season when the Sun is
nearly overhead, whilst the rest of the year is dry. Vegetation consists mostly of
scrub and grassland, which blossoms during the rainy period, and dies off during
the prolonged dry season. Such climates and their associated land types are
common in the Sahel in Northern Africa (south of the Sahara), large parts of India
and parts of northern Australia.
Savannah

10.4. Temperate climates
Temperate climates are those without extremes of temperature and precipitation.
The changes between summer and winter are invigorating without being
frustratingly extreme. There are two types of temperate climate: maritime and
continental. The maritime climate is strongly influenced by the oceans, which
maintain fairly steady temperatures across the seasons. Since the prevailing winds
are westerly in the temperate zones, the western edge of continents in these
areas experience most commonly the maritime climate. Such regions include
western Europe, in particular the UK, and western North America at latitudes
between 40 and 60 north.
Continentality increases inland, with warmer summers and colder winters as the
effect of land on radiation receipt and loss increases. This is particularly true in
North America, where the north-south aligned Rocky Mountains act as a climate
barrier to the mild maritime air blowing from the west. Maritime climate, on the
other hand, penetrates further into Europe where the major mountain range - the
Alps - is orientated east-west.
Temperate climate

Polar climates
The polar regions are perpetually covered by snow and ice throughout the year. In
these high latitude parts of the world, the Sun is never high enough in the sky to
cause appreciable melting and the temperature rarely rises above freezing. During
the long polar nights, which last six months at the poles, temperature can fall to
extremely low values. The lowest ever temperature occurred in Antarctica, where
a value of -88C was recorded.
Polar climate

The north polar region includes the ice-covered Arctic ocean, the Greenland
continent and much of northern Canada and northern Siberia. In the southern
hemisphere, the vast mountainous continent of Antarctic is covered by snow and
compacted ice several kilometres thick.
Mediterranean climates
The Mediterranean climate is a special type of climate that describes a regime of
hot summer drought and mid winter rain in the mid latitudes, north of the
subtropical highs. This climate occurs most noticeably in the regions around the
Mediterranean, from where the climate gets its name, but also in coastal areas of
California, South Africa and southern parts of Australia.
In summer, the high pressure belts drift northwards in the northern hemisphere,
southwards in the southern hemisphere, They are coincident with substantially
higher temperatures and little rainfall. During the winter, the high pressure belts
drift equatorward, and substantial rainfall occurs. Whist usually mild, such areas
can experience cold snaps when exposed to the icy winds of the large continental
interiors.