FUTURE UGA STUDENTS: YOU SHOULD MEMORIZE ALL OF THESE (helps for the test trust me)

Global Climate Systems:

On land, the location of climatic regions determines the location of ecosystems.

Climate Components – Insolation, Temperature, Air Pressure, Air Masses, & Atmospheric Moisture

Koppen Classification: Based on Avg. Monthly temp, Ang. Monthly precip, and Total annual precip.

Variables above used to define spatial categories & boundaries.

Lacked winds, temperature extremes, cloud cover, precipitation intensity, net radiation.

Categories:

Tropical Climates (A) – 19% of earth, located between the tropics.
Tropical Rain Forest (Af) – Constantly warm and moist, water surplus, nutrient poor soils
Tropical Monsoon Climates (Am) – Dry season longer than 1 month, in coastal regions
Tropical Savannah Climates (Aw) – Poleward of Af climates, longer dry season, grassland

Mesothermal Climates (C) – 13% of earth, we live in one
Humid Subtropical Hot-Summer Climates (Cfa, Cwa) – Moist all year, winter dry period, hot summer
Marine West Coast Climates (Cfb, Cfc) – Mild winter, cool summers, unusually mild for latitude, wet
Mediterranean Dry-Summer Climates (Csa, Csb) – Subtropical high pressure limits precipitation

Microthermal Climates (D) – 25% of Earth, long cold winters, some summer warmth
Humid Continental Hot-Summer Climates (Dfa, Dwa) – dry winter
Humid Continental Mild-Summer Climates (Dfb, Dwb) - Cooler summers, < ppt than Dfa & Dwa
Subarctic Climates (Dfc, Dwc, Dwd) - greater seasonal change, short growing season

Polar Climates (E) – 13% of Earth, avg. temp < 10C, No summer
Tundra Climates (ET) – Snow cover 8-10 months, little window for plant growth, global warming
Ice Cap Climates (EF) - most of Antarctica, Greenland, North Pole. all months < 0C

Dry, Arid, and Semiarid Climates (B) – 30% of surface, 15-30 N/S
Hot Low-Latitude Desert Climates (BWh) – Western side of continents
Cold Midlatitude Desert Climates (BWk) – Southern border of Russia, Gobi Desert, etc. Higher Elevation
Hot Low-Latitude Steppe Climates (BSh) – Periphery of hot deserts
Cold Midlatitude Steppe Climates (BSk) – Occur poleward of 30N
Degree of dryness differentiate between Desert and Steppe.