IDENTIFY CLIMATE TYPES.

Climate types

If you are like me, the idea of lounging on a tropical beach for a week sounds pretty awesome. Hawaii and Tahiti are located in tropical climates. Siberia, on the other hand, is not in the tropics! During this portion of the lesson we will look at the main climate types. Remember that climate refers to the average long-term weather of an area.

There are three main climate types: low latitude climates, high latitude climates, and midlatitude climates. There are additional subgroups within the three main climate types.

The first group we will look at is the low latitude climates. Remember that the equator is 0° and this is the lowest latitude that exists, so the lower the latitude of a location, the closer it is to the equator. Because low latitudes are near the equator, the low latitude climates are warm climates. There are three major subgroups in this group.

The first subgroup is tropical moist climates. This is the climate of a beach vacation. The African Congo and the Amazon in South America also share this climate. You can expect rain almost every day in this climate, but the average temperature is about 80° F year-round.

The second subgroup is the wet-dry tropical climate, or the savannah. These areas have a wet season and a dry season. You might expect that it would be warmer during the dry season, but the wind blows from the higher latitudes during that time so the dry season is a little cooler. India, West Africa, and the northern coast of Australia are some of the areas that have this climate.

The third part of the low latitude climates is the dry tropical climate. These are hot, dry areas or deserts. The southwestern United States, South Africa, Argentina, and the Arabian Peninsula are some areas that experience this type of climate.

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