We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
Advertiser Disclosure
Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.
How We Make Money
We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently of our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Home

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

What is a Climate Zone?

Mary McMahon
By
Updated: Feb 16, 2024
Views: 53,924
Share

A climate zone is a region of the world where the climate can be defined using a few key parameters. There are a number of different ways to classify the world's climate zones, and a wide assortment of uses for this information. Gardeners, for example, rely on them to know which plants they can grow, while biologists use data about the zones to learn more about the animals and plants they study.

One of the most widely used systems is the Köppen climate classification, developed in the early 20th century by a German researcher. Köppen breaks the world's climate up into tropical, dry, moderate or temperate, continental, and polar climate zones. Within each division, there are a number of subdivisions, such as dry arid and dry semiarid. Some people break the world more generally into polar zones near the poles, followed by temperate zones, which meet a tropical zone at the equator. This division system is a bit of an oversimplification, however, and it overlooks the great diversity within these broad zones.

A number of pieces of data can be used to calculate a climate zone. Average temperatures, including average highs and lows, can be very useful, along with the average rainfall. Considerations like weather patterns, wind, and neighboring climates may also be considered. This allows the zones to be divided between things like tropical wet, with lots of humidity, wet weather year round, and tropical wet and dry, which has both wet and dry seasons.

Being able to identify a climate region can be very important. Some climates are more hospitable to farming, for example, while others may harbor unique plant and animal species which cannot thrive elsewhere. Identifying modern zones can also provide information about the shifting of the world's climate, by providing data that can be used to analyze ancient evidence, which can in turn be used to reconstruct the planet's historic climate.

Some examples of tropical climates in the Köppen system include the rain forests of South America, the island of Hawaii, and the savanna of India. Dry climates can be found in Egypt, the plains of Spain, and Australia, while temperate climates are distributed across regions like the West Coast of the United States, the coastline of the Mediterranean, and South Africa. Continental climates are found in places like China, Russia, and central Canada, while polar climates are seen in Antarctica, northern Russia, and northern Canada.

Share
WiseGeek is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Mary McMahon
By Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a WiseGeek researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Editors' Picks

Discussion Comments
By ValleyFiah — On Nov 01, 2010

@ Istria- That sounds great. That is one of the things I love about California. Ca lifornia's climate zones are similar in that you can be in the cold mountain climate one day, then you can be playing at the beach the next. You also have desert and temperate woodlands. It's not quite Hawaii, but its not as isolated as Hawaii either.

By istria — On Nov 01, 2010

I used to live on the big island of Hawaii and one of the interesting things about the island is that there are all of the Kloppen climate zones except for the polar arctic and antarctic zones. You can find everything on the island from tundra to desert. There are semi-arid zones, temperate zones, tropical and subtropical zones. To me this was one of the greatest features of the island, you could surf one day, go bike across the desert the next, and be at the summit of the snow covered mountains playing in the snow the next. There is something awesome about looking at snow-covered mountains as you surf the warm tropical waters of the pacific.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a...

Learn more
Share
https://www.wise-geek.com/what-is-a-climate-zone.htm
Copy this link
WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGeek, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.