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Lessons / Climate

Climate · 4 min · 4 steps

Climate zones

Plays here

Goal. Read a Köppen climate map and link the zones to latitude, wind belts and the distribution of land.

Steps

  1. Predict

    Which climate group covers the largest share of Earth's land?

    • Tropical (A)
    • Dry (B)
    • Polar (E)
    Show the answer

    Dry (B). Dry climates, deserts and steppes, cover more than a quarter of the land.

    Each colour is a Köppen climate zone, defined by the average temperature and rainfall through the year. Tap anywhere on land to read its zone.

  2. Taiwan packs several zones into a small island: humid subtropical in the north, tropical in the far south, and cooler temperate climates high in the mountains.

  3. Deserts like the Sahara sit under the sinking air of the subtropics, around 20° to 30° north and south: the same sinking air you met in the wind lesson.

  4. Continental climates (D), with cold winters and warm summers, cover huge areas of Asia and North America but hardly exist in the southern hemisphere: there is almost no land at those latitudes in the south.

The common mistake

Myth

Weather and climate are the same, so a cold week shows the climate is not warming.

Fact. Weather is what happens today; climate is the pattern over 30 years or more. A single cold week, or a single city, cannot tell you about the global average.

Check yourself

Question 1

What does the Köppen system use to sort places into zones?

  • Average monthly temperature and rainfall
  • The crops farmers grow
  • Height above sea level only
Show the answer

Average monthly temperature and rainfall. Each zone is defined by thresholds of average temperature and rainfall through the year.

Question 2

Why are continental (D) climates almost missing in the southern hemisphere?

  • The Sun is stronger in the south
  • There is little land at those latitudes
  • The sea is frozen
Show the answer

There is little land at those latitudes. Between about 40° and 65° south there is mostly ocean, which keeps winters mild.

Question 3

Over how long a period is a climate usually described?

  • One year
  • About 30 years
  • One season
Show the answer

About 30 years. Climatologists use 30-year averages, such as 1991–2020.

Words in this lesson

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Curriculum

Taiwan 12-year curriculum (108 課綱), natural science
Id-Ⅳ-2
US Next Generation Science Standards
MS-ESS2-6
England national curriculum
KS3 Geography: weather and climate