1. “Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get”.
Climate is a large region of the Earth’s general weather or atmospheric pattern over a long period of time.
Weather is the short term atmospheric conditions of a particular region.
“Climate is what we expect. Weather is what we get”.
-Mark Twain

2. MAJOR FACTORS
LATITUDE AND ELEVATION: Latitude is the distance from the equator and elevation is the height above sea level.
RAIN AND TEMPERATURE:
Ecology.botany.ufl.edu/ecologyf03/biodiv.html

4. EARTH’S MAJOR TERRESTRIAL CLIMATE ZONES
Polar
Sub Arctic
Cool Temperate
Warm Temperate
Dry
Tropical

5. BIOMES
Biomes are large regions that are categorized by their similar climate, soil, plant and animal life, no matter where they are found on Earth.
Biome types are mainly determined by climate.
Each climactic region of the planet is home to a variety of biome types.

6. BIOME CATEGORIES
DESERTS
GRASSLANDS
SHRUBLANDS
FORESTS
MOUNTAINS

7. DESERT BIOMES Desert= evaporation exceeds precipitation.
Little vegetation. What does grow and thrive in desert conditions, needs very little water
The closer to the equator, the hotter the desert.

8. CLIMATE AND DESERTS
TROPICAL DESERTS: Very hot and dry all year long. Located 30 degrees north or south of the equator.
TEMPERATE DESERTS: Warm daytime hours in the summer, and cold winters. More precipitation than tropical deserts.
POLAR DESERTS: Cold winters- goes below freezing. Warm summers. Same precipitation as temperate deserts.

9. GRASSLANDS AND SHRUBLANDS
Grasslands are too wet to be deserts and to dry to be forests.
They occur mostly in the middle of continents.

10. CLIMATE AND GRASSLANDS
SAVANNAHS: Tropical grasslands that have alternating dry and wet seasons. They are scattered with shrubs, and are warm year round.
TEMPERATE GRASSLANDS: Very cold winters and hot summers. Sporadic rain, extremely fertile soil. Overused for cattle grazing.
CHAPARRALS: Temperate shrub lands. Mainly located near the coasts that border deserts.
ARCTIC TUNDRA: Polar grasslands are treeless plains that are bitterly cold most of the year. Underneath its layer of snow are many different low laying plant species and mosses.

11. FOREST BIOMES
There is enough precipitation to sustain large stands of trees.
Precipitation and temperature determine the type of forest in a region.

12. CLIMATE AND FORESTS
TROPICAL RAIN FOREST: Hot with very heavy rainfall year round.
DECIDUOUS FORESTS: Found in areas of high seasonal change throughout the year.
CONIFEROUS (BORREAL) FORESTS: Cold winters and wet summers. Most of these forests are found in sub arctic regions. However, some are found in moderate areas because of a very wet climate.
TEMPERATE RAINFORESTS: Found near temperate coasts where rain and fog are plentiful most of the year. The winters are cold and the summers are cool.

13. MOUNTAIN BIOMES Islands in the sky.
Mountains happen in any region of the planet.
Affect climates by creating a rain shadow on a region of land.
A rain shadow can change a landscape from a forest (on one side of the mountain) to a desert (on the other side).

14. THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS
library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00182/mountains.htm

15. DOES THE EARTH HAVE A PATTERN?
The farther away a region is from the equator, the colder the region.
Latitude at the equator = 0.
The Earth is broken up into 180* on each side, north and south of the equator.
Between what latitudes would you most likely find a rainforest?

16. WORK CITATIONS
G. Tyler Miller Chapter 5. Living In The Environment, 15th Edition. Jack Carey. Pages
All other citations are throughout the power point on specific slides.