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Earth climate zones

Source: licencja: CC 0.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know
  • what factors impact the shape of oceans and land;

  • distinguished by us continents and their locations;

  • that apart from continents, islands and archipelagos are lands too.

You will learn
  • to explain the link between climate and latitude;

  • to list the factors that affect the climate;

  • to list the climate zones of Earth;

  • to discus the importance of climatic factors for the life of plants, animals and people.

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Nagranie dźwiękowe abstraktu.

What are climate zones?

Weather is short‑term condition of atmosphere. The climate is all weather phenomena in a long term. When determining the climatic condition, one has to take into consideration the information about numerous weather factors from many years.
The factors impacting climateclimateclimate are: temperature, the difference between the lowest and the highest temperature, precipitation, wind, insolation or pressure. The climate can also be impacted by oceanic currents, the distance from the sea coast, the terrain (e.g. in the mountains, the higher given place is situated, the colder the weather is).
Considering the annual air temperatures and their distribution in time, as well as the size and type of precipitation, 5 climate zonesclimate zone5 climate zones have been distinguished. They are distributed symmetrically in relation to the equatorequatorequator on both hemispheres. These zones create belts along parallels on the Earth surface. It is associated with the Earth’s shape and the fact that the exposure to sunlight is the longest and the biggest near the equator. The further from the equator, the less sunlight and heat reaches the Earth surface. Therefore, the parallels are the factors deciding about the climate. The other factors, such as the layout of land, oceanic currents or distance from the sea affect the shifts of the boundaries of individual climate zones and the types of the climates of each of the zones. It is worth to have in mind that the hottest month on the northern hemisphere is July, and on the southern – January. The coldest month on the northern hemisphere is January, and on the southern – July.

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Climatic zones on the Earth globe
Source: Wydawnictwo Edukacyjne Wiking, licencja: CC BY 3.0.

Zones

Air temperature

Precipitation

Equatorial

above +20°C all year round; low 24h and annual fluctuations of temperature/td>

high, nearly every day all year round

Tropical

average annual temperature above 20°C; very high 24h fluctuations of temperature

low or very low precipitation, mainly during the summer months

Subtropical

warm and short winters, temperature above 0°C (slight frost only away from the seas), hot summers

dry summers, rainy winters, possible snowfall
in the mountains and away from the seas

Temperate

frost in winter away from the seas, warmer at the costs; temperature between +10 and +25°C at the costs and even up to +35°C away from the seas

all year round, the highest in summer; mainly rainfall at the costs in winter, and snowfall away from the seas

Circumpolar

low temperatures all year round, very long winters with temperature locally below -50°C; in summer months possible increase of temperature up to +10°C at the outskirts of the zone

low, mainly snowfall; rainfall possible in summer, but only at the outskirts of the zone in case of temperatures above zero Celsius

Important!

The climate of the globe is very diversified, and depends on the distance from the sea. Consequently, there are many types of each of the climates. For example, there are the oceanic and continental climates, and etc. in each of the zones.

Task 1

Before you watch the presentation entitled “Climate Zones”, write down a research question and a hypothesis. Watching the film, write down your observations and, finally, your conclusions.

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Przed zapoznaniem się opisem prezentacji “Climate Zones” sformułuj pytanie badawcze i hipotezę.
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Nagranie filmowe informujące iż poszczególne strefy klimatyczne bardzo się od siebie różnią pod względem cech wpływających na życie roślin, zwierząt i ludzi. W niektórych strefach klimatycznych przeważają korzystne warunki, podczas gdy w innych niekorzystne. Jednak identyczne warunki klimatyczne mogą być korzystne dla jednej grupy organizmów i niekorzystne dla innej.

What are the conditions in different climate zones?

Individual climate zones differ from each other very much in respect of their features affecting the life of plants, animals and humans. In some climate zones predominate favourable conditions, while in others unfavourable. However, identical climatic conditions can be favourable for one group of organisms, and unfavourable for another.

Climate zone

Conditions of life of plants

Conditions of life of animals

Conditions of life and activity of humans

equatorial

high temperature
and everyday rainfalls enable uninterrupted growth, blooming,
and bearing fruit to a huge number of plants

very good conditions for numerous animal species

good conditions, yet sometimes it is too hot and too humid; possible cultivation of many species of plants

tropical

in extremely dry areas (deserts) there are practically no any plants

difficult living conditions in desert areas, but there are some animals that are well adapted to long lack of water

very difficult conditions for humans; large 24h amplitude of temperatures and long‑term lack of rainfall often make human activity difficult or even impossible

subtropical

good conditions of plants resistant to hot perods and several months of shortage of rainfall

very good conditions for most animal species

the most favourable living conditions for humans and various forms of human activity; this is the zone where the first civilisations developed

temperate

good conditions for plants adapted to periods of cold weather and frost

good conditions for many animal species adapted to winters; in winter, some species migrate to warmer regions or hibernate

good or average conditions during most of the year; the existence of four seasons forces cyclical agricultural activity

circumpolar

very bad conditions for plants; most of the area is covered by ice deserts; plants grow in small areas

extremely difficult conditions for animals; they are scarce,
and mainly live near the coasts

very bad conditions for human
life and activity; the life in this zone is possible exclusively thanks to the stocks of food and fuel brought from outside the zone

Important!

The favourable climatic conditions cannot be unambiguously and clearly pointed out. For example, strong frost in the temperate zone may seem to be unfavourable. In fact, it causes the death of many insects considered by people to be pests. For example, too early arrival of spring may disturb the growth of some plants.

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Exercise 1
Match the names of climate zones with their characteristics. subtropical Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. warm and rainy in summer with frost and snow in winter, 2. low temperatures all year round, 3. short, but nearly everyday heavy rains, 4. the driest climate, 5. dry and hot summer with warm and rain winter circumpolar Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. warm and rainy in summer with frost and snow in winter, 2. low temperatures all year round, 3. short, but nearly everyday heavy rains, 4. the driest climate, 5. dry and hot summer with warm and rain winter equatorial Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. warm and rainy in summer with frost and snow in winter, 2. low temperatures all year round, 3. short, but nearly everyday heavy rains, 4. the driest climate, 5. dry and hot summer with warm and rain winter temperate Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. warm and rainy in summer with frost and snow in winter, 2. low temperatures all year round, 3. short, but nearly everyday heavy rains, 4. the driest climate, 5. dry and hot summer with warm and rain winter tropical Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. warm and rainy in summer with frost and snow in winter, 2. low temperatures all year round, 3. short, but nearly everyday heavy rains, 4. the driest climate, 5. dry and hot summer with warm and rain winter
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Exercise 2
Ilustracja przedstawia układ stref klimatycznych ziemi. Wersja alternatywna ćwiczenia: Arrange puzzles to present the layout of the Earth climate zones.
Source: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Exercise 3
Match climate zones to climates. Circumpolar zone Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. dry and extremely dry climate, 2. marine climate, 3. polar climate, 4. humid equatorial climate Temperate zone Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. dry and extremely dry climate, 2. marine climate, 3. polar climate, 4. humid equatorial climate Subtropical and tropical zone Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. dry and extremely dry climate, 2. marine climate, 3. polar climate, 4. humid equatorial climate Equatorial zone Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. dry and extremely dry climate, 2. marine climate, 3. polar climate, 4. humid equatorial climate

Summary

  • The latitude is of major importance for the climate.

  • Based on the average annual air temperature and the total of monthly precipitation, five climate zones have been distinguished: equatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate and circumpolar.

  • The climate zones are roughly aligned along parallels.

Keywords

equator, tropictropictropic, climate zone

Glossary

climate zone
climate zone
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Nagranie dźwiękowe słówka.

strefa klimatyczna – największa jednostka w podziale klimatycznym świata – część powierzchni Ziemi przyjmująca w przybliżeniu kształt równoleżnikowego pasa o zmiennej szerokości, w obrębie którego występują podobne parametry klimatu, np. temperatura powietrza, opad, ciśnienie atmosferyczne itp.

equator
equator
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Nagranie dźwiękowe słówka.

równik – najdłuższy z równoleżników; jego długość przekracza nieznacznie 40 tys. km

climate
climate
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Nagranie dźwiękowe słówka.

klimat – ogół zjawisk pogodowych na danym obszarze ustalony na podstawie obserwacji prowadzonych przez kilkadziesiąt lat

tropic
tropic
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Nagranie dźwiękowe słówka.

zwrotnik – jeden z dwóch równoleżników o szerokości geograficznej ok. 23°27'S- zwrotnik Koziorożca lub 23°27'N- zwrotnik Raka; wielkość ta ulega ciągłej i powolnej zmianie; na zwrotniku południowym 22 grudnia oraz na zwrotniku północnym 22 czerwca w południe Słońce świeci pod kątem 90°

geographical pole
geographical pole
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Nagranie dźwiękowe słówka.

biegun geograficzny – jeden z dwóch punktów (północny i południowy) na kuli ziemskiej, będący miejscem przecięcia przez oś obrotu powierzchni planety