Köppen Climate Classification System

From Conservapedia

The Köppen Climate Classification System is the most widely used for classifying the world's climates. Most classification systems used today are based on the one introduced in 1900 by the Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen. Köppen divided the Earth's surface into climatic regions that generally coincided with world patterns of vegetation and soils.

Contents 1 The Köppen Climate Classification System 2 Three basic climate groups 2.1 Group I 2.1.1 Tropical Moist Climates (Af): Rainforest 2.1.2 Wet-Dry Tropical Climates (Aw): Savanna 2.1.3 Dry Tropical Climate (BW): Desert biome 2.2 Group II 2.2.1 Dry Midlatitude Climates (BS): Steppe 2.2.2 Mediterranean Climate (Cs): Chaparral biome 2.2.3 Dry Midlatitude Climates (Bs): Grasslands biome 2.2.4 Moist Continental Climate (Cf): Deciduous Forest biome 2.3 Group III 2.3.1 Boreal forest Climate ( Dfc): Taiga biome 2.3.2 Tundra Climate (E): Tundra biome 2.3.3 Highland Climate (H): Alpine Biome

The Köppen Climate Classification System

The Köppen system recognizes five major climate types based on the annual and monthly averages of temperature and precipitation. Each type is designated by a capital letter.

• A - Moist Tropical Climates are known for their high temperatures year round and for their large amount of year round rain.
• B - Dry Climates are characterized by little rain and a huge daily temperature range. Two subgroups:
  • S - Semiarid or steppe,
  • W - arid or desert
• C - Humid Middle Latitude Climates have warm,dry summers and cool, wet winters.
• D - Continental Climates can be found in the interior regions of large land masses. Total precipitation is not very high and seasonal temperatures vary widely.
• E - Cold Climates are part of areas where permanent ice and tundra are always present.
• H - Alpine climates

Further subgroups are designated by a second, lower case letter which distinguish specific seasonal characteristics of temperature and precipitation.

• f - Moist with adequate precipitation in all months and no dry season. This letter usually accompanies the A, C, and D climates.
• m - Rainforest climate in spite of short, dry season in monsoon type cycle. This letter only applies to A climates.
• s - There is a dry season in the summer of the respective hemisphere (high-sun season).
• w - There is a dry season in the winter of the respective hemisphere (low-sun season).

To further denote variations in climate, a third letter was added to the code.

• a - Hot summers. These can be found in C and D climates.
• b - Warm summer. These can also be found in C and D climates.
• c - Cool, short summers in the C and D climates.
• d - Very cold winters in the D climate only.
• h - Dry-hot in B climates only.
• k - Dry-cold in B climates only.

Three basic climate groups

Three major climate groups show the dominance of special combinations of air-mass source regions.

Group I

Low-latitude Climates:

Tropical Moist Climates (Af): Rainforest

• Amazon Basin
• Congo Basin of equatorial Africa
• East Indies, from Sumatra to New Guinea

Wet-Dry Tropical Climates (Aw): Savanna

• India
• Indochina
• West Africa
• Southern Africa
• South America
• North coast of Australia

Dry Tropical Climate (BW): Desert biome

• Southwestern United States and northern Mexico
• Argentina
• Northern Africa
• Southern Africa
• Central Australia.

Group II

Mid-latitude Climates:

Dry Midlatitude Climates (BS): Steppe

• Western North America (Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, Great Plains)
• Eurasian interior, from steppes of Eastern Europe to the Gobi Desert and North China

Mediterranean Climate (Cs): Chaparral biome

• Central and southern California
• Coastal zones bordering the Mediterranean Sea
• Coastal Western Australia and South Australia
• Chilean coast
• Cape Town region of South Africa

Dry Midlatitude Climates (Bs): Grasslands biome

• Western North America (Great Basin, Columbia Plateau, Great Plains)
• Eurasian interior

Moist Continental Climate (Cf): Deciduous Forest biome

• Eastern parts of the United States and southern Canada
• Northern China
• Korea
• Japan
• Central and eastern Europe

Group III

High-latitude climates:

Boreal forest Climate ( Dfc): Taiga biome

• Central and western Alaska
• Canada, from the Yukon Territory to Labrador
• Eurasia, from northern Europe across all of Siberia to the Pacific Ocean

Tundra Climate (E): Tundra biome

• Arctic zone of North America
• Hudson Bay region
• Greenland coast
• Northern Siberia bordering the Arctic Ocean

Highland Climate (H): Alpine Biome

• Rocky Mountain Range in North America
• The Andean mountain range in South America
• The Alps in Europe
• Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa
• The Himalayans in Tibet
• Mt. Fuji in Japan