Hot Wet Equatorial Climate

World Climate & Vegetation

Climate is the characteristic condition of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface at
a certain place on earth. It is the long-term weather of that area (at least 30 years).
This includes the region’s general pattern of weather conditions, seasons and
weather extremes like hurricanes, droughts, or rainy periods. Two of the most
important factors determining an area’s climate are air temperature and
precipitation.

World Climate

Western Central Eastern

Margin Continent Margin
65* – 90*
Cold Zone Arctic or Polar Types
Latitude
Cool Laurentian 45* – 65*
British type Siberian type
Temperate type Latitude
Warm 30* – 45*
Mediterranean Steppe type China type
Temperate Latitude
10* – 30*
Hot Zone Hot Desert Sudan type Monsoon type
Latitude
Equatorial 0* – 10*
Hot Wet Equatorial Climate
Zone Latitude

Natural Vegetation of the World

World biomes are controlled by climate. The climate of a region will determine
what plants will grow there, and what animals will inhabit it. All three
components, climate, plants and animals are interwoven to create the fabric of a
biome.

Hot Wet Equatorial Climate

 Equatorial hot, wet climate is found between 5* – 10* north & south of the
equator mostly viz.

 the Amazon Basin (South America)

 the Congo Basin (Africa)
 Malaysia
  Indonesia
 Singapore

 The most outstanding feature of the equatorial climate is its great uniformity
of temperature throughout the year with no winters.
 The average monthly temperatures are about 26 – 28 degrees Celsius, with
small annual range of temperature ~ 3*C & fairly greater diurnal range of
temperature ~ 12* – 15*C.
 Cloudiness and heavy precipitation ~ 150 – 250 cm of rainfall or more in a
year, helps to moderate the temperature, so that even at the equator, climate
is not unbearable.
 There is no month without the rain & a distinct dry season like that of
savanna or tropical monsoon climate is absent.
 Most of the rainfall is convectional, with thunderstorm & lightening often
accompanying the torrential showers.
 The convection uplift is related to the position of the ITCZ and rainfall totals
double when the sun is directly overhead at the spring and autumn equinox,
with the least rain falls at June & December solstices.

 Besides the convectional rainfall, mountainous regions also experience much

orographic or relief rainfall
 In addition, there are some intermittent showers from cyclonic atmospheric
disturbances caused by the convergence of air masses at Doldrums.
  The relative humidity is constantly high ~ over 80 %, making one feel sticky
& uncomfortable

Vegetation in Equatorial Regions

 The year round high temperatures and abundant rainfall in equatorial regions
support a luxuriant type of vegetation – Tropical or equatorial rain forests.
 In the Amazon lowlands, the forest is so dense & extravagance that a special
term Selva is used to describe it.
 Unlike the temperate regions, the growing seasons here is all year round
 Seeding, Flowering, Fruiting & Decaying do not take place in seasonal
pattern, so some trees may be flowering while others only a few yards away
may be bearing fruits.
 There is neither drought nor cold to check the growth in any part of the year.
 Unlike the temperate forests, many different types of trees and other plants
can be found growing in a relatively small area of rainforest.
 Rainforests cover only about 6 % of the Earth’s surface.
 However, they contain about half of the world’s known animal species and
provide about 40% of the world’s oxygen.
 Equatorial vegetation comprises a multitude of evergreen trees that yields
tropical hardwood viz. Mahogany, Ebony, Greenheart, Cabinet Woods &
Dyewoods.
 There are smaller palm trees, climbing plants like lianas & epiphytic &
parasitic plants that live on other plants.
 Under the trees grow a wide variety of ferns, orchids & lalang (tall grass)
 There are several layers of vegetation in a rainforest with all plants
struggling to move upward to get sunlight.
 The uppermost layer is made up of the crowns of the tallest trees with
average height 45 – 60 meters are known as emergent, with their crowns
exposed to the direct sunlight.
 The next layer is known as the canopy with an average height of about 20 to
40 meters.
 The crowns of the trees in this layer are tightly packed together forming a
nearly unbroken cover for the forest floor.
 If you were looking down on a section of the rainforest from above, you
would not be able to see the ground because of the cover provided by the
canopy, very little sunlight reaches the lower layers of the rainforest.
 Below the canopy is another layer known as the understory with trees only
few meters high.
 Here one can find trees which only grow to about 15 meters at maturity as
well as young saplings which will eventually grow to reach the canopy.
Sunlight here is limited.
 Between understory & the forest floor lays the shrub layer, composed of
ferns & shrubs.
 Only about 1% or 2% of sunlight reaches this layer.
 Therefore, only few plants are able to thrive there which must be able to
tolerate low light conditions.
 In order to support their great height, many trees have buttress roots(also
called plank buttresses) which extend above the ground and along the trunk
on all sides.
 Some plants in the lower layers of the rainforest have verylarge leavesin
order to make efficient use of the little sunlight which reaches them.
  Some plants, known as lianas, are vines which are rooted in the soil and
grow up the trunks of trees all the way into the canopy where their leaves
can get more sunlight.
 Some plants, known as epiphytes, grow on trees (their roots are not in the
soil).
 They do not harm the trees and they do not get their nutrients from them.
They only use the trees for physical support.
 There are other plants which are parasites.
 They grow on other plants and get their nutrients from them, damaging them
as they do so.
 There are other plants known as strangler figs.
 They start out by growing on a host tree, and then they grow long roots
down the trunk of the tree and into the soil.
 These roots grow larger and begin to surround the trunk of the host tree.
 Eventually the host tree will die, leaving the strangler fig in its place.
 Many parts of the virgin tropical rainforests have been cleared either for
lumbering or shifting cultivation.

Life & Development in Equatorial Regions

  The equatorial regions are generally sparsely populated with shifting
cultivation as major agricultural practice
 Major crops being manioc (tapioca), yams, maize, bananas & groundnuts
 Food is abundant in form of animals, birds, fishes, fruits, nuts & other jungle
produces.
 In the Amazon basin, Indian tribes collect rubber and in the Congo basin
Pygmies gather nuts.
 Certain high value industrial crops for which equatorial climate suits best are
grown now a days such as rubber, cocoa, oil palms, coconuts, sugarcane,
coffee, tea etc.
 Home country of discovery of rubber, Brazil (Amazon basin) exports no
natural rubber due to tree diseases & lack of commercial organizations of
Indian at Amazon lowlands.
 Currently, Malaysia & Indonesia are leading producers of rubber in the
world.
 Cocoa is cultivated most extensively in West Africa with two most
important producers Ghana & Nigeria.
 From the same area another crop, oil palms have done equally well.
 Under the conditions of excessive heat & high humidity, man is subjected to
physical & mental handicap
 One loses vigour in such an enervating environment along with high exposer
to sun strokes, malaria & yellow fever.
 The hot, wet climate which stimulates rapid plant growth also encourages
the spread of pest & insects
 Germs & bacteria are most easily transmitted through moist air; which are
injurious to all man, animals & plants.

Hardwood & Livestock

 Jungle is so luxuriant that it is quite a problem to clear small patches in it &

even difficult to maintain it.
 Lalang & thick grass springs up as soon as shade trees are cut & unless they
are weeded at regular intervals, they may choke crops & overwhelm estates.
 Roads & railways constructed through the equatorial lands have to cut
through forests & those who maintain them encounter wild animals, snakes
& insects
  Once they are completed, they have a high maintenance cost.
 Therefore, many remote parts of Amazon basin & Congo are without
modern communications, with rivers as only natural highways.
 Though the tropics have great potential in timber resources, commercial
extraction is difficult as trees do not occur in homogeneous stands
 Have no frozen surface to facilitate logging & tropical hardwoods are
sometimes too heavy to float in the rivers, even if these flow in desired
direction.
 Livestock farming is greatly handicapped by an absence of meadow grass
 Bullocks which are domesticated yields milk & beef well below than those
in temperate grasslands.

In its virgin state, due to heavy leaf fall & decomposition of leaves by bacteria, a
thick mantle of humus makes the soil fairly fertile, but once the humus content is
used after shifting cultivation & natural vegetative cover is removed, the torrential
downpour soon wash out most of the soil nutrients. Therefore, soil deteriorates
rapidly with subsequent soil erosion.

Tropical Monsoon Climate & Tropical Maritime Climate

Tropical Monsoon Climate

 Also known as a tropical wet climate or trade-wind littoral

climate
 Marked by seasonal reversal in wind direction giving well
defined wet & dry seasons
 Mainly due to the difference in specific heat capacity between
land and sea
 Tropical Monsoon climate is best developed in India, Myanmar,
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh, South China & Northern
Australia
 Basically found beyond the equatorial region between 10◦ and
25 ◦ and North and South of the equator.
 The tropical monsoon climate experiences abundant rainfall like
that of the tropical rain forest climate, but it is concentrated in
the high-sun season.
 Being located near the equator, the tropical monsoon climate
experiences warm temperatures throughout the year.
 In the summer, when sun is overhead at Tropic of cancer, the
great land masses of the northern hemisphere are heated.
 Central Asia, backed by the lofty Himalayan ranges, gets heated
intensely, creating a region of extremely low pressure.
 The seas, which warm up much slower, remain comparatively
cool
 At the same time, the southern hemisphere experiences winter,
& a region of high pressure is set up in the continental interior of
Australia.
 Winds blow outward as south east monsoon to java, & after
crossing the equator are drawn towards the continental low
pressure area reaching the Indian subcontinent as south west
monsoon.

 In winters, the conditions are reversed & the sun is overhead at

the Tropic of Capricorn while the central Asia gets extremely
cold, creating a region of high pressure with winds out-blowing
as North East Monsoon.
 On crossing the equator, the winds are attracted to the low
pressure centre in Australia & arrive in Northern Australia as the
North West Monsoon.
 In other parts of the world, which experience a tropical monsoon
climate, a similar reversal of wind directions occurs.
 The monsoon climate has a high mean annual temperature and a
small annual temperature range like equatorial climate.
Seasons of Tropical Monsoon Climate

Cool, Dry Season (Oct – Feb)

 Average temperature ranges between 19* C and 23* C with frost

may occur at night in colder north; a centre of high pressure is
developed over Punjab.
 Out-blowing dry winds, the N-E Monsoon, bring little or no rain
in northern Indian subcontinent;
 However a small amount of rain falls in Punjab from cyclonic
sources, vital for survival of winter cereals.
 When the N-E Monsoon blows over the Bay of Bengal, it
acquires moisture & thus brings rain to the south eastern tip of
Indian peninsula at this time of the year
 For e.g. Chennai receives 125 Cm of rainfall during October &
November, accounting for half its annual rainfall.

Hot Dry Season (March – Mid June)

 The temperature rises sharply with the sun’s northward shift to

the Tropic of Cancer with average temp. of 35* C.
 Practically, no rain anywhere with an intense low pressure
generated over N-W India.

Rainy Season (Mid June – Sep)

 With the burst of S-W monsoon in mid-June, torrential

downpours sweep across the country.
 Almost 95 % of annual rainfall is concentrated within this rainy
season of approx. 4 months.
 This pattern of concentrated heavy rainfall in summer is a
characteristic feature of the tropical monsoon climate.
The Retreating monsoon

 Amount & frequency of rain decreases towards the the end of

the rainy season;
 It retreats gradually southwards after mid-September until it
leaves the continent altogether.
 Punjab plains which receive the S-W Monsoon earliest are the
first to see the withdrawal of the monsoon.
 The skies are clear again & cool, dry season returns in October,
with the N-E Monsoon.

Tropical Marine Climate

 This type of climate is experienced along the eastern coasts of

tropical lands, receiving steady rainfall from trade winds all the
time.
 These areas experience between 120 cm to 200 cm of rainfall
annually & include –

 Central America
  West Indies
 N-E Australia
 Philippines
 Parts of East Africa
 Madagascar
 the Guinea Coast
 Eastern Brazil

 The rainfall is both orographic where moist trade winds meet

upland masses as in eastern Brazil and convectional due to
intense heating during the day in summers
 Tendency is towards a summer maximum as in monsoon lands,
but without any distinct dry period.
 Regions which experience a tropical marine climate have hot &
humid temperature all year round but annual temperature range
is often quite small.
 Temperatures are higher during the wetter season and lower
during the drier season.
 Due to the steady influence of the trades, the tropical marine
climate is more favourable for habitation, but is more prone to
severe tropical cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons.

Tropical Monsoon Forests

 The natural vegetation of tropical monsoon land depends on the
amount of summer rainfall.
 Trees are normally Deciduous, because of the marked dry
period, during which they shed their leaves to withstand
drought.
 In tropical monsoon forests, the ecosystems which develop are
very similar to the true rainforests which develop in equatorial
climates, but are more open, less luxuriant & contains far fewer
species.
 The layer structure of the forest trees consist of Canopy,
understory & shrub layer with average height 25 – 45 m &
average rainfall 100 – 200 cm.
 Most of the forests yield valuable timber & prized for their
durable hardwood such as teak, Rosewood, Sal, sandalwood,
Shisham, Banyan, Aracia & some varieties of Eucalyptus in N-
Australia.

 Together with the forests are bamboo thickets, which often grow
to great heights; thorny scrubs with scattered trees & long
grass.
 Among hardwoods, Teak is extensively used for ship building,
furniture & other construction purposes because of its high
durability, strength, immunity to shrinkage, fungus & insects;
with Burma alone accounting for 3/4th of the world production
Agricultural Development in Monsoon lands

Major Food Crops

 Rice (Most important)

 Wheat
 Millets
 Sorghum
 Gram
 Maize
 Beans (in drier areas where rice cannot be grown)

Lowland Cash Crops

 Sugarcane – India, Java, Cuba, Jamaica, Formosa, Trinidad &

Barbados
 Jute – Ganga Brahmaputra Delta in India & Bangladesh
 Manila hemp / Abaca – Philippines (used for making a high
quality rope)
 Other crops include Indigo, Cotton, Banana, Coconut & Spices

Highland plantation Crops

Coffee

 Originated in Ethiopia & Arabia, where it is still grown

 But Brazil now accounts for half the world production
 Also grows on highland slopes of India, Eastern Java & Central
American states
Tea

 Originated in china & still important crop there for local

consumption
 Major exporters are India, Java, Bangladesh & Srilanka

Shifting Cultivation

 Also practised in Tropical monsoon forests entirely for

subsistence (for consumption only)
 Major crops are sweet potato, beans, maize, paddy, yams &
tapioca
 As tropical soils are mainly latosolic (high content of iron &
aluminum oxide), hence rapidly leaches away & easily
exhausted
 First crop may be bountiful, but the subsequent crops
deteriorates
 Shifting cultivation is so widely practised amongst indigenous
peoples that different local names are used in different countries
viz.

Ladang Malaysia
Taungya Burma
Tamrai Thailand
Caingin Philippines
Humah Java
Chena Sri Lanka
Milpa Africa & Central America
Savanna Climate (Sudan Type Climate) – Tropical Grasslands

 Savanna or Sudan climate is a transitional type of climate found between the

equatorial forests & trade wind hot deserts.
 It is confined within the tropics (Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn) &
is best developed in Sudan, where dry & wet climate are most distinct, hence
named Sudan climate.
 It covers much of Africa (Keya, Nigeria, Gambia) as well as large areas of
Australia, South America (Brazilian highlands), and India.
 Sudan climate is characterized by an alternate & distinct hot, rainy season
(from May to Sep) & cool, dry season (Oct – April) in N – Hemisphere &
vice versa in S – Hemisphere.
 The savanna climate has a temperature range of 18° – 30° C.
 In winters, it is usually about 18° – 25° C & in summers, the temperature
ranges from 25° – 30° C.
 Like the monsoon climate, the maximum temperature tends to occur in late
spring to early summer prior to the onset of the rainy season, with Daily
temperature range greater during the dry season & annual temp. range
increasing towards poleward from equatorial region.
 Both the length of the rainy season as well as annual total rainfall decreases
from equatorial region to polewards.
  On the whole, the annual precipitation (~100 cm annually) is less than the
tropical monsoon climate & length of wet & dry seasons differs with the
locality.

 Prevailing winds of the region are the trade winds, which bring rain to the
eastern coastal districts.
 They are strongest in summers but are relatively dry by the time tome they
reach the continental interiors or western coasts of the continents, so
scattered grasses & short trees dominates.

In west Africa, N-E trade winds blow from the Sahara Desert & reach Guinea coast
as dry dust laden winds called locally ‘Harmattan’, means the doctor, which
increases the rate of evaporation & provides cooling effect at Guinea coast; but it is
such a dry dusty wind that, besides ruining the crops, sometimes it may cause fire;
it also stirs up a thick dusty haze & impedes inland river navigation.

Natural Vegetation of Savanna Climate Region

 Savanna landscape is generally characterized by Tall grass (6 – 8 feet) &

short trees.
 Savannas are generally known as tropical grasslands, but it is rather
misleading as trees are always present with the luxuriant tall grass.
 Trees grow best towards the equatorial humid latitudes or along the river
banks but decrease in height & density away from the equator.
 Trees are generally deciduous, shedding their leaves in cool, dry season to
prevent excessive loss of water through transpiration for e.g. aracias.
 Others have broad trunks to store water to survive through the prolonged
drought such as baobabs & bottle trees.
 Palms, which cannot stand drought, are confined to the wettest areas along
the rivers.

 Vegetative luxuriance reaches its peak in rainy season, when trees renew
their foliage & flower.
 Grass lies dormant throughout the long dry period & springs up again in next
rainy season.
 In true savanna lands, the grass is tall & coarse growing 6 – 12 feet on height
(Elephanta grass); grows in tufts and have long roots, which reach down in
search of water.
 In-between long grasses are scattered short trees & low bushes.
 As rainfall diminishes towards the deserts, the savanna merges into thorny
scrubs.
Savanna Animals & Agriculture

 Savanna, particularly in Africa, is the home of diverse varieties of wild

animals
 Many of the animal films that we see in cinemas are actually taken in
savanna.
 Some tribes lives as pastoralists viz. Masai of Kenya & others as settled
cultivators like Housa of Nigeria
 Tropical grassland animals (which do not all occur in the same area)
include giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos, mice, moles, gophers, ground
 squirrels, snakes, worms, termites, beetles, lions, leopards, hyenas, Zebu
cattle and elephants.
 The world’s greatest diversity of ungulates (hoofed mammals) is found on
the savannas of Africa.
 The soil of tropical grasslands is porous, with rapid drainage of water.
 It has only a thin layer of humus (the organic portion of the soil created by
partial decomposition of plant or animal matter), which provides vegetation
with nutrients.
 The Sudan climate, with distinct wet & dry periods is also responsible for
deterioration of soil fertility.
 During rainy season, torrential downpours of heavy rain causes leaching,
leading to drainage of soil nutrients
 During the dry season, intense heating & evaporation dries up soils water.
 Many savanna areas therefore have poor laterite soils, incapable of
supporting good crops, unless the soil is properly conserved by manuring &
weeding.

Savanna is said to be a natural cattle country & many of its native people are
herdsman & pastoralists with cattle kept in large numbers for meat & milk; but the
settlements in central Africa, Northern Australia & Eastern Brazil have shown an
immense growth potential in food & plantation crops such as :

 Food crops : Maize, Millet, Corn, Bananas, Beans & Groundnuts

 Plantation crops : Cotton, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Coffee, Groundnuts, Oil
palms & Tropical fruits
Deserts Climate Type

 Deserts are the regions of scanty rainfall (less than 25 cm or 10 inch of

rainfall)
 May be hot like Saharan Desert; Coastal dry deserts like Atacama &
Temperate or the mid latitude deserts viz. Gobi.
 Hot desert climates are typically found under the subtropical ridge

Deserts Climate Type

 Unbroken sunshine for the whole year + stable descending air + high
pressure aloft
 These areas are located between 15 – 30 degrees south & north latitude,
under the subtropical latitudes called the horse latitudes.
 Major hot deserts of the world include

 Sahara Desert (Africa)

 Thar Desert (India)
 Libyan Desert (Africa)
 Mojave Desert (N-America)
 Kalahari Desert (Africa)
 Iranian Desert
 Arabian Deserts

 Hot desert drylands, like the Atacama of Chile, the Namib of

southern Africa, and the western Australian desert, are the result of cold
oceanic currents that divert rain-laden air away from coastlines.
  Among the mid-latitudes deserts, many are found on plateau & are at
considerable distance from the sea – Cold Deserts – viz.

 Gobi Desert
 Turkestan Desert
 Patagonian Desert

Causes of aridity of deserts

 The hot deserts lie astride the horse latitudes or sub-tropical high
pressure belts, where the air is descending, a condition least favorable for
precipitation of any kind.
 Rain shadow → Air descending leeward side from mountainous areas
warms and dries by compression, little rainfall forms and aridity is the result
for e.g. Patagonian desert due to rain shadow effect of Andes.

 Cold ocean currents → Cold air present above such currents ensures less
evaporation of moisture with scarse evaporation resulting in formation of
mist & fog, but no clouds – hence no rain. Effect of cold Peruvian current
makes Atacama the driest place of the earth
  Continentality → Central areas of continents are dry because they lie far
away from the oceans & air moving over landmasses does not absorb large
amounts of water vapour, required for precipitation.

Temperature variation in Deserts

 Deserts are some of the hottest spots on the earth & have high temperature
throughout the year.
 There is no cold season in hot deserts & average temp. is around 30 -35*C.
 Diurnal range of temperature is extremely high in deserts due to intense high
temp. during the day & freezing cold nights.
 Days are unbearably hot with highest temp. of 76*C recorded in open barren
sand and in shaded, well-ventilated areas viz.
 Al- Azizia in Libya has had a recorded high temperature of 58 °C.
 An interesting variant of tropical and subtropical deserts are the so-
called West Coast Desert areas found on the western coastal margins of the
regions such as Atacama deserts of South America, and
the Sahara [Moroccan part] and Namib deserts of Africa.

 These areas are much cooler than their latitude would suggest
(monthly mean temperatures of only 15–21 °C.
  The cooling results from airflow off adjacent coastal waters where
upwelling of the ocean gives rise to cold currents.
 Deserts of this sort are subject to frequent fog and low-level clouds;
yet they are extremely arid.

Desert Facts

 Deserts cover more than 1/5th of the Earth’s land, and they are found on
every continent.
 Despite the common conceptions of deserts as dry and hot, there are cold
deserts as well.
 The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa’s Sahara, reaches
temperatures of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the
day.
 But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the desert
on the continent of Antarctica.
 Simoom – Violent dust storms in deserts

Desert Animals Characteristics

 Desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool and use less
water. Camels, for example, can go for days without food and water.
 Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only when the brutal sun has
descended to hunt, have long feet & secrets conc. waste.
 Some animals, like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States,
spend much of their time underground.
 Most desert birds are nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food.
 Because of their very special adaptations, desert animals are extremely
vulnerable to introduced predators and changes to their habitat.
Desert vegetation Characteristics

 Desert vegetation is an amazing example of adaptive power of plants and

trees, which majorly consists of scrub, herbs, weeds, roots & bulbs.
 The predominant vegetation of deserts is xerophyte or drought resistant
which usually has special ways of storing and conserving water viz. cacti
 Trees are rare except where there is abundant of ground water to support
clusters of date palms.
 Absence of moisture retards the rate of decomposition hence desert soils are
deficient in humus content along with high rate of evaporation making the
soil saline.
 Plants have few or no leaves & foliage is waxy, leathery or hairy / needle
shaped to reduce the loss of water through transpiration.
 Thick bark & tough skins to protect them while they lie dormant from
excessive evaporation
 Develop an extended root system close to the surface to collect a lot of water
during scant rainfall.
 Develop a deep root system and reach groundwater.
Characteristic features of desert vegetation

 Stay many years dormant as a seed and when sufficient rain falls, and speed
up your active life to a 3 week compressed cycle, producing leaves, flowers
and new seeds in no time.
 Poison your immediate neighbours, and reduce competition of even your
own species.
 Remain small, it saves surface through which water evaporates.
 Get round, a more advantageous ratio volume/surface, and develop green
cylindrical stems able to perform photosynthesis
 Cut off your limbs, I mean, led some of your branches die in order to
consume less of everything
Nomads in Deserts

Bushmen Kalahari
Bindibu / Aborigins Australia
Bedouin Arabia
Tauregs Sahara
Mangols Gobi (Cold Desert)

Minerals in Deserts

Diamond &
Kalahari (Thirst land)
Copper
 Caliche (Cemented gravels) → Sodium
Nitrate fertilizer
Atacama  Chuquicamata (Chile) → Largest copper
town

Sahara & Arabia Oil

Mexico Silver
Utah Uranium
Nevada Copper

Mediterranean Climate (Warm Temperate Western Margin Climate)

 Mediterranean climate is found between the 30o- 45oN-S latitudes

& gets its name from the climate found around the
Mediterranean Sea.
 The basic cause of this type of climate is shifting of the wind
belts with summers – warm to hot, and winters – cool but mild.
 These regions have also been called ‘winter-rain & summer dry’
  The Mediterranean biome is divided intofive floristic biome
subtypes, according to the various floristic realms into which
each fall –

Areas around Mediterranean

Mediterranean
sea
Californian Around San Francisco
Central Chile (South
Chilean
America)
Capensic Cape Town, Africa
Southern & Western
Australian
Australia

 Though the area around Mediterranean Sea has the great extent
of this type of agriculture, the best developed form of this
peculiar type of climate is infact found in central Chile.
 Strong, cold up-welling currents bathe the coastal regions with
cool marine air and moderate winter temperatures, except for
the Mediterranean Basin and South and Western Australia.
Dry, warm summer with off shore trade winds

 The summer months have relatively higher temperature (~ 20* –

30* C), with highest temp. recorded are away from the coast & in
more eastern continental Mediterranean.
 In summers, when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer,
the belt of influence of westerlies is shifted a little polewards.
 Rain bearing winds, therefore, are not likely to reach
Mediterranean lands.
 The prevailing trade winds are off shore; as all of the
Mediterranean region lies on the western margin of the
continents except large portions of the Mediterranean Basin;
and all the regions are situated along the coast of oceans or the
Mediterranean Sea, therefore the air is dry, heated & is of low
relative humidity with practically no rains.
 Days are excessively warm in the interiors & prolonged
droughts are common, with areas at coast getting relief from
moderating effects of the seas.

Mild, Rainy winter with on shore Westerlies

 The Mediterranean lands receive most of their precipitation in

winters (~65-70 %), when the westerlies shift equatorward, with
average temp. in winters approx. 10 – 12*C
 In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing on shore westerlies
brings much cyclonic rain from from the Atlantic to the
countries bordering Mediterranean Sea.
  The mean annual rainfall is approx. 70 cm, which differs greatly
from place to place, depending on the relief, continentality &
passing of the cyclones.
 Mediterranean regions are often backed by mountains along the
coasts which provide an effective barrier to oncoming
westerlies.
 As a result, Portuguese coast is much wetter than eastern Spain
& much heavier precipitation has been recorded in highlands of
windward slopes facing the westerlies.
 The steep hills of the eastern Adriatic are the rainiest part of
Europe.
 Rain comes in heavy showers but only on few days, with bright
sunny periods between them; mostly from Sep – Feb, with peak
at October.
 Though the downpour is infrequent, they are often very
torrential & in mountainous regions, cause destructive floods.

Local Winds around Mediterranean Sea

 Many local winds, some hot, others cold are common around the
Mediterranean Sea due to the varied topography of the region
 High Alps in the north, Sahara desert in south, Continental
interiors in east & open Atlantic on west, give rise to great
differences in temperature, pressure & precipitation
 The passing cyclones from the Atlantic, the anticyclones from
the north & cold air masses from the continental interior are
often interrupted by relief features, resulting in birth of local
winds around the Mediterranean

Sirocco Wind

 This is a hot, dry, dusty wind which originates in the Sahara

desert
 Though it may occur at any time of the year, but most frequent
in springs & lasts only for few days
  Sirocco blows outward from the desert interior to the cooler
Mediterranean Sea
 It is usually associated with depressions from Atlantic passing
from the coast to eastward inlands
 After crossing the Mediterranean Sea, Sirocco is slightly cooled
by absorption of water vapour but still remains hot & dry with a
temperature of over 40*C
 It withers crops & vegetation; and the damage is particularly
serious when it comes at the times during which Vines & Olives
are in blossom
 Sirocco is also known as blood rain due to the red dust it carries
from Sahara Desert
 It is so prominent that it is known by different local names such
as –

Chili Tunisia
Ghibli Libya
Leveche Spain
Khamsin Egypt & Malta

 In Adriatic & Aegean Sea, this hot wind, better known as Gharbi,
gathers much moisture, causing fog, dew & rains
Fohn Wind & Chinook Wind

 Both the Fohn & Chinook winds are local hot & dry winds
experienced on the leeward side of the mountains when
descending air become compresses with increased pressure.
 Fohn wind is experienced in the valleys of northern Alps,
particularly in Switzerland in spring.
 Chinook winds are experienced on the eastern slopes of the
Rockies in USA & Canada in winters.
 While descending, most of the moisture of the wind is lost &
hence it becomes dry & hot, which may lead to rise in
temperature of leeward side.
 In North America, it is called Chinook which means the snow
eater, as it melts the snow & causes avalanches.
 It has blessings too, it enhances the growth of crops & fruits &
thaws the snow covered pastures by raising temperature of the
region quite quickly.

Mistral Wind

 In contrast to Sirocco, Mistral is a cold wind from the north,

rushing down the Rhone valley (France) in violent gusts
between 40 – 80 miles / hour.
  Velocity of Mistral is intensified by the funneling effect in the
valley between Alps & Central Massif (France).
 In winters, when the Mistral is most frequent, the temperature of
the wind may be below freezing point, though the sky may be
clear & cloudless.
 Therefore, as a protective measure, many of the houses &
orchards of Rhone valley & Riviera have thick rows of trees &
hedges planted to shield them from Mistral.

Bora Wind

 A similar type of cold north-easterly wind experienced along the

Adriatic coast is called Bora
 Like the Mistral, it is caused by a difference in pressure between
continental Europe & Mediterranean
 Usually occur in winter, when the atmospheric pressure over
continental Europe is higher than that of Mediterranean
 This dry, icy wind is even more violent than the Mistral & speeds
of over 100 mph have been recorded
 During strong Boras, ships may be blown aground & agricultural
land ruined.

Natural vegetation of Mediterranean Region

 In a land with half the year dry, one cannot expect the natural
vegetation to be luxuriant.
 In the Mediterranean area, the natural vegetation is xerophyte, or
drought resistant
 Consists of cypress, cork oak, scrub evergreen, olive, and low
bushes
 The native vegetation of Mediterranean climate lands must be
adapted to survive long, hot summer droughts and prolonged
wet periods in winter.
 Trees with small broad leaves are widely spread & never very tall
  The absence of shade is a distinct feature of Mediterranean
lands.
 Soil is often reddish in colour, indicating high iron content.
 The low amounts of rain in this region result in little leaching of
the soil, and the humus content is low from lack of leaf fall.
 Growth is slow in cooler & wetter season, even though more rain
falls in winter; & long summer drought checks the growth
 Thus growth is almost restricted to autumn & spring, when the
temperature is higher & moisture is just sufficient.

Mediterranean Evergreen Forests

 Open Woodlands with evergreen oaks, found only in climatically

most favored regions with rainfall well over 70 cm viz. Spain &
Portugal.
 In Australia, eucalyptus forests replace the evergreen oaks
 Trees are normally low, even stunted with massive trunks
 Have deeply fissured barks, small leathery leaves & wide spread
root system in search of water

Evergreen Coniferous Trees

 Include various kinds of pines, cedars & cypresses with needle

shaped leaves & tall, straight trunks.
 They appear more on cooler highlands & where droughts are
less severe.

Bushes & Shrubs

 Perhaps the most dominant type of Mediterranean vegetation as

summers are so dry & hot that in places, forests give place to
short, evergreen shrubs & bushes, which are scattered in
clamps & are often thorny.
  Are generally drought & heat resistant & have developed various
strategies of growth & usage of available water during the dry
period
 They are usually known by different names in different regions
such as –

Maquis Mediterranean
Chaparral California
Matorral Chile
Fynbos South Africa
Mallee and kwongan Australia

Grass

 Conditions in Mediterranean do not suit grass, as most of the

rain comes in cool season when growth is slow.
 Slow growing vegetation, which cannot replenish their foliage
readily, & without deep penetrating roots, is least suitable here.
 Even if grass do survive, they are wiry & bunchy and are not
suitable for animal farming; Cattle rearing is thus unimportant in
Mediterranean.
 Grass which is replaced by certain drought resistant varieties of
shrubs & flowering herbs, can however support sheep or goats.
 As a result of above mentioned facts, animal fats are
unimportant here & chief cooking oil is obtained from olives;
Dairy products are net import items.

Agricultural developments in Mediterranean

 Mediterranean lands are famous for citrus fruits cultivation,

Cereal growing & Wine making majorly.
Orchard Farming

 Mediterranean lands are also known as world’s orchard lands

 Wide varieties of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes,
citrons & grapefruit are grown.
 The fruit trees have long roots to draw water from considerable
depths during the long summer drought; in exceptionally dry
areas, irrigation helps to relieve the lack of moisture.
 The thick leathery skin of citrus fruits prevents excessive
transpiration & the long, sunny summer enables the fruits to be
ripened & harvested.
 The Mediterranean lands account for 70 % of world’s export of
citrus fruits.
 The olive tree is probably the most typical of all Mediterranean
cultivated vegetation
 As Olive tree is so hard & long rooted that it can survive even on
very poor limestone soils, with less than 25 cm of annual
rainfall.
 Besides olives, many nut trees like chestnuts, walnuts,
hazelnuts & almonds are grown, picked as fruits or for chocolate
industry.
 Other important fruits are peaches, apricots, pears, plums,
cherries & figs.

Crop Cultivation

 Cereals are by far the most important cultivated crops in

Mediterranean, with wheat as the leading food crop, used for
bread making
  Barley is the next most important cereal
 Other food products like spaghetti, vermicelli & macaroni
 Farmers usually sow the seeds in autumn, so that they can grow
& germinate steadily with coming winter rain; by springs there is
still sufficient moisture for wheat to mature
 Other important food crops cultivated here are rice, vegetables
especially beans, & flowers, for local market
 A little cotton & tobacco are also grown
 The mountain pastures, with cool climate, support a fur sheep,
goats & sometimes cattle with widespread practice of
Transhumance

Wine Cultivation

 A specialty of the Mediterranean countries

 The regions bordering Mediterranean Sea account for 3/4th of the
total world’s production of wine
 The long, sunny summer allow grapes to ripen with almost 85 %
of grapes produced go into wine production

Steppe Climate – Temperate Continental Climate

 Bordering the deserts, away from the Mediterranean regions & in the
interiors of the continent are the Temperate grasslands
 Feature semi-arid or steppe climate, which lies between the tropics & Polar
Regions.
 Though they lie in the westerlies wind belt, they are so remote from
maritime influence that the grasslands are practically treeless.
 Grass are generally distinct in natural vegetation as those lie in S-
Hemisphere have a much moderate climate due to coastal effects of the seas
& warm currents alongside
 Whereas grasslands in N-Hemisphere are comparatively warmer in summers
& colder in winters as they are entirely continental.
  In Eurasia, they are called Steppes, which stretches eastward from the shores
of Baltic Sea across the Great Russian plains, to the foothills of Altai
Mountains, for approx. 2000 miles
 In isolated sections of Hungary & Mongolian-Manchurian region, they are
known as Pustaz
 In North America, the grasslands are quite extensive & known as Prairies,
lying between foothills of Rockies & the Great lakes astride American –
Canada border
 In the southern hemisphere, due to the narrowness of temperate portions of
southern continents, grasslands are rather restricted & less continental
 In case of Pampas of Argentina & Uruguay, the grasslands extend right to
the sea & enjoy much maritime influence
 In South Africa, the grasslands are sandwiched between the Drakensberg &
Kalahari deserts; & are further divided into the more tropical Bush Veld in
the north, & more temperate High Veld in the south
 In Australia, the grasslands are better known as Downs & are found in
Murray-Darling basin of southern Australia

Steppe Climate

 In northern hemisphere, they lie in the heart of continents & thus have little
maritime influence
 Hence climate is continental with extremes of temperature.
 Summers are very warm, approx. 25* C, with winters are chilling cold, with
well below freezing point viz. approx. – 20*C
 Hence have high annual range of temperature
 In contrast, in southern hemisphere, climate is never severe, with mild
winters of ~ 10* C & warm summers with ~ 20* C, due to the maritime
effect of the coasts
 Hence annual range of temperature is way less than that in northern
hemisphere steppes.
 Annual precipitation in N – Hemisphere has a mean annual of approx. 50
Cm, with majority of rainfall in summers from convectional sources.
 Winter rainfall of approx. 25 mm/ month is occasional by depressions of the
westerlies & in form of snow.

 Due to maritime influence in southern hemisphere, mean annual rainfall

always averages more than 50 cm, mainly due to warm ocean currents that
wash the shores of steppe lands.
 On the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Canada & USA, a local wind similar
to Fohn (Switz), called Chinook, comes in south west direction to the
Prairies, descending from the Rockies. It is a hot wind that rises the
temperature & melts snow covered pastures, generally in winters & early
springs, hence frequent chinook means mild winters in the region.
Natural Vegetation of Steppe

 Natural vegetation of steppes is generally referred as temperate grasslands,

differing only in density & quality of grass.
 Their greatest difference from tropical savannas is that steppes are
practically treeless & grasses are much shorter.
 Regions in N – Hemisphere, where the rainfall averages above 50 cm, the
grasses are tall, fresh & nutritious & are better described as long prairie
grass
 Examples include North America, Rich black earth of Russia –Ukraine &
better watered areas of Asiatic steppe.
 Where the rainfall is light, less than 50 cm, or the soil is poor, as in
continental interiors of Asia, the short steppe type of grass prevails.
 The grasses are not only shorter but also wiry & sparse, often found in
discontinuous clumps, with bare soil exposed between them.

 The climatic requirement of grass are quite different from trees as they
require less moisture than trees & an annual precipitation of approx. 25 – 50
cm is adequate.
  Their growth is not abruptly checked by summer drought & winter cold as
they lie dormant throughout this period & sprout instantly as soon as
temperature is moist & warm again.
 Trees are very scarce in steppes, because of the scanty rainfall, long
droughts & severe winters; with long rolling plains of endless grass.
 Poleward, an increase in precipitation gives rise to a transition zone of
wooded steppes where some conifers gradually appear, but are very
scattered & few in number.
 Towards the equator, the steppe grass becomes shorter & sparser, till it
merges into desert with thorny scrub.

Agricultural developments of Steppe

 Grasslands have been ploughed up for extensive mechanized wheat

cultivation & are termed as granaries of the world.
 Beside wheat, maize is also increasingly cultivated, mainly in warmer &
wetter areas.
 Farms are extensively long, hence due to less attention & high
mechanization, average yield per acre is low, but the yield per man is very
high
 Hence grasslands of mid latitudes produce greatest exporters of wheat in the
world.
 The tufted grasses have been replaced by more nutritious lucerne & alfalfa
grass for cattle & ship rearing.

Natural conditions suit animal farming & with the introduction of more nutritious
grass & refrigerated ships, temperate grasslands became major pastoral regions,
exporting large quantities of beef, mutton, wool, milk, butter, cheese & other dairy
products viz. Pampas became lead exporter of beef & Australia became world’s
leading wool exporter.

China type Climate – Warm Temperate Eastern Margin Climate

This type of climate is found on the eastern margin of continent in warm temperate
latitudes, just outside the tropics & comparatively has more rainfall than the
Mediterranean climate in the same latitudes, coming mainly in summers.

 Eastern margin temperate climate can further be subdivided into

3 major type :

China Temperate monsoonal (Central & North China including

Type southern Japan)
Gulf South eastern United States bordering Gulf of Mexico
Type (slight monsoonal)
Natal (Africa), South Wales (Australia), Parana (Southern
Natal
Brazil)-Paraguay-Uruguay & Northern Argentina (South
Type
America)

 Warm temperate eastern margin climate is typified by a warm,

moist summer & a cool, dry winter strongly modified by
maritime influence.
 Occasionally, the penetration of cold air from the continental
interiors may bring down the temperature to the freezing point,
but most of the time it is pleasantly warm.
 Rainfall is anything in-between 75 cm to 150 cm, fairly
distributed throughout the year, with no dry month, except in the
interiors of central China.
 Rain comes either as convection or orographic in summers &
from depressions in winters.
China Type Climate

 Great land mass of Asiatic interior & Pacific Ocean induces

great pressure changes between summers & winters, giving rise
to temperate monsoonal type of climate.
 In summers, intense heating of Asiatic interior sets up a region
of low pressure in summer & tropical pacific air stream is drawn
in as the rain bearing South-East Monsoon
 This results in heavy precipitation in China, approx. 100 cm of
rainfall per annum, decreasing landwards with summer
maximum in June & July
 In winters, a steep pressure gradient is set up between the cold
interiors of Mongolia & Siberia, & a warmer Pacific coastland;
 This results in outward flow of continental polar air as the North
West Monsoon, bitterly cold & very dry, causing only a little rain
but considerate snow as the cold winds are warmed &
moistened.
 Other characteristic features of China type of climate is great
annual temperature range & occurrence of typhoons (intense
tropical cyclones) that originate in Pacific Ocean, & move
westward to the coastlands, bordering South China Sea.

Gulf Type Climate

 Gulf-Atlantic regions of the US experience a type of climate

similar to that of central china except the monsoonal
characteristics are less well established.
 There is no complete reversal of winds & the pressure gradient
between mainland America & Atlantic Ocean is less marked.
 Annual rainfall is heavy with annual average 100 – 150 cm
 No distinct dry period with a tendency towards summer
maximum, brought by the on shore trade winds which swings
landward from the Atlantic.
  The amount of rain is increased by frequent thunderstorms in
summers & hurricanes by Sep & October, with some places
showing a secondary maximum in winters.
 Annual range of temperature is much smaller comparative to
china type of climate
 Sometimes violent tornedoes occur, due to intense heating of
the land.

Natal Type Climate

 The narrowness of the continents & the dominance of maritime

influence eliminate the monsoonal elements, which characterize
the corresponding climates of N- Hemisphere.
 The south east trade winds bring about a more even distribution
of rainfall throughout the year with mean annual of approx. 100 –
150 cm.
 The passage of depressions along the southern edges of warm
temperate eastern margins results in slight autumn-winter
maximum i.e. from March – July.

Annual temperature range is small without any really cold month; however
southern continents have violent local storms viz. Southerly burster (a violent cold
wind) in South wales, corresponding cold wind in Argentina & Uruguay is
Pampero & Berg (a hot, dry wind) in south east Africa.

Natural Vegetation

 The eastern margin of the warm temperate latitudes has a much

heavier rainfall than either the western margin or the continental
interiors & thus has luxuriant vegetation.
 The lowlands carry both evergreen broad leave forests &
deciduous trees, quite similar to those of the tropical monsoon
forests.
  On the highlands, are various species of conifers such as pines
& cypresses, which are important soft woods
 As the perennial plant growth is not checked by either a dry
season as in Mediterranean, or a cold season as in cool
temperate regions, conditions are well suited to a rich variety of
plant life, including grass, ferns, lianas, bamboos, palms &
forests, with a well distributed rainfall over the year.
 Warm temperate eastern margins are home of a number of
valuable timber & economic viable species viz.

Eucalyptus Australia (Exporter)

Parana Pine, Quebracho SE Brazil, E Paraguay, N
(Axebreaker) Argentina
Leaves of Yerba Mate Trees Paraguay Tea
Chestnuts, Ironwoods &
Highlands of Natal
Blackwoods
Palm trees Coastal areas of Natal
Oak, Camphor, Camelia &
China & Southern Japan
Magnolia

Agricultural Developments

The warm temperate eastern margins are the most productive parts of middle
latitudes, due to adequate rainfall, no prolong drought with the cold season warm
enough for most of the crops to survive; though summer is the busiest part of
farming year

Rice, Tea & Mulberries (for feeding silk

China
worms for sericulture)
Gulf (N
Corn, Cotton, Tobacco
America)
Natal (S
Cane sugar, Cotton & Tobacco
America)
Coffee, Maize, Pines, Paraguay Tea,
South America
Wheat, Cattle & Sheep
South Wales & Dairying (Milk, Butter, Cheese), Cotton,
Victoria Cane Sugar, Maize
Note → Despite being world’s greatest rice growing area, China do not export &
even imports food grains; & grows rice & tea for subsistence purpose only due to
its intense population.

Corn

 Apart from its ease of cultivation, wrt soil, climate & labour
requirements, corns’ most outstanding feature is its prolific
yield
 It gives almost twice as much food per acre as wheat or other
cereals
 USA accounts for more than 50 % of world’s corn production but
exports only 3%
 Most of the corn in USA is used in fattening animals as they
allow them to hog the corn down in the fields itself
 This is done to get more monetary gain as fattened animals are
sold to the meat plants

British type Climate – Cool Temperate Western Margin

 Cool temperate western margins are under the permanent

influence of the westerlies all-round the year approx. at 50* N- S
 They are also regions of much cyclonic activity, typical of
Britain, & are thus said to experience the British type of climate.
 From Britain, the climatic belt stretches far inland into lowlands
of N-W Europe, including such regions as northern & western
France, Belgium, Netherland, Denmark, Western Norway & N-W
Iberia.
  There is so much oceanic influence on both the temperature &
precipitation that the climate is also referred as North West
European Maritime Climate.
 In northern America, the high Rockies prevent the on shore
westerlies from penetrating far inland & British type of climate is
confined mainly to coastlands of British Columbia (West coast
of Canada)
 In the southern hemisphere, this type of climate is experienced
in southern Chile, Tasmania (southern Australia) & Most parts of
New Zealand, particularly in south island, surrounded by large
expanses of water.

British Type Climate

 The mean annual temperatures are usually between 5*C in

winters to 15*C in summers thus have a short annual
temperature range.
 Summers are infact never very warm and temperature above
20*C is rare; winters are abnormally mild & no station record a
mean temp. of below freezing point.
 Heat waves are a welcome feature in such cool temperate
climate.
 Above climatic features especially warming effect mentioned are
the attributes to the moderating effects of the North Atlantic
drifts & prevalence of southern westerlies.
 Sometimes, unsual cold spells caused by the invasion of cold
polar continental air from the interiors, may hit the western
margins for the number of weeks.
 Night frost does occur & snow falls in winters.
 Hence the climate of this maritime region as a whole may be
described as equable with moderately warm summers & fairly
mild winters.
 British type of climate is even more equable in S – Hemisphere,
due to lack of continental mass (Tasmania, New Zealand &
Southern Chile) & more presence of oceanic water, which means
extreme of temperature are not likely at all, hence annual
temperature range is further reduced here.
 Amount of rainfall decreases from western margin of the
continents eastward,
 Relief can also make great differences in annual rainfall, hence it
is difficult to say how much annual rainfall is typical for British
type of climate
  Though if confined to lowlands, it receives 50 – 100 cm of mean
annual rainfall. British type of climate has adequate rainfall
throughout the year with a tendency towards slight winter or
autumn maximum from cyclonic sources.

Natural Vegetation of British Type Climate

 The natural vegetation of this climatic type is deciduous forests

that shed their leaves in the cold season, to protect themselves
against winter snow & frost.
 Some of the common species which provide hardwoods from
these deciduous forests are Oak, Elms, Birch, Neech, Poplar &
Hornbeam; along with certain other species such as chestnut,
maple & lime.
 Unlike the equatorial forests, the deciduous trees occur in pure
strands & have greater lumbering value from the commercial
point of view; & are excellent for fuel, furniture & industrial
purposes.
 The open nature of the forests with sparse undergrowth is
highly useful in logging operations as easy penetration means
much cost can be saved in movement of the logs.
 Higher up the mountains in Scavandian highlands, Rockies and
Southern Alps of New Zealand, deciduous trees are generally
replaced by conifers which can survive a higher altitude, a lower
temperature & poorer soils.

Agricultural Developments of British Type Climate

 N-W Europe is one of the crowded parts of the world

 Hence despite growing a large number of cereals, that too with
highest yield / acre, it remains the net importer of food crops
 wheat from all over the wheat-lands across the globe.
  Some of the agricultural developments of this type of climatic
regions are -

Market Gardening

 Though practised all over the world, where there is large urban
population but is highly specialized in N-W Europe (France,
Belgium, Britain, West Germany & Denmark).
 Farms are usually small and located near large cities or
industrial areas.
 Soils are carefully maintained at a high degree of fertility & very
selective fertilizers are applied to the crops.
 Farming is carried out intensively, aiming at high yield &
maximum cash returns.
 Produces, such as potatoes, cauliflowers, lettuces, cabbages,
tomatoes, onion, peas & fruits are conveyed by high speed
conveyances such as trucks or vans, hence also called as truck
farming in US.
 Bulbs & flowers (esp. tulips) from Netherlands, and eggs, bacon
& other dairy products from Denmark are sent to most of the
industrialized areas of Europe.
 In Australia, high speed boats ply across Bass Strait daily from
Tasmania to rush vegetables, tomatoes, apples & beans to most
parts of Australian mainland.

Mixed Farming

 Throughout Britain & N-W Europe, farmers practise both arable

farming (cultivation of crops on ploughed lands) & pastoral
farming (keeping animals on grass meadows).
 Crops may be raised for cash sales or as fodder for cattle &
sheep.
 Among the cereals, wheat is most extensively grown, almost
entirely for home consumption.
  The next important cereal raised in mixed farm is Barley raised
in drier areas, as a fodder crop, with better quality barley sold to
breweries for making beers or distilling whisky.
 Denmark, Australia & New Zealand excels in dairy products; &
are one of the world’s greatest exporters.
 Amongst food crops, potatoes feature prominently as a staple
food crop in supplementing wheat or bread.
 Today almost, 2/3rd of world’s annual production of potatoes
comes from Europe, of which Poland, Germany, France and
Britain are major producers.
 Besides its principle use as a substitute for bread, it also serves
as animal fodder & a source of industrial alcohol

Siberian Climate – Cool Temperate Continental – Taiga Climate

 Cool temperate continental (Siberian) climate is only experienced in

northern hemisphere, where the continents within the high latitudes have a
broad east west spread.
 On its poleward side, it merges into Arctic tundra of Canada & Eurasia at
around Arctic Circle;
 Southwards, the climate becomes less severe & fades into the temperate
Steppe climate
 Predominant vegetation of this Siberian or sub-arctic type of climate is
evergreen coniferous forests that stretch in a great, continuous belt across
North America, Europe & Asia.
 The greatest single band of the coniferous forest is Taiga (a Russian word
for coniferous forest) in Siberia.
 In Europe, this climate & forests are mainly confined to Northern Europe,
Sweden & Finland;
 However there are small amount of coniferous forests at high altitudes in
Germany, Poland, Austria, Switzerland & other parts of the Europe.
 In North America, the sub-arctic belt stretches across from Alaska across
Canada into Labrador & is found in the high Rocky Mountains further south.
The Siberian climate is conspicuously absent in the southern hemisphere because
of the narrowness of the southern continents in the high latitudes. The strong
oceanic influence reduces the severity of the winters & coniferous forests are
found only on the mountainous uplands of southern Chile, New Zealand, Tasmania
& South East Australia.

Siberian Climate

 Siberian type climate is typified by bitterly cold winters of long duration &
cool brief summer; lies across 60* N of equator.
 Spring & autumn are merely brief transitional periods
 Annual range of temperature is quite high due to extremes of temperature
observed in this type of climate, as temp. well below freezing point in
winters & approx. 15* in summers.
 With low temperatures in cold season, heavy snowfall can be expected, with
frost occurring as early as August
 By September, most of the lakes & ponds are icebound; with the number of
days in which the rivers are frozen, increases from south to north.
 The interiors of Eurasian continent are so remote from maritime influence
that annual precipitation cannot be high.
 Generally, a total of 40 – 60 cm of rainfall is typified in this sub-arctic type
of climate.
 Rainfall is quite well distributed throughout the year, with a summer
maximum from the convectional rain, when the continental interiors are
greatly heated approx. 20* C.
The total precipitation of Siberian climate is marked by many factors viz. altitude,
latitude, proximity to the poles, amount of exposure to influences by westerlies (on
western part of the continent), temperate monsoon (on eastern part of the
continent) & penetration of cyclones.

 Snow falls nearly everywhere in USSR in long, cold winter, but the amount
varies from place to place; with heaviest in northern tundra & Siberian taiga.
 Permanent snowfields like of Alps or the Himalayas are absent, because any
accumulation of snow is melted with the return of spring & the warm
summer.
 Frozen rivers are thawed, causing a rise in the water level, sometimes
resulting in extensive floods.
 Being a poor conductor of heat, the presence of thick mantle of snow
protects the soil of ground from severe cold above, which may be approx. 5*
– 10* C colder.
 It also provides moisture for the vegetation when the snow melts in spring.

Natural Vegetation

 No other trees are as well adapted as the conifers, to withstand such a severe
inhospitable environment as Siberian type of climate.
 Coniferous belts of Eurasia & North America are the richest sources of
softwood; Used in construction, furniture, matches, paper & pulp, rayon &
other chemical products.
 The world’s greatest softwood producers are USSR, USA, Canada &
Fenoscandian countries (Finland, Sweden & Norway).
 USA is the leading producer in the production of wood pulp & Canada in
newsprint, accounting for almost half of the world’s production.
Coniferous Evergreen forests

 Coniferous forests are more uniform in height, & grow straight & tall upto a
height of 100 feet approx.
 There are four major groups of conifers viz. Fir, Pine, Spruces & Larch.
 Coniferous trees grow up instead of out and are of a triangular shape to
prevent snow accumulation & also offers little grip to the winds.
 There is no annual replacement of new leaves as in deciduous trees.
 The same leaf remains on the tree for as long as 5 years.
 By keeping their leaves, conifers can quickly begin food production when
the warm weather returns in the spring.
 The needles have a waxy coating that helps reduce moisture loss in cold
weather.
 The narrow needles offer less surface area to the drying winds of winter.
Food is stored in trunks, & bark is thick to protect the trees from excessive
cold.
 Soils of coniferous forests are poor, podzolized, excessively leached & very
acidic.
 Evergreen leaves provide little leaf fall for humus formation & the rate of
decomposition of the leathery needles in a region of such a low temperature
is slow.
 All above mentioned factors along with absence of direct sunlight & short
duration of summers are deterrent to the growth of much undergrowth.
Agricultural Developments

 Conifers are limited in species with pine, spruce & fir predominant in
northern forests, while larch predominant in warmer south.
 They occur in homogeneous groups, not mixed as tropical forests, which
saves cost & time, and enhances the commercial value of felled timber.
 Coniferous forests are felled & transported to the saw mills for the extraction
of temperate soft woods & forms the basis of lumbering industry; & is used
for varieties of purposes viz.

 Paper & Pulp industry in which USA & Canada are leading exporters
 Industrial raw materials used for various industrial products such as
matches, which form a major export item in Sweden;
 For making plywood, hardboards, furniture, toys, planks & packing
cases
 For making many chemical processed articles such as rayon
turpentine, paints, dyes, wood alcohol, disinfectants & cosmetics.

 Trapping of fur bearing animals is practised on large scale for extracting fur,
which fetches high price.
 Only in more sheltered valleys & land bordering the steppes are some
cereals (barley, oats, rye) & root crops (potatoes) are raised for local needs.

Laurentian Climate – Cool Temperate Eastern Margin

 The cool temperate eastern margin climate is an intermediate type of climate

between the British & Siberian type of climate
 Have features of both maritime & continental type of climate
 Laurentian type of climate is found only in two regions, that too in northern
hemisphere only.
 One is N-E North America (Eastern Canada including Newfoundland and N-
E USA including Maritime Provinces & New England States)
 Other is Eastern coastlands of Asia including Eastern Siberia, North China,
Manchuria, Korea & northern Japan
 In the southern hemisphere, this climate is absent because only a small
section of southern continents extends beyond 40* S & maritime influence is
so high that neither continental nor eastern margin type of climate exist.
Laurentian Climate

 The Laurentian type of climate has cold, dry winters & warm, wet simmers.
 Winter temp. may be well below freezing point & snow falls to quite a
depth.
 Summers are warm as the tropics approx. 25* C & if were not for the
cooling effects of the off shore cold currents from arctic, the summers may
even be hotter.
 Though, rain falls throughout the year (except interiors of china), there is
distinct summer maximum from the easterly winds from the oceans
 The annual precipitation is approx. 75 -150 cm with 2/3rd of it falling in
summers.

 N-E American Region in Laurentian type of climate has remarkable

characteristic of uniformity in precipitation with a slight late summer
maximum i.e. July and August.
 This uniformity of precipitation is largely due to the Atlantic influence &
that of the Great lakes.
 The warm Gulf Stream increases the moisture content of the easterly winds
from the open Atlantic; & the prevailing westerlies which penetrate across
the Rockies carry depressions over the Great lakes to the New England
 states, thus promotes wet conditions especially in winters, vital for the
agricultural activities of this region.
 Meeting of warm Gulf Stream & cold Labrador Current on the coastal areas
off Newfoundland produces dense mist & fog & give rise to much
precipitation.

Asiatic Region

 In contrast, the rainfall distribution of the Asiatic region is far less uniform;
 Winters are cold & very dry while summers are very warm & exceptionally
wet.
 Rainfall is mostly confined to five summer months with rest of the year dry,
similar to the tropical monsoon conditions in India.
 The mountainous interior of China has such pronounced continental effects
that the intense heating in summers creates a region of extreme low pressure,
& moisture laiden winds from the Pacific & Sea of Japan blow in as S-E
monsoon; also called as cool temperate monsoon climate.
 The climate of Japan is modified by its insularity, & also by the meeting of
warm & cold ocean currents.
 It receives adequate rainfall from both the SE monsoon in summers & NE
monsoon in winters.
 The latter is dry, cold wind from from mainland Asia, but after crossing the
Sea of Japan, gathers sufficient moisture to give heavy relief rain or snow on
western coast of Japan.
 The rainfall is more evenly distributed with two maxima, one in June, the
plum rain & other in September, the Typhoon rain.

Natural Vegetation of Laurentian Climate

 Generally, the forest tend to be coniferous north of 50* N latitude

 In Asiatic region (eastern Siberia & Korea), the coniferous forests are infact
a continuation of great coniferous belt of Taiga.
  South of 50* N latitude, the coniferous forests give way to deciduous forests
with oak, beech, maple & birch, the principal trees.

Agricultural Development

 Lumbering & its associated timber, paper & pulp industries are the most
important economic undertaking.
 Agriculture is less important in view of severity of winters & its long
duration
 Fortunately the maritime influence & heavy rainfall enables some of the
hardy crops to be raised for local needs such as potatoes, oats, rye & barley.
 Fishing is the most outstanding economic activity of Laurentian climatic
region especially in Newfoundland & Japan mainly due to their geographical
importance.
 Gently sloping continental shelves around the islands of Newfoundland &
Japan are rich in planktons, mainly due to meeting of warm & cold ocean
currents.
 Fish feeds on minute marine organisms – planktons, which are present in
abundance only in shallow waters adjacent to land masses, where sunlight
can penetrate through
 Japanese also make use of fish wastes, fish meals & seaweeds as fertilizers
& is among one of the few countries involved in seaweed cultivation on
submerged coastal farms.
 Another aspect of Japanese fishing is pearl culture obtained from the shale
fish called pearl oyster found deep inside the sea

Tundra Climate – Polar Arctic Climate

 Polar time of climate is found mainly north of the Arctic circle in the
northern hemisphere.
 In the southern hemisphere, the virtually uninhabited continent of Antarctica
is the greatest single stretch of ice caps, always snow covered.
 The ice caps are confined to Greenland & to the highlands of high latitude
regions, where the ground is permanently snow covered.
 The lowlands, with a few months ice free, have tundra vegetation.
 They include the coastal strip of Greenland, the barren grounds of northern
Canada & Alaska, and the Arctic seaboard of Eurasia.
Tundra Climate

 Characterized by very low annual mean temp. with long freezing cold winter
(temp. well below freezing point) & brief cool summers
 Warmest month temp. seldom rises above 10*C
 Normally not more than four months have temp. above freezing point
 Within the Arctic & Antarctic circles, there are weeks of continuous
darkness
 At the North Pole there are 6 months without light in winter
 Despite the long duration of sunshine in summers, when the sun does not set,
temp. remains low as sun rays are too much oblique, with much of it gets
reflected by the snow & remaining used up in melting the ice
  The ground remains solidly frozen for all but four months, inaccessible to
plants with frost occurring all the time.
 Blizzards (severe snowstorm with high winds) with a velocity of 100 miles
per hour are frequent.
 In coastal districts, where warmer water meets cold land, thick fog may
develop, which lasts for days.
 Precipitation is mainly in form of snow & as it takes 10 – 12 inches of snow
to make 1 inch of rain, precipitation in polar regions is generally light, not
more than 12 inches in a year.
 Convectional rainfall is generally absent because of the low rate of
evaporation & lack of moisture in the cold polar air.

Tundra Vegetation

 With a growing season of less than three months & temp. of the warmest
month not exceeding 10* C, there are no trees in Tundra.
 Such an environment can support only the lowest form of vegetation,
mosses, lichens & sedges.
  Climatic conditions along the coastal lowlands are a little more favourable,
& some hardy grass viz. reindeer moss grows, which forms the only
pasturage for herbivore animals such as reindeer.
 In the brief summer, when the snow melt & days are warmer & longer, berry
bearing bushes & Arctic flowers bloom, brightening up the tundra landscape
into Arctic prairies.

Human Activities & Developments

 Human activities of tundra are largely confined to coasts & people live a
semi nomadic life.
 In Greenland, Northern Canada & Alaska lives the Eskimos, who live in
igloos (ice homes) in winters & portable tents of skin when they move out to
hunt in summers.
 In the Eurasian tundra live the other nomadic tribes viz.

Lapps Northern Finland & Scandinavia

Siberia (From the Ural mountains &
Samoyeds
Yenisey basin)
 Siberia (Baikal Mountains & Lena River
Yakuts
Basin)
Koryuks &
North East Asia
Chuckchi

The Arctic region, once regarded useless, have gradually sprung up because of the
discovery of minerals viz.

Gold, Petroleum,
Alaska
Coal
Nickel, Shale Gas USSR
Copper Canada
Iron Ore Labrador (Canada)