North America: climatic zones and their features

In order to study a particular continent, it is important to understand what climate options are available on it. In the case of such large continents as North America, there can be many kinds of natural belts. Let's deal with each of them.

Subequatorial belt

It is worth starting in order, from the southernmost point of the continent. What is the climate in North America in the Caribbean? According to the classical system, it can be defined as subequatorial. Such zones are located not only in this territory, but also in Brazil, Africa, South-West Asia, the Pacific Islands and northern Australia. The subequatorial belt is transitional, which means that the air masses change here . In the summer, over such a zone, permanent monsoons, and in the winter - tropical showers. The average monthly temperature is from fifteen to thirty degrees. Water is characterized by increased salinity. All other major types of climate in North America are characterized by less precipitation than this region - here their size reaches two thousand millimeters per year. Local flora and fauna are diverse. Mixed evergreen forests or savanna plains predominate. Inhabit animals characteristic of the tropical region.

Tropical climate belt

This zone is characterized by high humidity and stable air temperature, accompanied by a special level of solar radiation. This is one of the hottest places that North America boasts. Climatic belts, photographs of landscapes which are found in the albums of tourists most often, are often characterized by just such a climate - warm, with a small period of rain, not exceeding five months. The tropical belt includes sites with a combination of an average monthly temperature exceeding the twenty-degree mark and a moisture content of more than eighty percent, which has been held for more than twelve hours for a long time. In such territory are various kinds of plants and animals, with the predominance of exotic birds and monkeys.

Tropical belt of dry climate

This zone is characterized by high temperatures, solar radiation and minimal air humidity. It occurs in deserts and steppes and is characterized by the presence of dust and sand. Most often in this climate there are practically no fungal organisms. The characteristic of the climatic zones of North America notes that for such a territory there are significant fluctuations in temperatures during the day. The humidity can also vary, increasing from ten to forty percent. In the desert, such significant transformations do not take place. There humidity usually does not happen more than a few percent. Precipitation falls rarely and is sometimes absent for several seasons. North America, whose climatic zones include tropical dry, boasts several nature reserves in this area, known throughout the world. For example, they include the desert in the Valley of Death or the Grand Canyon.

Subtropical wet belt

Also known as oceanic, this climate is characterized by a regime of anticyclones with dry weather, small clouds and a weak wind in the summer and a storm with heavy rains in the winter. It has a small amplitude of annual temperatures. North America, the climatic zones and areas of which are characterized by impressive swings from heat to cold, are quite comfortable to live in even for the most meteosensitive ones - for a year the changes do not leave the ten-degree range with an average level of fifteen.

The subtropical Mediterranean belt

Despite its name, such a climate can be characteristic not only for European countries. They can boast of North America. The climatic zones of Europe and this continent are extremely similar and differ in zones of high atmospheric pressure with variable humidity, because of which rainfall is rare and in the form of thunderstorms. In winter, such a territory is distinguished by storms with rain or snow. As a result, summer is much drier. The average annual precipitation is up to eight hundred millimeters. The temperature characteristic of the Mediterranean climate differs in America from the European one. In Athens, summer is characterized by intense heat, and San Francisco is located on the shore, washed by cold currents, so these months are pretty cool. All the territories of this belt directly depend on the water bodies that are nearby.

Subtropical Continental Belt

This is a zone that only Eurasia, South and North America can boast of. Climatic belts of this type are absent in Australia and Africa. The zone is characterized by areas of low pressure, where a minimum humidity is formed and most often dry and hot weather. In summer, the average air temperature reaches thirty degrees. In winter, cyclones are active in such an area, the weather is unstable, with a lot of precipitation. For a year, their average volume is about five hundred millimeters. This belt is also often called the zone of deserts, semi-deserts and steppes. From the Mediterranean it is distinguished by the lack of water bodies that would regulate the level of temperature fluctuation. In certain years in the subtropical continental belt there can be incredibly severe frosts and severe snowfalls.

Moderate Wet Belt

This weather area features areas adjacent to the oceans. It is characterized by high average annual temperatures with a small amplitude. The temperate belt of North America is characterized by mild winters and not too hot summers, high humidity and impressive amounts of precipitation. The minimum temperature is in February, and the maximum is in August. In continental it is January and July. The average annual amount of precipitation can reach up to six thousand millimeters. There is no permanent snow cover, moreover, the winter weather can correspond to the subtropical one. At the same time, summer weather is noticeably below this level.

Moderate continental belt

Such areas include areas with warm dry summers. The average monthly temperature is not more than twenty-seven degrees. Winter here is quite cold, unlike the humid temperate belt. The temperature can drop below -10 ° C. A year in such a zone a small amount of precipitation falls from three hundred and fifty to nine hundred millimeters, most of which falls on the winter. The cold season is also characterized by a small number of days with a strong wind. Flora is represented by a variety of shrubs, as well as olive trees that cope well with the summer drought. The animals of North America of the temperate belt coincide with the main inhabitants of European forests and fields - these are squirrels, hares, foxes, various species of deer, many birds. In addition to this continent, the British Isles, Chile, the islands of New Zealand differ in such weather.

Subarctic belt

Such a climate is found near the polar regions. Most often they differ in the tundra and taiga. The main feature is the absence in this climate zone of summer. In the warmest months, the temperature rarely exceeds fifteen degrees, at any time, it may occur frost. Winter always differs in duration, but it can be both extremely frosty and rather mild, for example, this is basically what North America is all about. Climatic belts of this type differ by a small amount of precipitation, which does not exceed three hundred millimeters, in a region where cyclones do not fall, the figure is even equal to one hundred. Nevertheless, the cloud cover in the subarctic belt is great. Maximum precipitation falls in the summer. Their amount is small, but the low temperature provides poor volatility. Because of this, the tundra is often too moist, and sometimes boggy. In the subarctic belt there is a monsoon character of the circulation of the atmosphere, with a windy summer and a calm winter.

Arctic belt

This is the most northerly geographical strip of the planet. This weather distinguishes part of North America, the Arctic and the water area of the Arctic Ocean with the coastal zones of Eurasia. The harsh climate of such a belt is characterized in winter with a polar night. During this period, snow and ice are as cool as possible. Summer, which is characterized by a polar day, is accompanied by serious amounts of solar radiation. It is interesting that the Arctic climate is warmer than the Antarctic - it is distinguished by the average January temperature, which does not fall below the forty-degree mark, and in July, rising to zero. Even at the North Pole there are rarely frosts at minus fifty-two. On the continent, the temperatures are even higher due to the warming currents of the ocean surrounding the shore. In the central part there is a weak wind, and on the outskirts very strong. The main type of precipitation is snow in the amount of 75 to 400 millimeters. The weather is also characterized by fogs, snowstorms and drizzling rain. In the more humid regions are ice sheets with scanty vegetation, which are lichens, mosses, saxifrage and some cereals. Animals of the arctic belt are rare and extremely hardy. These are polar bears, lemmings, arctic foxes. In summer, coastal areas are filled with birds - ducks, sweepers, guillemots, colonies of which are often located on the same site at the same time.