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Regional climates

Review your understanding of regional climates in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.

Key points:

  • Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a particular region.
  • A region’s climate is influenced by many factors, including latitude, elevation, and nearby geographic features.
  • Latitude is how far north or south a place is from the equator. At higher latitudes, sunlight is less direct, leading to cooler climates.
  • Elevation is how high a place is above sea level. As air rises from sea level to higher elevations, it expands and cools. This results in cooler climates.
  • Geographic features are features of Earth such as large bodies of water or mountain ranges.
    • Large bodies of water help moderate air temperatures. As a result, climates tend to be milder near oceans or lakes.
    • Mountain ranges can create a rain shadow, or an area of reduced rainfall behind the range. In a rain shadow, the climate is warmer and drier compared to the climate on the other side of the range.
A body of water is surrounded by mountains and a rocky shore. Icebergs are floating in the water, and snow is on some of the mountains. Two houses sit on the shore, which is covered with tundra vegetation.
Greenland, the world's largest island, has a polar climate due to its high latitude. Image credit: “Greenland” by Roderick Eime, CC BY-ND 2.0.

Want to join the conversation?

  • blobby green style avatar for user Nobody is better than me
    Underneath the photo of Greenland, It says that green land is the largest island in the world. I thought Australia was.
    (I live in Australia, so I'm not very happy that Australia is not the world's largest island)
    (12 votes)
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    • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user Mark
      The answer to this depends on what the definitions of “island” and “continent” are. Normally, I find discussions about the definitions of terms to be pedantic and boring, but we can use this one as a starting point to learn a bit of geology – specifically the distinctions between continental and oceanic crust.

      Using a simple definition, someone might say that an island is a landmass that is surrounded by water on all sides. Under that definition, Australia would be considered an island. But it wouldn’t be the biggest island on Earth. There are several other landmasses on Earth that are surrounded by water but are larger than Australia. Antarctica is a clear example.

      I prefer a different definition, one that enables us to distinguish between continents and islands. The definition that I prefer doesn’t merely consider whether a landmass is surrounded by water, but also considers whether it is surrounded by continental or oceanic crust.

      The entire solid surface of Earth is covered by layers of rocks that we call the crust. Crust comes in two varieties: continental crust and oceanic crust. The main difference between the two is that continental crust and oceanic crust have different chemical compositions. The basement of continental crust is made of granitic rocks and oceanic crust is made of basalt/gabbro.

      Basalt/gabbro is denser than granitic rocks which causes oceanic crust to sit at a lower elevation than continental crust. Oceanic crust occupies the lowest elevations of earth, water flows downhill, and that’s why oceanic crust tends to have water on top of it. To be clear, oceanic crust does not begin where the ocean touches the beach and sometimes continental crust has water on top of it too. Continents are surrounded by what is called the continental shelf, which is an area of continental crust that is underwater.

      Now that I’ve explained the difference between continental crust and oceanic crust, let’s get back to the question: is Australia an island or is it a continent? I’d call Australia a continent. That is because it is not merely a landmass that is surrounded by water, it’s surrounded by oceanic crust. If you go under the ocean in any direction and look at the rocks, you will encounter oceanic crust before you find another landmass.

      Greenland is different. Although Greenland is surrounded by water on all sides, if you go under the water on a search for oceanic crust, you will encounter another landmass (Canada) before you find oceanic crust. Therefore, Greenland is an island that is attached to North America.
      (55 votes)
  • starky tree style avatar for user Kymora Crisp
    is there different climates in different regions?
    (13 votes)
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  • area 52 blue style avatar for user raychel
    what does a rain shadow look like
    (6 votes)
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  • blobby green style avatar for user Niccole Carroll
    I live in Colorado and it has high elevation, so why is it sooooo hot?
    (6 votes)
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  • starky sapling style avatar for user ς๏ץ๏tє$คкยгค
    if your water is very pure and very still, there is nothing for the water molecules to crystallize onto. As a result, you can cool very pure water well below zero degrees Celsius without it freezing. Water in this condition is called "supercooled". Hope this Helps you!! also please upvote.
    (8 votes)
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  • duskpin ultimate style avatar for user eashwerl.ca
    Does time change throughout the different regions?
    (6 votes)
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  • hopper cool style avatar for user NataliaGonzalesLambert2049231617
    What is a rain shadow?
    (6 votes)
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    • piceratops tree style avatar for user The name's Boss, SamZBoss
      A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side.

      Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carried by the prevailing onshore breezes towards the drier and hotter inland areas. When encountering elevated landforms, the moist air is driven upslope towards the peak, where it expands, cools, and its moisture condenses and starts to precipitate. If the landforms are tall and wide enough, most of the humidity will be lost to precipitation over the windward side (also known as the rainward side) before ever making it past the top. As the air descends the leeward side of the landforms, it is compressed and heated, producing foehn winds that absorb moisture downslope and cast a broad "shadow" of dry climate region behind the mountain crests. This climate typically takes the form of shrub–steppe, xeric shrublands or even deserts.
      (3 votes)
  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user MadisonD
    Isn't Australia the largest island in the world? I don't think it's Greenland... Unless they changed it. Then it might be Greenland.
    (4 votes)
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    • blobby green style avatar for user 740700
      Australia is the biggest island, but not the biggest continent. While it is a continent, Greenland has more continent features than Australia does. For example, size. Australia would be very small compared to Greenland. So why is Australia a continent instead of Greenland? Upvote this if y’all like this answer
      (3 votes)
  • blobby green style avatar for user TravisD
    what is a climate change.
    (5 votes)
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  • aqualine ultimate style avatar for user zai2cool4u
    how big is rain fall
    (4 votes)
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