Geography: Climate

Weather and climate

Weather is the daily changes in the atmosphere in a certain place. Climate is the average type of weather in different parts or regions of the world over a long period of time followed for around 30 years. Climate affects all life on Earth and controls what plants can grow in a region and what animals can live there. An area’s climate is the result of different factors, such as its latitude , its elevation, its relief or how close it is to the ocean. For example, areas with mountains and high elevation are often cooler than areas at sea level.

Climate zones

There are five main climate zones on the Earth. They are also called climate belts.

The tropical zone has high average temperatures. The amount of rainfall in this zone changes a lot. These areas contain many of the world’s rainforests.

The subtropical zone is between the tropical zone and the temperate zone. Most of the world’s deserts are located in the subtropical zone.

The temperate zone contains most of the Earth’s land. The average temperatures in this zone are not very high or very low. But there can be a great change in temperature between summer and winter. Most of the countries in the temperate zone have four different seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn. Slovenia is located in the temperate zone.

The subpolar zone is between the temperate zone and the polar zone. It has two seasons: a long and cold winter most of the year and a very short summer. Regions in the subpolar zone have very little rain. They are covered with snow most of the time.

The polar zone is in the far north and south of the world around the Arctic Circle and Antarctica. It has the coldest temperatures. It is often covered by snow and ice and very few plants or trees grow there.