What is a climate zone?
First, what climate is. Then why we draw lines round it.
Climate, not weather
Climate is the general weather of a place over a long period: rainfall, temperature, snow and the rest. Met Office: What is climate? A region’s climate is usually worked out over 30 years of weather. Met Office: What is climate?
The big difference between weather and climate is time: weather is hours or days, climate is years or decades. Met Office: What is climate?
The Met Office’s way of putting it: climate decides which clothes are in your wardrobe; weather decides what you wear today. Met Office: What is climate?
Britannica says climate is not just the “average weather”: it includes the extremes, the variability and how often things happen. Encyclopaedia Britannica: climate
The word climate comes from the ancient Greek klíma, “an inclination or slope”, as in the slope of the Sun’s rays, and also meant a latitude zone of Earth. Encyclopaedia Britannica: climate
Most of the energy in Earth’s climate system comes, in the end, from the Sun. Met Office: What is climate?
Drawing lines round climates
Climate zones are areas with distinct climates. They can follow weather patterns, latitude, or communities of plants and animals. Met Office: Climate zones There are many climate classification systems, each drawing its zones from different climate factors. Met Office: Climate zones
Climate zones help farmers and gardeners work out which plants will grow best where they live. Met Office: Climate zones Zones also help scientists understand where plants and animals can live, including species that may be under threat from a shifting climate. Met Office: Climate zones
Microclimates
A microclimate is a small area with a different climate from its surroundings, caused by things like lakes, hills or buildings. Met Office: Climate zones A microclimate can be as small as a few square metres, such as a shady corner of a garden. Met Office: Climate zones
Cities make their own microclimates: buildings and hard surfaces soak up heat by day, creating an urban heat island. Met Office: Climate zones
Zones are not fixed
As the climate warms, the map of climate zones will change too. Met Office: Climate zones For the precise, up-to-date map of the zones and how they will change, the Met Office points to a 2018 paper by Beck and colleagues. Met Office: Climate zones
Next: the Köppen letters →