Climate regulates everything in nature. The heat and cold, the daylight duration, what plants will grow, what animals will live, what uses will be possible for the land – all this depends on climate.
There are five main climatic zones:
1.Tropical humid, with rainforests, wet savannas, always hot weather and much rain.
2.Tropical arid, with deserts, steppes, little life and an extremely hot summer sun.
3.Temperate, with survivable summers, never-cold winters and so many villages/cities that the nature is nearly displaced.
4.Continental, with hot summers and cold winters and soil ranging from fertile to nearly useless as one goes closer to the Poles.
5.Polar, with frozen ground and ice, cold all year round and little human habitation.
Additionally Alpine climate zone is sometimes established to cover the mountains where climate is different from nearby lowlands.
General rules for the climate helping to understand the differences in seasons, heat, cold, day duration, etc. in various locations.
Distance from the equator:
*The further the location is from the Equator the colder it is.
*The further the location is from the Equator, the longer are the days in summers and the shorter are the days in winter. At the Equator every single day and night are of the same equal duration (12 hours). At the Polar Circles in a single summer night the sun not sets and similarly at a single winter day the sun does not rise. The further from the Polar Circle to the Pole the location is the more there are “dark winter days” and “light summer nights”. At the Poles half of the year is day and half of the year is night.
*If the location is south of the Equator summers are December-February and winters are June-August. If the location is north of the Equator summers are June-August and winters are December-February. At the equator there are no seasonal climate variations.
Altitude:
*The higher the location the colder it is.
*The higher the location the bigger is its difference between day and night temperatures.
*The higher the location is the less there is oxygen, making those unused to it become tired quicker.
*The higher the location is the more there is ultraviolet radiation, making the skin tan quicker.
Distance from the Ocean:
*The further the location is from the Ocean the colder are its winters and the hotter are its summers. Larger Oceans influence climate more than small inland seas.
*Warm or cool currents in nearby oceans makes the cliamte warmer or cooler than it otherwise would be.
Climate of the location greatly influences culture, economy and traditions of each particular area.