E3-1
Major Climate Zones
Bangkok, Thailand is located in the Tropics. This climograph illustrates temperature and precipitation data.
The Earth has an extremely wide range of individual climates varying all the way from deserts to polar tundra to tropical rainforests. The Earth can be divided into three major climate zones based on the amount of solar radiation striking the Earth’s surface (i.e. insolation). These three major climate zones are:
- Tropics: Tropical climates do not have winters. The average monthly temperature is above 18° C (64° F).
- Temperate zone: Temperate zone climates have an average monthly temperature that is not above 18° C (64° F) in the coldest month, and that is not below 10° C (50° F) in the warmest month.
- Polar zone: Polar zones have an average monthly temperature that is never higher than 10° C (50° F).
Try This!
Locating the Major Climate Zones
- Click here to see average annual temperatures for the Earth.
- Click on each climate zone’s name in order to see its location on the globe:
- Click here to see a flat map view (i.e. Mercator projection) of all the major climate zones at once.
- Click here to add in lines of latitude and longitude.
- Use information on the screen to complete this table. (The first row has been completed for you.)
| Name of Major Climate Zone | Boundary Names | Latitude Range |
| Tropics. | between Tropic of Cancer (in north) and Tropic of Capricorn (in south) | between 23.5°N and 23.5°S |
| Temperate. | between Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle (in north), and Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle (in south) | between 23.5°N and 66.5°N and 23.5°S and 66.5°S |
| Polar. | above Arctic Circle (in north) and below Antarctic Circle (in south) | above 66.5°N and below 66.5°S |