What Are the 5 Climate Regions?

In 1918, Waldimir Koppen developed a system of evaluating climactic regions based on temperature and humidity. With few exceptions, this system is still the most widely used method for determining the general climate for a region. He divided the planet into five regions: tropical, dry, mild, snowy and polar. Each is defined by average temperature and humidity.

This segment represents large areas which lie to the North and South of the Equatorial belt around the middle of the earth. They are characterized by frequent rain and hottest temperatures over 64.4°F. Places like Thailand and Brazil would be considered tropical.

These areas are characterized more by precipitation than by raw temperature. An area that loses more moisture to evaporation than it receives in rain would be considered dry. These areas tend to have very high temperatures and are generally located along the Equator. Much of Africa and the Middle East falls into this category.

These are the largest sections. They are characterized by temperatures that generally stay below 64°F but do not go below 26.6°F. Much of the United States and Europe fall in these areas.

The colder parts of Europe, Asia, The Americas and Australia fall into the category where their cold temperatures venture below 26.6°F and their highs rarely go above 50°F.

These are the coldest areas and would include much of Canada, Alaska, the Arctic and Antarctica. The Polar regions never see a day above 50°.