In order to study a particular continent, it is important to understand what climate options are available on it. In the case of large continents such as North America, there can be many types of natural zones. Let's deal with each of them.
Subequatorial belt
It is worth starting in order, from the southernmost point of the continent. What is the climate in North America in the Caribbean? According to the classical system, it can be defined as subequatorial. Such zones are located not only in this territory, but also in Brazil, Africa, Southwest Asia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and northern Australia. The subequatorial belt is transitional, which means that air masses are changing here . In summer there are constant monsoons over such an area, and in the winter there are tropical showers. The average monthly temperature is from fifteen to thirty degrees. The waters are characterized by increased salinity. All other main types of climate in North America are characterized by less rainfall than this region - here their size reaches two thousand millimeters per year. Local flora and fauna are diverse. Mixed evergreen forests or savannahs predominate. The animals characteristic of the tropical region live.
Tropical zone of humid climate
This zone is characterized by high humidity and stable air temperature, accompanied by a special level of solar radiation. This is one of the hottest places North America boasts of. Climatic zones, landscape photographs of which are most often found in tourists' albums, often differ in just such a climate - warm, with a small rainy period not exceeding five months. The tropical zone includes areas with a combination of a monthly average temperature exceeding the mark of twenty degrees and a humidity of more than eighty percent, which lasts more than twelve hours for a long time. On this territory are a variety of species of plants and animals, with a predominance of exotic birds and monkeys.
Tropical belt of dry climate
This area is characterized by high temperature, solar radiation and minimal humidity. It is found in deserts and steppes and is characterized by the presence of dust and sand. Most often, in such a climate, fungal organisms are practically absent. The characteristic of the climatic zones of North America notes that significant temperature fluctuations during the day are characteristic of such a territory. Humidity can also change, increasing from ten to forty percent. In the desert, such significant transformations do not occur. There, humidity usually does not exceed more than a few percent. Precipitation is rare and sometimes absent over several seasons. North America, whose climatic zones include tropical dry, boasts several nature reserves in this area, known throughout the world. For example, these include the desert in Death Valley or the Grand Canyon.
Subtropical Wet Belt
Also known as oceanic, this climate is characterized by a regime of anticyclones with dry weather, little cloud cover and light wind in the summer and storm with heavy rains in the winter. It has a small amplitude of annual temperatures. North America, whose climatic zones and regions are characterized by impressive differences from heat to cold, is quite comfortable for living even for the most weather-sensitive ones - for a year, the changes do not leave the limits of a dozen degrees with an average level of fifteen.
Subtropical Mediterranean Belt
Despite its name, such a climate may be characteristic not only of European countries. North America also boasts of it. The climatic zones of Europe and this continent are very similar and differ in zones of high atmospheric pressure with variable humidity, due to which rainfall is rare and in the form of thunderstorms. In winter, such territory is characterized by storms with rain or snow. As a result, summer is much drier. The average annual rainfall is up to eight hundred millimeters. The temperature characteristic of the Mediterranean climate differs in America from the European one. In Athens, the summer is very hot, and San Francisco is located on the coast, washed by a cold current, so these months are pretty cool. All territories of this belt are directly dependent on water bodies that are nearby.
Subtropical Continental Belt
This is a zone that only Eurasia, South and North America can boast of. Climatic zones of this type are absent in Australia and Africa. The zone is characterized by areas of reduced pressure, where minimal humidity forms and most often dry and hot weather. In summer, the average air temperature reaches thirty degrees. In winter, cyclones are active in such an area, the weather is unstable, with a large amount of precipitation. For a year, their average volume is about five hundred millimeters. Such a belt is often called the zone of deserts, semi-deserts and steppes. It differs from the Mediterranean in the absence of reservoirs that would regulate the level of temperature fluctuations. In certain years, incredibly severe frosts and severe snowfalls can occur in the subtropical continental zone.
Moderate wet belt
This weather area features territories adjacent to the oceans. It is characterized by high average annual temperatures with a small amplitude. The temperate zone of North America is characterized by mild winters and not too hot summers, high humidity, and impressive rainfall. The minimum temperature falls in February, and the maximum in August. In the continental, it is January and July. The average annual rainfall can reach up to six thousand millimeters. Permanent snow cover does not form here; moreover, winter weather may correspond to subtropical. At the same time, summer weather does not noticeably reach this level.
Temperate Continental Belt
These zones include areas with warm, dry summers. The average monthly temperature is not more than twenty-seven degrees. Winter here is quite cold, in contrast to the humid temperate zone. The temperature can drop below -10 ° C. For a year, a small amount of precipitation from three hundred fifty to nine hundred millimeters falls in such a zone, most of which falls in the winter. The cold season also has a few days with strong winds. The flora is represented by a variety of shrubs, as well as olive trees, which cope well with summer drought. Animals of North America of the temperate zone coincide with the main inhabitants of European forests and fields - these are squirrels, hares, foxes, various species of deer, many birds. In addition to this continent, the British Isles, Chile, and the islands of New Zealand differ in such weather.
Subarctic belt
This climate is found near the polar regions. Most often, they differ in the areas of the tundra and taiga. The main feature is the absence of a climatic summer in such a belt. In the warmest months, the temperature rarely exceeds fifteen degrees, and frosts can occur at any time. Winter is always long, but it can be extremely frosty or rather mild - for example, North America is basically the same. Climatic zones of this type are characterized by a small amount of precipitation, which does not exceed three hundred millimeters, in an area where cyclones do not fall, the figure is completely equal to a hundred. However, the cloud cover in the subarctic belt is high. Maximum precipitation falls in the summer. Their number is small, but low temperature provides poor evaporation. Because of this, the tundra is often too moist and sometimes boggy. In the subarctic zone there is a monsoon character of atmospheric circulation, with windy summers and calm winters.
Arctic belt
This is the northernmost geographic strip of the planet. Such weather distinguishes part of North America, the Arctic and the Arctic Ocean with coastal zones of Eurasia. The severe climate of such a belt is characterized in winter with a polar night. During this period, snow and ice are cooled to the maximum. Summer, which is characterized by a polar day, is accompanied by serious amounts of solar radiation. It is interesting that the Arctic climate is warmer than the Antarctic - it is distinguished by the average January temperature, which does not fall below the mark of forty degrees, and July, rising to zero. Even at the North Pole, frosts are rarely minus fifty-two. On the continent, temperatures are even higher due to the warming currents of the ocean surrounding the coast. In the central part there is a slight wind, and on the outskirts it is very strong. The main type of precipitation is snow in an amount of 75 to 400 millimeters. The weather here is also distinguished by fogs, blizzards and drizzling rain. In wetter regions there are ice sheets with sparse vegetation, which are represented by lichens, mosses, saxifrages, and some grasses. Arctic animals are rare and extremely hardy. These are polar bears, lemmings, arctic foxes. In summer, coastal areas are filled with birds - loons, cleaners, guillemots, colonies of which are often located on the same site at the same time.