The most widely used system for classifying climates was proposed in 1900 by Vladimir Koppen. Koppen observed that the type of vegetation in a region depended largely on climate. He used this fact as the starting point for his classification scheme. Studying temperature and precipitation data, he and other scientists developed a system for naming climate regions.
According to this system, there are five climate groups: tropical, dry, mild, continental, and polar. These climate groups are further divided into climate types. The following list shows the climate groups and their types:
Tropical
- Wet (or rain forest)
- Monsoon
- Wet and dry (or savanna)
Dry
- Arid
- Semiarid
Mild
- Mediterranean
- Humid subtropical
- Marine
Continental
- Warm summer
- Cool summer
- Subarctic (or boreal)
Polar
- Tundra
- Ice cap
All climates are the product of many factors, including latitude, elevation, topography, distance from the ocean, and location on a continent. The rainy tropical climate of West Africa, for example, results from the region’s location near the Equator and its position on the western side of the continent. A constant amount of sunlight keeps temperatures in the area warm and steady. West Africa is also at the site where moist trade winds meet, an area called the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). As a result, the region’s climate is warm and rainy.