Climate and Vegetation

Home , Subarctic climate

Name ______Class ______Date ______Physical Geography of the United States and Canada Section 2 Climate and Vegetation Terms and Names permafrost permanently frozen ground prevailing westerlies winds that blow from west to east in the middle latitudes Everglades huge swampland in southern Florida

Before You Read In the last section, you read about the landforms and resources of the United States and Canada. In this section, you will learn how climate and vegetation affect life in the United States and Canada.

As You Read Use a graphic organizer to take notes about the climate and vegetation of the United States and Canada.

SHARED CLIMATES AND The north central and northeastern VEGETATION (Pages 123–124) United States and much of southern Where is the mildest shared climate Canada have a humid continental climate. found? Winters are cold and summers are warm. The Arctic coastlines of Alaska and Climate and soil make this one of the Canada have tundra climate and world’s most productive agricultural areas. vegetation. Winters here are long and It yields an abundance of dairy products, bitterly cold. Summers are brief and chilly. grain, and livestock. The land is a huge, treeless plain. In the upper part of this zone, summers Much of the rest of Canada and Alaska are short. There are mixed forests of have a subarctic climate. This climate has deciduous and needle-leafed evergreen very cold winters and short, mild trees. Most of the population of Canada is summers. A vast forest of needle-leafed located here. The lower part of the zone is evergreens covers the region. In some in the United States. Here, summers are areas, there is permafrost, or permanently longer. Generally, deciduous forests are frozen ground. found east of the Mississippi River. The Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Temperate grasslands are found to the ranges have highland climate and west. vegetation. Temperature and vegetation The Pacific coast from northern vary with elevation and latitude. California to southern Alaska has a climate Generally, the temperature is colder and described as marine west coast. Here, the vegetation is less in the higher, more climate is affected by three factors. They are northerly mountains. The mountains also Pacific Ocean currents, the coastal affect the temperature and the amount of mountains, and the prevailing westerlies. precipitation in nearby lower areas. These are winds that blow from west to east in the middle of the latitudes.

Summers are warm. Winters are long and The southwestern states have a desert mild but rainy and foggy. Vegetation climate. Here the weather is usually hot includes dense forests of broad-leaved and dry. Less than ten inches of rain deciduous trees, needle-leafed evergreens, falls each year. Some cactus plants and giant California redwoods. The thrive, but much of the area is barren rock Washington coast even has a rain forest. or sand. 1. What climate do the prevailing In the United States, only Hawaii and westerlies create? southern Florida have tropical climates. The islands of Hawaii have a tropical ______wet climate that produces lush rain forests. ______Southern Florida has a tropical wet and dry climate. It is always warm, but there DIFFERENCES IN CLIMATE AND are wet and dry seasons. Vegetation is VEGETATION (Pages 124–126) mainly tall grasses and scattered trees, What are the Everglades? such as in the Everglades. The Everglades The milder, dry and tropical climates of is a huge swampland that covers some North America are found south of 40° N 4,000 square miles. latitude. Much of the United States is 2. Which climates provide the longest located in these climate zones. growing seasons? The southern states have a humid subtropical climate. This means that ______summers are hot and muggy. Winters are ______usually mild and cool. Moist air from the Gulf of Mexico brings rain during the winter. The combination of mild EFFECTS OF EXTREME WEATHER temperatures and enough rain provides a (Page 126) long growing season. A variety of crops How does weather hurt some areas? are grown. Broad-leafed deciduous trees Weather can be harsh and sometimes and needle-leafed evergreen trees are deadly. In both cold and mild climates, found here. severe storms can trigger widespread The central and southern coasts of devastation. California have a Mediterranean climate. Warm air from the Gulf of Mexico Summers are dry, sunny, and warm. and cold Canadian air masses Winters are mild and somewhat rainy. A sometimes clash over the plains region. long growing season and irrigation make The result are violent thunderstorms, this a rich farming areas for fruits and tornadoes, and blizzards. Tornadoes vegetables. strike so often in one area of the Great The Great Plains and the dry northern Plains that it is called "Tornado Alley." parts of the Great Basin have a semiarid In summer and fall, hurricanes sweep climate. The weather is dry. There are along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. only about 15 inches of rain annually. They can cause great damage. Winter Vegetation is mainly short grasses and snowstorms may bring normal life to a shrubs. temporary halt in many cities.

Disasters can also result from too much 3. What creates storms over the Great water or not enough. Heavy rainfall can Plains? touch off flooding. Lands along major rivers, such as the Mississippi, are ______especially at risk. Too little rain or too much heat may bring on droughts and dust ______storms or cause forest fires.

Use the chart below to compare the climates of the United States and Canada. Land/Location(s) Temperatures Other Characteristics Colder Climates 1. 2. 3.

Moderate Climates 4. 5. 6.