Climate Basics

Use a United States climate map to identify major North American climate regions, read temperature and precipitation patterns, and understand why boundaries vary across maps.

Climates of the world become easier to read with the Köppen system: learn what the A–E groups mean, how temperature and precipitation shape them, and how letter codes reveal seasonal patterns on maps.

Learn how climate zones are mapped by long-term temperature and precipitation, where major climate groups occur, and how a climate zone shapes and is reshaped by human life.