365 Days of Climate Awareness 189 — Global Climate Zone Changes

The system relies on temperature and precipitation parameters to identify climatic zones.

Photo credit: iStock

By Michael Sutherland

There are several classification systems for global climate currently in use, but the best-known is the Köppen classification system (sometimes known as the Köppen-Geiger system). It was invented in 1884 by Russian-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen (with later additions by climatologist Adolf Geiger). Like Rehder and Wyman at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, Köppen had worked in botany and used plant habitats extensively in developing it.

The system relies on temperature and precipitation parameters to identify climatic zones. The system of three letters (with two special classifications for polar regions) results in 180 possible categories (though not all are used):

1. Main climate
2. Precipitation subgroup
3. Temperature subgroup

Some examples. The southeastern United States is classified as Cfa: warm temperate, fully humid, hot summer. Central Australia is classified as Bwh: arid, winter dry, hot arid. Various classifications are applied to regions all around the world. Most of Scandinavia is classified as Dfc: continental…