World in Stripes: Exploring Climate Zones

Imagine you pack one suitcase for a holiday. You need to choose: a thick winter coat or a swimsuit and sunscreen. But wait — you haven't been told where you're going yet! Different parts of our planet have very different weather all year round. Why do you think that is?

The Earth is divided into bands called climate zones. A climate zone is a large area of the world that shares the same kind of weather over a long time — we're not talking about one rainy Tuesday, but the usual weather year after year. The Sun is the key. The Earth is a sphere, so sunlight hits the middle (the equator) straight on and strongly. Near the poles, sunlight arrives at a low angle and is much weaker. This difference in sunlight creates different climate zones. Here are the five main climate zones, from hottest to coldest: 1. TROPICAL — Close to the equator. It is hot all year and gets a lot of rain. The Amazon Rainforest in South America is a famous tropical place. 2. DRY (ARID) — Areas away from the equator where very little rain falls. The Sahara Desert in Africa is the world's largest hot desert and sits in a dry climate zone. 3. TEMPERATE — Found in the middle latitudes, between the tropics and the polar regions. These places have four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The United Kingdom is a temperate country. 4. CONTINENTAL — Found deep inside large landmasses, far from the sea. Summers can be warm, but winters are very cold. Much of Russia and central Canada has a continental climate. 5. POLAR — Near the North and South Poles. It is freezing cold all year, with long dark winters. Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth and sits in the polar zone. A helpful way to remember the zones is to picture the globe as a set of coloured stripes. The hot tropical stripe runs across the middle, and the ice-cold polar zones sit at the very top and bottom.