Climate,
Environmental Change Network
This page features a diagram of the climatic zones of the world. Follow the link at the bottom of the page to learn more detailed information on factors that affect climate.

A Primer: Factors Affecting Arctic Weather and Climate,
NSIDC
"The factors discussed in this section are building blocks to understanding arctic weather and climate. Each factor plays an important role alone and in interaction with other factors. The "Arctic Energy Budget" ties all the factors together in a description of the Arctic as a climate system."

Climate and Vegitation

Climate, Land Use, and Environmental Sensitivity (CLUES),
USGS Global Change Research
Read about some different projects that investigate vegetation response to climatic change, and vegetation-land surface impacts on climate change.

Biomes,
Exploring the Environment
"Scientists have divided the broad spectrum of climates and ecological communities found on Earth into biomes in different ways - some with many divisions, some with only a few." This site focuses on some of the common biomes (arctic tundra, deciduous forest, desert, taiga, tropical rainforest, tropical savannah) with photos that accompany separate descriptions of each.

Mission Biomes,
Earth Observatory, NASA
Explore the following biomes:

Microclimates

Microclimates,
BBC Weather
Learn more about the formation of microclimates.

Mountain Weather,
NOVA PBS
Learn about how microclimates form on volcanos and mountains.

To complete Part B of this investigation, you will need a blank global map.

World Atlas: Maps and Geography of the World,
About.com
Find free blank maps here.

To complete Part C of this investigation, you will need climate resources:

This part of the investigation requires you to do your own research on a particular climatic zone. The listed internet resources should prove helpful. However, you will probably want to continue your search beyond these resources.

United States Interactive Climate Pages,
NOAA-CIRES
Find climate data for cities throughout the United States. You can also create maps of temperature and precipitation data in the United States from 1895 to the present.

World Climate,
Buttle and Tuttle Ltd.
Enter a city or town name from anywhere in the world to find climate data for that locality.

Send all comments about this website to education@agiweb.org

Last updated: January 26, 2009

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation and the AGI Foundation. Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.

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Modules:

Climate and Weather Investigation 6: Climates

This investigation will help you to:

To learn more about the climate, visit the following web sites:

To complete Part B of this investigation, you will need a blank global map.

To complete Part C of this investigation, you will need climate resources:

Climate and Weather
Investigation 6:
Climates