Areas with Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, which includes over half of the area with this climate type world-wide. Climate encompasses the temperatures humidity rainfall atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorogical factors in a given region over long periods of The Mediterranean Basin refers to the lands around and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. In addition to the areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, this climate type prevails in parts of western North America, in parts of Western and South Australia, in southwestern South Africa and in parts of central Chile. Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country The Republic of South Africa (also known by other official names) is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa Chile, officially the Republic of Chile ( Spanish:) is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow Coastal strip wedged between the

The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. For example, the city of Perth, Australia, in the southern hemisphere winter months of June-August, experiences 450 mm (17. Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. Southern Hemisphere is the half of a Planet that is South of the Equator —the word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' 7 inches) of rainfall and an average daily minimum of 8°C (46°F). The Celsius Temperature scale was previously known as the centigrade scale. Fahrenheit is a temperature scale named after Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686–1736 a German Physicist who proposed it in 1724 Meanwhile during the summer months of December to February the city only averages 32mm (1. 3 inches). ^[1]

Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the five large subtropical high pressure cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, South Pacific High, and Indian Ocean High. The Azores High, also known as the Bermuda High in the United States, is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure South Atlantic High is a semipermanent pressure high centered at about 25°S, 15°W, in the Atlantic Ocean. These high pressure cells shift polarward in the summer and equatorward in the winter, playing a major role in the formation of the world's tropical deserts and the zones of Mediterranean climate polarward of the deserts. For example, the Azores High is associated with the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Basin's climate. The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest The South Atlantic High is similarly associated with the Namib Desert and the Mediterranean climate of the Western part of South Africa. The Namib Desert is a Desert in Namibia and southwest Angola which forms part of the Namib-Naukluft National Park. The North Pacific High is related to the Sonoran Desert and California's climate, while the South Pacific High is related to the Atacama Desert and central Chile's climate, and the Indian Ocean High is related to the deserts of western Australia (Great Sandy Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and Gibson Desert) and the Mediterranean climate of southwest and south-central Australia. The Sonoran Desert (sometimes called the Gila Desert after the Gila River or the Low Desert in opposition to the higher Mojave Desert) is Atacama redirects here for the political-administrative region of Chile, see Atacama Region. There is another desert called " Great Sandy Desert " in Oregon, US. The Great Victoria Desert is a barren arid and sparsely populated Desert Ecoregion in southern Australia. The Gibson Desert covers a large area in the state of Western Australia and is still largely in an almost "pristine" state ^[2]

The Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub biome is closely associated with Mediterranean climate zones. Mediterranean forests woodlands and shrub is a temperate Biome, characterized by hot dry summers and mild and rainy winters Particularly distinctive of the climate are sclerophyll shrublands, called maquis in the Mediterranean Basin, chaparral in California, matorral in Chile, fynbos in South Africa, and mallee and kwongan shrublands in Australia. Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that has hard leaves and short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem Maquis ( French) or macchia ( Italian; plural macchie) is a Shrubland Biome in the Mediterranean region, typically Chaparral is a Shrubland or heathland Plant community found primarily in the U The Chilean Matorral is a Terrestrial ecoregion of Central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. Fynbos (ˈfəinbɒs or anglicised as /ˈfeɪnbɒs/ meaning "fine bush" in Afrikaans) is the natural Shrubland or heathland vegetation occurring The Kwongan heathlands form an Ecoregion confined to south-western Australia. Aquatic communities in Mediterranean climate regions are adapted to a yearly cycle in which abiotic (environmental) controls of stream populations and community structure dominate during floods, biotic (e. An aquatic ecosystem is an Ecosystem located in water bodies. In Biology, abiotic components are non-living Chemical and Physical factors in the environment. g. competition and predation) controls become increasingly important as the discharge declines, and environmental controls regain dominance as environmental conditions become very harsh (i. e. hot and dry); as a result, these communities are well suited to recover from droughts, floods, and fires. A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge Fire is the heat and light energy released during a Chemical reaction, in particular a combustion reaction. ^[3]

Rainfall

During summer, regions of Mediterranean climate (also known as Dry-Summer Subtropical for the Csa areas) are dominated by subtropical high pressure cells, with dry sinking air capping a surface marine layer of varying humidity but making rainfall impossible or unlikely but for the odd thunderstorm, while during winter the polar jet stream and associated periodic storms reach into the lower latitudes of the Mediterranean zones, bringing rain, with snow at higher elevations. Jet streams are fast flowing relatively narrow air currents found at the Tropopause, the transition between the Troposphere (where temperature decreases As a result, areas with this climate receive almost all of their yearly rainfall during the winter season, and may go anywhere from 2-5 months during the summer without having any significant precipitation. Rain is Liquid precipitation. On Earth it is the condensation of atmospheric Water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall often making it to Winter is one of the four Seasons of Temperate zones Calculated astronomically, it begins on the Solstice and ends on the Equinox Summer is one of the four Temperate Seasons Summer marks the warmest time of year with the longest days

Toward the equatorial end, winter precipitation increases. Toward the polar end, total moisture usually increases; in Europe there is more summer rain further north while along the American west coast the winters become more intensely wet and the dry seasons shorter as one moves north.

Temperature

Mediterranean Climate Distribution in the Americas

All regions with Mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, but summer temperatures are variable depending on the region. For instance, Athens, Greece experiences rather high temperatures in the summer (48. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία 0 °C has been measured in Eleusina), whereas San Francisco has cool, mild summers due to the upwelling of cold subsurface waters along the coast. Elefsina (Ελευσίνα Ancient/ Katharevousa: Eleusis is a town and municipality about 20 km NW of Athens. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense cooler and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface replacing the warmer Because all regions with a Mediterranean climate are near large bodies of water, temperatures are generally moderate with a comparatively small range of temperatures between the winter low and summer high (although the daily range of temperatures during the summer is large, except along the immediate coasts due to dry and clear conditions). Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature Temperatures during winter only occasionally reach freezing and snow only rarely occurs at sea level, but often in surrounding mountains due to wet conditions. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation. In the winter, the temperatures range from mild to very warm, depending on distance from the open ocean, elevation, and latitude. Even in the warmest locations with a Mediterranean-type climate, however, temperatures usually don't reach the highest readings found in adjacent desert regions due to cooling from water bodies, although strong winds from inland desert regions can sometimes boost summer temperatures quickly resulting in a much increased forest fire risk. A desert is a Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation.

Inland locations sheltered from or distant from sea breezes can experience severe heat during the summer. Locations inside the Sacramento Valley of northern California, for example, are subject to summer temperatures characteristic of hot deserts (often around 40°C/104F), although winters are rainy enough to allow lusher vegetation than is typical in deserts. The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U Unlike the coastal climates that are designated Csb in the Köppen climate classification—characteristic of places with cooler summers—the hotter, typically inland areas have the Csa classification that indicates a hot summer. The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems It was developed by Wladimir Köppen, a German climatologist Porto, Portugal, experiences the typical Mediterranean pattern of cool, rainy winters and very dry summers, but has relatively mild average summer temperatures. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula.

On another note, locations that are slightly higher latitude or elevation and are cut off from milder ocean winds may have somewhat colder winters and more distinct seasons with occasional snow. This "temperate Mediterranean" climate is most noticeable in the Rogue and Umpqua Basins of southwestern Oregon, central Spain, southeastern France away from the immediate coastline, northern Italy, and northern Greece. In these areas, plants that are commonly associated with milder Mediterranean climates, such as citrus can be frozen to death in a severe winter and are thus not part of the regular landscape. Citrus is a common term and Genus of Flowering plants in the family Rutaceae, originating in tropical and subtropical southeast regions of

Areas of high altitude adjacent to locations with Mediterranean climates, such as the "Mesetas" or plateaus of central Spain, may have the cold winters that are characteristic of a continental climate (see Continental Mediterranean climate); under Köppen's scheme such places might earn the designation Dsa (at lower latitudes above Csa), Dsb (either at high elevations in the lower latitudes or at lower elevations in the mid-latitudes above Csb) or even Dsc (just below the tree line). Continental climate is a Climate that is characterized by Winter Temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of Snow cover each Year Continental Mediterranean climate is a variant of Mediterranean climate in the interior of the Iberian peninsula (the Meseta and the Ebro valley An example of a very humid Mediterranean Snow climate Dfsc is the highest summit on Orjen, Zubacki kabao in the subadriatic Dinaric Alps in Montenegro. Orjen ( Serbian Cyrilic: Орјен is a Dinaric Mediterranean Limestone Mountain range in Montenegro - Montenegro ( British English) Montenegrin / Serbian: PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE THE LANGUAGES WITHOUT CONSENSUS ON THE TALK PAGE!

Natural vegetation

The natural vegetation of Mediterranean lands has to survive long, hot periods of summer droughts. Mediterranean vegetation includes the following:

• Evergreen trees such as pine, cypress and cork oak
• Shrubs such as myrtle and laurel
• Garigue tough grasses and sweet-smelling herbs such as rosemary, lavender and thyme

Most natural vegetation in Mediterranean areas has long since been cleared for agriculture. This article is about the tree For other uses of the term "pine" see Pine (disambiguation. Cypress is the name applied to many Plants in the conifer family Cupressaceae (cypress family The Cork Oak ( Quercus suber) is a medium-sized Evergreen Oak tree in the section ''Quercus'' sect The Myrtle ( Myrtus) is a genus of one or two species of Flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae, native to southern Europe and north Umbellularia californica is a Tree native to coastal forests of western North America. Garrigue is a type of low soft-leaved Scrubland found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the climate is ameliorated Rosemary ( la Rosmarinus officinalis) is a woody perennial Herb with fragrant evergreen needle-like leaves. The Lavenders Lavandula are a Genus of about 25–30 species of Flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, native to the Mediterranean Thyme (ˈtaɪm is a well known herb in common usage the name may refer to either the any or all members of the plant Genus Thymus, In places such as the Sacramento Valley in California, irrigation has led to intensive farming. The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Lands in Mediterranean areas, the natural vegetation has been overgrazed by sheep and goats. The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe This has exposed the soil to severe erosion by sudden, heavy rainstorms. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind

Examples

Northern hemisphere

Southern hemisphere

References

External links

• Explanation of Mediterranean Climate