ClimatesTropical Climates - Between 0 and 32 degrees N/S
• Tropical Rainforest - Hot and Wet year round. Dense forests, little underbrush, poor soil quality, high biodiversity.
Real Life Examples: The Amazon, The Congo, Indonesia
• Tropical Monsoon - Hot and Very Wet summers and Warm Dry winters. A transitional zone between Rainforest and Savannah
• Tropical Savannah - Hot Wet summers and Warm Dry winters. Grasses and shrubs, isolated trees, droughts, and lower biodiversity
Real Life Examples: Serengeti, Thailand, Southern Mexico
• Hot Desert - Very Hot summers, Warm winters, Dry year round. Sandy and rocky, low vegetation, low biodiversity.
Real Life Examples: Sahara Desert, Central Australia, Arabian Peninsula
• Hot Steppe - Hot summers, warm winters, Low-Dry year round. Grasses and shrub lands, scattered trees, droughts, thorny or waxy plants. This is a transitional zone between Hot Desert and surrounding climates.
Real Life Examples: The Sahel
Temperate Climates - Between 32 and 60 degrees N/S
• Mediterranean - Hot Dry summers and Warm with Moderate Precipitation winters. Evergreens, deciduous trees, plants like olive, citrus, and figs, Shrub lands, and (when it gets real hot and dry) wildfires.
Real Life Examples: Greece, Italy, California
• Humid Subtropical - Hot Wet summers and Warm/Mild with Moderate Precipitation winters. Evergreen trees (Palm Trees are popular), ferns, bushes, shrubs, and grasslands
Real Life Examples: Southern United States, Eastern China, Uruguay
• Oceanic (Maritime/Marine) - Warm/Mild Wet summers and Cool/Cold Wet winters. No dry seasons, narrow temperature range, conifers and broad leaves, lots of weather that's cloudy, overcast, and rainy.
Real Life Examples: Western Europe, New Zealand
• Temperate Rainforest - A subclimate of Oceanic Climate with dense forests with heavy moss and ferns and ground cover
Real Life Examples: Japan, Ireland, British Columbia
• Humid Continental - Warm/Hot and Moderate Precipitation summers and Cold/Very Cold and Low-Dry winters. Wide temperature range, Evergreen and Deciduous trees, grasslands and shrubs.
Real Life Examples: Eastern Europe, United States Mid-West
• Cold Desert - Hot summer, Cold winter, Dry year round. Sandy and rocky, low vegetation, low biodiversity.
Real Life Examples: Gobi Desert, Southern Argentina
• Cold Steppe - Warm summers, Cold winters, Low-Dry year round. This is a transitional zone between Cold Desert and surrounding climate.
Real Life Examples: New Mexico, Spain
Polar and Cold Climates - Between 60 and 90 degrees N/S
• Humid Subpolar (Boreal/Taiga)- Cool/Mild and Moderate Precipitation summers and Very Cold and Low-Dry winters. Coniferous forests, poor soil quality, and little undergrowth.
Real Life Examples: Canada, Alaksa, Siberia
• Polar Tundra - Cold and Low Precipitation summers and Very Cold Dry winters. Permafrost, no trees, has srubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens, low biodiversity, and seasonal bogs and lakes
Real Life Examples: Nunavut, Greenland coast
• Polar Ice Caps - Low Precipitation summers, Dry winters, and Very Cold year round. Permanent snow and ice cover and almost no plants at all.
Real Life Examples: Antarctica, Greenland Interior
• Highland/Alpine - Depends on elevation. Precipitation depends on surrounding climate and wind patterns (If the base of the mountain is dry, expect that side to be dry. If base is wet, expect it to be wet). Cold resistant plants like perinnials, , sedges, mosses, and lichen, and there will be a tree line where, once you are high enough, trees cannot survive and will not grow. Where this line is depends on temperature and latitude, with the line decreasing in height the closer you get to the Poles.
Real Life Examples: Himalayas, Andes, other mountainous areas