GEOG 102 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Climatology, Humid Continental Climate, Westerlies
Document Summary
Indicate the outer limits of the area where the sun can be in a zenith position (the point in the sky or celestial sphere directly above an observer. ) Tropics of cancer and capricorn: too rigid as boundaries. Latitude is not the only factor in climate. Major climatic boundaries frequently deviate from parallels. Some regions with clear tropical features are at latitudes of more than. 23. 5 degrees; while some obviously non-tropical areas are found much closer to the equator. Cannot be done with a single temperature limit: Example: the mean temperature of 18 degrees celsius (64 degrees fahrenheit) for the coldest month of the year . Drawback: excludes the tropical highlands, where temperatures remain frequently below this limit; yet these areas are truly tropical because they experience no cold season. Tropical highlands can be included in the tropics by using not their actual temperatures, but their temperatures reduced to sea level.
