6. Much of the United States and Canada experiences
exactly the types of climate one might expect from
the countries’ latitudes.
Two thirds of Canada and the U.S. state of Alaska lie
in higher latitudes and experience long, cold winters
and brief, mild summers.
Most of the continental United States and the
southern one third of Canada lie within more
temperate latitudes, where climate regions vary with
elevation.
7. Large parts of Canada and Alaska lie in a subarctic
climate zone that average below –18°C, winter
temperatures of -57C (-70F) in some places.
8.
9.
10. Coniferous forests thrive, these are part of the Taglia,
which is the largest continuous forest on the planet
11.
12.
13. A high atmospheric pressure area over the Canadian
subarctic makes cold winds, bringing winter to the USA.
31. Sequoias are evergreens that live 1,200 -1,800 years or
more, growing 115.5 m tall and 8.9 m in diameter.
32.
33. These trees are also among the oldest living things on
the planet.
34.
35.
36.
37. Prevailing winds gives little rain to Southern California,
producing a mild Mediterranean climate.
38. Prevailing winds gives little rain to Southern California,
producing a mild Mediterranean climate.
39.
40.
41.
42. The rain shadow effect gives the plateaus and basins between
Pacific Ranges and Rockies a hot and dry climate.
43. Much of the area has a steppe or desert climate.
44. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.
45. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.
46. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.
47. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.
48. Including the Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, the
Mojave and the Chihuahuan Deserts.
49. Here cacti and hardy wildflowers bloom in the brief spri
rains.
50. Next to these deserts, a steppe climate with a mixture of
desert scrub.
51.
52. Grass lands (mid to southern) and coniferous forests
(north) flourish with more rainfall.
53. Similar to South America, elevation, not latitude,
produces a variety of climate zones and environments.
54. Similar to South America’s Tierra Fria, elevation gives the
middle elevations a highland climate with coniferous
forests.
55. Trees cannot grow above the tree line, similar to South
America’s Tierra Helena and Nevada
56. In late winter and early spring, a warm, dry wind called
the chinook blows down the eastern slopes of the
Rockies, warming 1°C for every 99 meters.
57. The chinook rapidly melts and evaporates the snow at th
base of the mountains.
58.
59. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.
60.
61. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.
62. Far from oceans, the Great Plains a humid continental
climate with bitterly cold winters and hot summers.
63. The Great Plains benefit from moist winds that blow north
along the Rockies from the Gulf of Mexico and south from
the Arctic.
64. The Great Plains benefit from moist winds that blow north
along the Rockies from the Gulf of Mexico and south from
the Arctic.
77. Wetlands and swamps like Florida’s Everglades shelter a
great variety of vegetation and wildlife.
78.
79.
80. In late summer and early autumn, hurricanes—ocean
storms hundreds of miles wide with winds of 74 miles per
hour (119 km per hour) —can pound the region’s coastlines.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88. A humid continental climate extends from the
northeastern United States into southeastern Canada.
89.
90. In Canada, a band of deciduous and mixed deciduous-
coniferous forestland more than 1,375 miles (2,213 km) wide
sweeps from Newfoundland into the subarctic Yukon Territory.
91. In Canada, a band of deciduous and mixed deciduous-
coniferous forestland more than 1,375 miles (2,213 km) wide
sweeps from Newfoundland into the subarctic Yukon Territory.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97. In the United States, deciduous forests continue grow at
lower elevations into the south.