Climate

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Continental climate

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a relatively dry climate with very hot summers and very cold winters

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Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

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the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) is the area encircling the earth near the equator where the northeast and southeast trade winds come together.

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Maritime climate

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the climate typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, and generally features cool summers and cool but not cold winters, with a relatively narrow annual temperature range.

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biodiversity

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the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

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biome

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a large naturally occurring community of flora occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra.

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chapparal

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vegetation consisting chiefly of tangled shrubs and thorny bushes.

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desert

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a desert is a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation.

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ice cap

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a covering of ice over a large area, especially on the polar region of a planet.

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microclimate

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the climate of a very small or restricted area, especially when this differs from the climate of the surrounding area.

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permafrost

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a soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice.

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savanna

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is a rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees.

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steppe

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Montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes.

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taiga

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swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes, especially that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.

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tropical rainforest

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a hot, moist biome found near Earth's equator.

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tundra

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a type of biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons.

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El nino

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a climate cycle in the Pacific Ocean with a global impact on weather patterns.

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global waring

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a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth's atmosphere and its oceans.

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la nina

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the positive phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and is associated with cooler than average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

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Milankovitch cycles

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a cyclical movement related to the Earth's orbit around the Sun. There are three of them: eccentricity, axial tilt, and precession.

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slash-and-burn agriculture

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in which forest vegetation is felled and burned, the land is cropped for a few years, then the forest is allowed to reinvade.

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sunspot

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a spot or patch appearing from time to time on the sun's surface, appearing dark by contrast with its surroundings.