Oceanic climate

An oceanic climate (also known as marine, west coast and maritime) is the climate typical of the west coasts at the middle latitudes of continents, and generally features warm (but not hot) summers and cool (but not cold) winters, with a relatively narrow annual temperature range. It typically lacks a dry season, as precipitation is more evenly dispersed throughout the year. It is the predominant climate type across much of Northern Western Europe, parts of the Appalachians, portions of southwestern South America and small areas of Africa, in southeast Australia, and New Zealand as well as isolated locations elsewhere.

Under the Köppen climate classification, the typical zone associated with the Oceanic climate is Cfb, although it includes subtropical highland zones not usually associated with marine climates. Often, parts of the Csb Mediterranean or Dry-Summer subtropical zones are not associated with a typical Mediterranean climate, and would be classified as Temperate Oceanic (Cfb), except dry-summer patterns meet Köppen's minimum Cs thresholds. Other climate classification systems, such as Trewartha climate classification, place these areas firmly in the Oceanic zone (Do).

Alpine climate

Alpine climate is the average weather (climate) for the regions above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate.

In the Köppen climate classification, the alpine climate is part of "Group E", along with the polar climate, where no month has a mean temperature higher than 10 °C (50 °F). Certain highland climates can also fit under the hemiboreal climate or semi-arid climate groups of climate classification.

Description

The climate becomes colder at high elevations, due to the way that the sun heats the surface of the Earth. Practically all the heat at the surface of the Earth comes from the sun, in the form of solar energy. The sun's radiation is absorbed by land and sea, which is warmed. The warm land loses heat by convection within the atmosphere, and long-wave radiation back to space. This radiation can move freely through gases composed of diatomic molecules, such as the atmosphere's oxygen and nitrogen, but is readily absorbed and re-radiated by triatomic molecules, such as carbon dioxide and water vapor. When the heat is re-radiated, some of the heat that would be lost to space is instead reflected back towards the Earth. Thus, the troposphere, as a whole, acts as a blanket for the Earth. This blanket effect is known as the "greenhouse effect". The higher the altitude, the less of this blanket there is to keep in the heat. Thus, higher elevations, such as mountains, are colder than surrounding lowlands.