Submitted by: Ayesha Kanwal

Reg. No: 20-BEnvsci.-015

Course: Climatology
Assignment: 1
Climatic zones
Climatic zones of world
Climate zones are areas with distinct climates, which occur in east-west
direction around the Earth, and can be classified using different climatic
parameters. Climatic zones of earth are distinguished by its latitudes the most
important of which are equator, tropic of Capricorn, tropic of cancer, the Arctic
Circle and the Antarctic Circle. Region between tropic of cancer and Capricorn
is called torrid or tropic zone. Region between tropics and arctic or Antarctic
Circle is called temperate zone. There is southern and northern temperate zones.
Frigid zones lie beyond arctic and Antarctic circle and are the coldest parts of
the planet.

Principle of formation of climatic zones

Climate of a region depends upon:
1. Latitudes that refer to location on the globe in relation to the equator.
2. Altitude which is height of the land above sea level
3. Mountains when they produce orographic rainfall
4. Size of a landform
5. Ocean current
6. Air pressure
Latitude:
Equator receives maximum solar energy and rainfall. Regions closer to equator
has warmer temperatures and far regions are likely to be cold. There are tropical
rainforests in this region.
Altitude:
Saturated air cools at the rate of 0.6 degree Celsius per hundred vertical meters.
So at 1000m it will be 6 degrees cooler than at the same latitude at sea level.
Therefore high altitude regions such as Himalayas will be must cooler than
other locations at sea level on similar latitude such as Shanghai.
Mountains:
Orographic rainfall occurs when moist air is forced to rise over mountains. The
windward side of the mountain will have a wet climate while the sheltered
leeward side usually has a drier climate that is also known as rain shadow area.
For example in New Zealand’s South Island, the prevailing westerly winds
force moist air from the Tasman Sea to rise over Southern Alps. Most of the
rainfall is dumped on the west coast which has the wettest climate in New
Zealand. The climate east of the ranges in Canterbury is dry.

Size of landform:
Small land masses such as islands have maritime climates. Islands have small
temperature variations due to moderation of the climate by the sea. For example
Auckland in New Zealand has a relatively low temperature variation being
located on an isthmus surrounded by water with a harbour either side. Even on
large land masses coastal islands have moderate temperatures all year round as
they are moderated by moisture laden sea breezes.
Large continental land masses such as Asia have extremes of climate. For
example Verkhoyansk in Russia has the largest temperature range in the world
that is 61.8 degrees Celsius.
Ocean Currents:
When an air mass passes through a warm ocean current it is warmed and cooled
when passes over a cold ocean current.
Air pressure:
Low air pressure is associated with high winds rainfall and warm air. High
pressure is associated with clear skies and a greater temperature range since
there are no clouds to block incoming solar radiation during the day and to stop
radiations escaping during the night. There are high pressure areas at the poles
and subtropics and low pressure air cells at the tropics and sub-polar regions.
Climatic zones of Pakistan
Introduction:
Pakistan is situated in temperate zone and has varying climate as well as
topography—generally dry and hot near the coast and along the lowland plains
of the Indus River, and becoming progressively cooler in the northern uplands
and Himalayas. (Climate Change knowledge portal, n.d.)
Pakistan is divided into 4 climatic zones
1. Highland climate
2. Lowland climate
3. Coastal climate
4. Arid climate
Highland climate:
This zone include north and north-western Mountains of Pakistan. It includes
areas of Chitral, Murree, Muzaffarabad, Drosh, Quetta, Kalat, Parachinar and
Waziristan. Winters are long, cold and snowy while summers are short and
mild. Rainfall is great in northern highland than western highlands. From south
of Kohat and Waziristan rainfall decreases and occur during the winter season.
To the north-west Gilgit and Chitral also experience low rainfall as they are rain
shadow areas. The temperature conditions also vary from north to west
depending upon the climate. Northern highland receives more rainfall from
summer monsoon while western highland receives from western depression.
In north, summers are short and mild because of transfer of heat from central
Pakistan and high angle of sun. Winters are very cold because of high altitude
and low angle of sun.
In west, summers are dry and warm because of continental effect, aridity and
high angle of sun. Winters are mild warm because of low angle of sun, altitude
and western depressions.
The growth of trees is retarded because of severe cold winters. Many northern
areas are not accessible due to landslides and heavy snowfall. The sources of
rainfall includes relief rainfall, monsoon rainfall, thunderstorms and western
depression.
Lowland climate:
It includes Indus plain except the coastal areas. It is semi-arid to arid region.
Areas include Islamabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Multan, Jacobabad and Sukkur. It
has arid and extreme climate with hot summers, cool winters and summer
monsoon rainfall. Thunderstorms are also common in north and north-west of
the Indus plain. The upper and lower Indus plain have less rainfall and spells of
very high temperature. Winters are cool-mild because of low angle of sun and
continental effect. The sources of rainfall includes convectional rainfall in
northern Punjab, Western depression in northern Punjab and Monsson rainfall.
Coastal Climate:
It include region of Indus Delta, Karachi and Makran coast. It covers the area of
Jiwani, Pasni, Ormara and Gawadar. The climate is dominated by sea breezes
throughout the year; the maritime influence keeps the daily temperature low.
The temperature on land and sea is different; land and water absorbs the sun’s
heat and water also radiate it. In summer the land heat up while ocean remains
cool. In winter, the land loses heat quickly and becomes cold while ocean
remains hot. The humidity level is high more than 50% from April to
September. Mean monthly temperature is 32 degree Celsius and May, June and
October are the hottest month. During October the climate is dominates by dry
winds from south-eastern desert. Rainfall is scanty; the rainfall is experienced
during monsoon season. Sources of rainfall includes monsoon rainfall, western
depression and tropical cyclones.
Arid climate:
It includes south-eastern desert and south-western Baluchistan. Desert covered
by this zone is Kharran Desert. It is markedly dry and hot. Hot dusty winds
prevail continuously from mid—May to mid-September. Rainfall takes place
during winter season in south-western Baluchistan, in south eastern desert
monsoons bring little rainfall. Extreme heat, dust storms are the main feature of
this arid climate. Winters are cool-mild because of low angle of sun, summers
are hot because of high angle of sun. Summers are very hot during the day.
Sources of rainfall include little rainfall from western depression and monsoon
winds.
 Climate change effect on climatic zones of Pakistan
By virtue of its geographical location, Pakistan is highly vulnerable to the
consequent climate change because of global warming. Slightly north of the
Tropic of Cancer and along the shore of the Arabian Sea, the string of deserts
connecting Rajasthan of India, Thar and Baluchistan of Pakistan and Dasht of
Iran passes through the southern half of Pakistan. (TCM originals, 2021) North
of Pakistan is the junction of three world famous mountain ranges known as
Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindukush which possess third largest mass of ice
after the Polar Regions. There are more than 5000 glaciers in Pakistan territory
having Volume of water in the frozen form to sustain our water supplies
through melting process. Winter snowfall tends to nourish the melt mass of ice
from glaciers but the balance is disturbed due to increased heat.
Temperature Variations:
The mean daily temperature is defined as the average of maximum temperature
and minimum temperature during the day. In Pakistan, 56 meteorological
stations having long as well as continuous records of weather parameters were
selected to include in report. Selection criteria was determined keeping in mind
that all the climatic zones of Pakistan could be represented with uniform
weighing factor allocated according to the surface features of the region. A time
series of area weighted annual averages for mean daily temperatures has been
presented. That showed 1960 up to 1997, there was inter-annual variability of
mean daily temperatures subsequently featuring alternative cold and hot spells
but amplitude of variations maintained the average pace. In 1998, the severest
El~Nino of the history occurred due to the abnormal heating (>4⁰C above
normal) of the East-Equatorial Pacific water which sent shock waves all around
globe affecting the weather pattern of the world. In Pakistan this happened to be
the hottest year compared to the past. Due to failure of summer rains, four years
long drought conditions gripped the most parts of the country and atmosphere
was not reclaimed to lower its temperature. Heat continued to persist due to loss
of vegetation, deforestation, irregular cycle of rains and increased
frequency/intensity of heat waves. There was an exception with 2005 when
good summer and winter rains kept the temperatures in normal range otherwise
this decade would have shown an irreversible rise in temperature.
Trends of Heat waves in Pakistan:
Heat waves are the by-product of climate extremes. Heat waves generally
developed during Pre-Summer (March/April) and Pre- Monsoon (May/June) in
Pakistan. The heat waves conditions observed during pre-summer period was
not very frequent prior to 90’s but most probably due to climate change now
Pakistan receive more heat waves in this period. The heat wave conditions
appear during Pre Summer period is because of the grip of Arabian STH over
Pakistan. This frequent occurrence in the month of March/April has increased
the summer season length in Pakistan. Whereas position of Tibetan STH is the
prime cause of heat waves conditions observed in pre-monsoon season.
Recommendations
To mitigate the risks/threats due to climate change some measures have to be
taken at national, provincial and local level, some of them are stated below:
Nationwide climate change policy should be devised through legislation clearly
defining the role of federation and provinces as well as public and private sector
organizations Climate change monitoring and impact assessment activities
should be organized on scientific basis by filling the observational gaps over
low elevation plains and glaciers zones Climate resilient infrastructure should
be built along the coastal belt and wind power potential already identified along
Sind coast be harnessed to initiate development opportunity in the deltaic region
Increasing losses of crops and livestock due to frequent floods, drought and
tropical cyclones having been pressing the farming community’s marginal
economic condition harder and harder. Insurance industry should be urged to
play its role in the upper catchments of the Indus, water reservoirs should be
constructed to reduce the flood losses and regulated water supply over the Indus
Delta. National water policy should devise the mutually accepted water
distribution method.

Works Cited
Climate Change knowledge portal. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/pakistan/climate-data-
historical#:~:text=Pakistan%20lies%20in%20a%20temperate,the%20northern%20uplands
%20and%20Himalayas.

TCM originals. (2021, July 17). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ONXxIxiyh0