Mediterranean Climate Essay ⋆ Environment Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Mediterranean climate s are named after the type of climate along the Mediterranean coast in southern Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East. However, Mediterranean climates also exist outside of this region in the coastal locations of southern Australia, western South Africa, coastal Chile, and California. Major world cities located in Mediterranean climates include Los Angeles, Rome, Santiago (Chile), Jerusalem, Cape Town (South Africa), and Adelaide (Australia). These climates are defined by relatively mild temperatures year-round, dry summers, and wet winters. Mediterranean climates are usually adjacent to the earth’s subtropical deserts and come under the same influence of semi-permanent high pressure zones located over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. During the summer, the high-pressure zones that keep the earth’s subtropical deserts dry also keep the locations with Mediterranean climates very sunny and dry. During the winter, the intensity of the high-pressure zones reduces, and these climates are subject to mid-latitude storms and precipitation. Mediterranean climates have cool winters, but rarely experience extreme cold or heavy snow.

Both the diurnal and the annual temperature range in Mediterranean climates decreases closer to coastal areas. This is mainly due to mild sea surface temperatures ranging from 15-25 degrees C (50-77 degrees F), which have a moderating influence on coastal land temperatures, especially in the summer. For example, in California, the coastal city of San Francisco and the inland city of Sacramento both have Mediterranean climates. The temperature during the winter for these two cities is similar; however, temperatures during the summer are much warmer inland, with daytime temperatures around 22 degrees C (72 degrees F) in San Francisco and 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) in Sacramento. The marine influence also makes coastal fog a common but short lasting occurrence in these climates. Mediterranean climates can be subject to rare but intense summer heat waves associated with winds from desert locations. These winds are called Santa Ana in southern California and Sirocco or Leveche from the Sahara.

Mediterranean climates are typically dry, but long growing seasons and winter precipitation enables the production of drought resistant crops such as grapes, dates, and olives. There is usually between 250-600 millimeters (10-24 inches) of precipitation annually in these climates with the majority of precipitation during the cooler months. In Athens, Greece approximately 370 millimeters (14.5 inches) of precipitation is received annually; however, 300 millimeters (12 inches), or 80 percent, is received from October through March. Precipitation in these climates can have significant inter-annual variability. Locations with Mediterranean climates can be subject to flooding during excessively wet winters or persistent drought, when winter precipitation is below average. The temperature and precipitation Mediterranean climates support chaparral, a vegetation biome consisting of scattered evergreen oak trees, shrubs, and grasses found in Mediterranean climates, and adapted to droughts and wildfires. Some of the most common vegetation include date palms, fan palms, eucalyptus trees, and cedar trees.

Bibliography:

Aguado and J. E. Burt, Understanding Weather and Climate (Prentice Hall, 1999);
R. Barry and R. J. Chorley, Atmosphere, Weather, and Climate (Routledge, 2003);
P. Lydolph, The Climate of the Earth (Rowman & Allanheld, 1985).