Theory question 208
ClimateDescribe the Warm Temperate, Western Margin climate (Mediterranean type) under the following headings: (a) location; (b) climatic characteristics (c) vegetation; (d) human activities.
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(a) Western sides of continents between about 30° and 45° N and S: lands round the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa coast (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), south-west Cape of South Africa, central Chile, California, south-west and south Australia.
(b) Hot dry sunny summers (21-27°C); mild wet winters (5-10°C); annual rainfall 500-900 mm falling mainly in winter from westerly cyclones; summer drought; clear skies; local winds such as sirocco and mistral.
(c) Evergreen woodland of cork oak, olive, laurel, eucalyptus; conifers (pine, fir, cedar) on higher slopes; scrub (maquis, chaparral) with thick, waxy, small leaves and long roots adapted to summer drought; grasses.
(d) Fruit growing (citrus, grapes, olives, figs) and wine making; cereals (wheat, barley) grown in winter; irrigation farming; livestock (sheep, goats, transhumance); fruit canning; tourism; fishing; lumbering of softwoods.
Write notes under each of the four headings.