Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I The dryland environment
- Part II The meteorological background
- Part III The climatic environment of drylands
- Part IV The earth’s drylands
- 14 North America
- 15 South America
- 16 Sub-Saharan Africa
- 17 The Mediterranean lands
- 18 Australia
- 19 Asia
- 20 Coastal deserts
- Part V Life and change in the dryland regions
- Index
- References
14 - North America
from Part IV - The earth’s drylands
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Part I The dryland environment
- Part II The meteorological background
- Part III The climatic environment of drylands
- Part IV The earth’s drylands
- 14 North America
- 15 South America
- 16 Sub-Saharan Africa
- 17 The Mediterranean lands
- 18 Australia
- 19 Asia
- 20 Coastal deserts
- Part V Life and change in the dryland regions
- Index
- References
Summary
Overview of regional geography and climate
A number of arid and semi-arid regions are found in North America (Fig. 14.1). The best known are the Sonoran, Mojave, and Chihuahan deserts of the American Southwest and northern Mexico (Fig. 14.2a,b,c); the semi-arid regions along the Pacific coast (which are dealt with in Chapter 20); the grasslands of the Great Plains to the east of the Rockies (Fig. 14.2d,e); and the intermontane Great Basin Desert (Fig. 14.2f). Arid and semi-arid conditions are also found in numerous lee valleys in the western mountains, in lands bordering the western Gulf of Mexico, and in the northwestern Yucatan of Mexico. The three deserts of the Southwest and Mexico are classified as “hot” deserts, that of the Great Basin, a “cold” desert.
The prevailing climates of the contiguous United States and southern Canada are a result of two major geographic factors superimposed on the planetary-scale circulation features of the subtropical and mid-latitudes. The latter include the subtropical highs, the westerlies, and the mid-latitude cyclones associated with them. These produce a pattern of humid climates in northern and eastern North America and relatively dry climates in the West and Southwest. In the tropical sectors far to the south, the trade winds and tropical systems also play a role.
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- Dryland Climatology , pp. 257 - 274Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
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