Below is a listing of modified Ko ̈ppen climate zones that are also displayed on
the accompanyingmap.Ko ̈ppen’s original work was modified several times as the
boundaries of the world’s major vegetation regions became better known and
small weaknesses in the original scheme became evident. Nonetheless, the popu-
larity of Ko ̈ppen’s classification has never been supplanted. Several other classifi-
cations exist for specialized uses.
Climate maps are intellectually appealing to geographers because they invite
place-to-place comparisons. This is vital in the geographer’s understanding of
similarities and differences on the physical Earth. In the broadest sense, climate
is an explainer of other world patterns. Earth’s climate is the delivery system for
energy and water. Thus, climatic knowledge is a potent tool in understanding the
world distribution of biomes and soils. One can surmise that the soils are similar
enough that a crop adapted to one of these climates would do well in broad zones
of the analogous climate of another climate. However, the map user must exer-
cise caution in using these maps in settings beyond the classroom. World climate
regions are broad zones with climatic nuances that might be quite important for
crops. For instance, the humid subtropical climate (Cfa) occurs from western
Oklahoma to northern Florida. Oklahoma has significantly hotter, drier summers
than Florida so that it does not follow that a successful crop in OklahomamustClimate 61The Koppen system of climate classification is based on vegetation type and distribution. This map
shows the major categories of climate according to this widely used system. (ABC-CLIO)