Earths Temperate, Torrid, and Frigid Climate Zones

Think about this: depending on what part of the  world you live in, you may  experience  very different  weather and a very different  climate than a fellow weather geek who,  like you, is reading this article right now.   Why We Classify Climate Because weather differs greatly from place to place and time to time,  its unlikely  that  any two places will  experience the same  exact weather or climate. Given the many locations there are worldwide, thats quite a lot of different climates—too many to study one by one! To help make this volume of climate data easier for us to handle, we classify (group them by  similarities) climates.    The first attempt at climate classification was made by the ancient Greeks. Aristotle believed that each of the Earths hemispheres (Northern and Southern)  could be divided into 3 zones: the torrid, temperate, and frigid,  and that Earths five  circles of latitude (the Arctic Circle (66.5 ° N), Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 ° S), Tropic of Cancer (23.5 ° N), equator (0 °), and Antarctic Circle (66.5 ° S)) divided one  from another.   Because these climate zones are classified based on  latitude—a geographic coordinate—theyre also known as the  geographic zones. The Torrid Zone   Because Aristotle believed the regions centered around the equator were too hot to be inhabited, he dubbed them the torrid zones. We know them today as the Tropics. Both share the equator as one of their boundaries; in addition, the northern torrid zone extends to the Tropic of Cancer, and the southern, to the Tropic of Capricorn. The Frigid Zone   The frigid zones are the coldest regions on  Earth.  They are summerless and generally covered with ice and snow.   Since these are  located at  Earths poles, each is  only bound by a single line of latitude: the Arctic Circle in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Antarctic Circle in the Southern Hemisphere. The Temperate Zone In between the torrid and frigid zones  lie the temperate zones, which have  features of both of the other  two. In the Northern Hemisphere, the temperate zone is bound  by the Tropic of Cancer and the  Arctic Circle. In the Southern Hemisphere, it extends from the Tropic of Capricorn  to the Antarctic Circle.  Known for its  four seasons—winter, spring, summer, and fall—, it  is  considered to be the climate of the Middle Latitudes.   Aristotle vs. Kà ¶ppen   Few other attempts were made at classifying climate until the beginning of the 20th century, when German climatologist Wladimir Kà ¶ppen developed a tool for presenting the world pattern of climates: the Kà ¶ppen climate classification.  Ã‚   While  Kà ¶ppens system is the best-known and most widely accepted of the two systems, Aristotles idea wasnt far wrong in theory. If Earths surface was completely homogeneous, the map of world climates would very much resemble that theorized by the Greeks; however,  because Earth isnt a homogeneous sphere, their classification is considered too simplistic.    Aristotles 3 climate zones  are still used today when generalizing the overall weather and climate  of a large swath  of latitudes.