World Geography / Unit 6: Latin America
6.4 Climate and Vertical Zones
Notes
Latin America mixes hot lowlands and cool highlands.
- Rainforest climate covers the Amazon basin and parts of Central America. Savanna lies in places such as the Brazilian Highlands and the Llanos of Venezuela. Dry regions include the Atacama and northern Mexico.
- Vertical zonation in the Andes and Mexico: tierra caliente (hot land, lowlands, bananas and sugar), tierra templada (temperate, coffee), tierra fría (cool, potatoes and grains) and tierra helada (frozen, high peaks).
- Because of altitude, the equatorial city of Quito (about 9,000 feet up) has cool, spring-like weather all year.
- The cold Humboldt (Peru) Current flows north along the coast of Chile and Peru, cooling the coast and making it dry.
Practice
Which crop is typically grown in the tierra templada zone?
Coffee does best at moderate altitudes.
Quito is almost on the equator but has cool weather. What is the main reason?
Temperature drops about 3.5°F per 1,000 feet of elevation.
The tierra caliente zone is
Caliente means "hot."
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