| A | B |
|---|
| Icecap | frozen all year |
| Tundra | Extremely cold; a few months above freezing, but never warm; some small plants grow, but no trees |
| Subpolar | very cold winters cool summers; cone-bearing trees (conifers) grow in vast forests |
| Humid Continental | cold winters, warm to hot summers; rainfall decreases toward interior of continent; vegetation can be trees or prairies; found in middle latitudes, on continents of Northern Hemisphere |
| Marine West Coast | mild winters, cool summers; rainfall all year; trees grow well; usually found on western coasts of continents |
| Humid Subtropics | mild winters and host, moist summers; trees grow well; usually on easter side of continents; near tropics |
| Mediterranean | mild winters with some rain and hot, dry summers; scattered, small trees, woody shrubs, and some grasses grow; found on western sides of continents |
| Savanna | warm to hot year around; dry in winter; tall, tough grasses and some trees grow; found between tropical forest and desert regions |
| Rain Forest | always hot and humid, with thick forests, vines; found at or near the equator |
| Desert | very little or almost no rainfall; tropical deserts are hot year around; middle-latitude deserts have colder winters; cactus, shrubs, and sparse grasses grow |
| Steppe | little rainfall; in tropical regions, temperatures always warm; in middle latitudes, winters are cold; mostly short grasses grow, with no trees |
| Highlands | mountain regions of high elevation; temperatures get colder as elevation increases; at higher elevations trees cannot grow, and only tundra plants can live; highest elevations are ice-covered. |
