If you're travelling around Australia, you'll notice that the outdoors doesn't always look and feel the same. The deserts around Alice Springs are different to the tropical wetlands of Kakadu for example, or the temperate rainforests of Cradle Mountain. The reason we have so many different environments is because Australia covers a large range of what we call climate zones. Climate zones are regions of the world that experience similar temperature and rainfall to each other.
The location of these climate zones is largely determined by the Sun. Areas around the equator get direct sunlight all year round, meaning that at noon the sun is right overhead. This is called the tropical zone. When the sunlight hits the surface of the Earth or the ocean, it warms the air above it, causing it to rise. The warm air cools as it rises, and the water in the air condenses and then falls as rain. It makes sense then that the tropical zone, places like Cairns or Darwin, are warm and humid most of the year, with a clear wet and dry season as the tropical rain belt shifts south and north of the equator.
If you move further away from the equator, you enter the subtropical zone. This is where the air from the tropics falls as dry air. The sinking air makes for high pressure systems and clear skies at the Earth's surface, so the subtropical zone is fairly dry. Places like Longreach and Brisbane are considered subtropical. The summers are hot, the winters are mild, and the subtropics is where we currently have most of the world's deserts.
The next climate zone is the temperate zone. Because the Earth is round, sunlight hits these areas on more of an angle than at the equator. The same amount of energy then has to cover a larger area, which means it's cooler here than at the tropics. And because the Earth is tilted as well, as we move around the sun during the year, the temperate zones receive less direct sunlight in winter and more in summer. Regions in the temperate zone – like Hobart and Melbourne – therefore have distinct seasons, with cold, short days in winter and warm, long days in summer.
The coldest climate zone is the polar zone. Here, the Sun is lowest in the sky, and its rays and energy reach the Earth at an even larger angle. The polar zone is very cold and cold air can't hold a lot of moisture. Some areas in the Arctic and Antarctic are as dry as our subtropical deserts.
In Australia we're lucky enough to experience the tropical zone in the north, the subtropical zone across much of the centre, and temperate zone in our south. Other features such as our mountains ranges or how far places are away from the sea can make things a bit more complicated, and you can break these zones up into sort of subzones based on temperature, rainfall and vegetation that grows. The Great Dividing Range for example helps the temperate zone reach up along the east coast of New South Wales. Our Red Centre is mainly classified as desert, while coastal regions at a similar latitude are considered subtropical or grassland.
Australia is one of only a few countries that spans multiple climate zones, so be sure to make the most of it.
The location of these climate zones is largely determined by the Sun. Areas around the equator get direct sunlight all year round, meaning that at noon the sun is right overhead. This is called the tropical zone. When the sunlight hits the surface of the Earth or the ocean, it warms the air above it, causing it to rise. The warm air cools as it rises, and the water in the air condenses and then falls as rain. It makes sense then that the tropical zone, places like Cairns or Darwin, are warm and humid most of the year, with a clear wet and dry season as the tropical rain belt shifts south and north of the equator.
If you move further away from the equator, you enter the subtropical zone. This is where the air from the tropics falls as dry air. The sinking air makes for high pressure systems and clear skies at the Earth's surface, so the subtropical zone is fairly dry. Places like Longreach and Brisbane are considered subtropical. The summers are hot, the winters are mild, and the subtropics is where we currently have most of the world's deserts.
The next climate zone is the temperate zone. Because the Earth is round, sunlight hits these areas on more of an angle than at the equator. The same amount of energy then has to cover a larger area, which means it's cooler here than at the tropics. And because the Earth is tilted as well, as we move around the sun during the year, the temperate zones receive less direct sunlight in winter and more in summer. Regions in the temperate zone – like Hobart and Melbourne – therefore have distinct seasons, with cold, short days in winter and warm, long days in summer.
The coldest climate zone is the polar zone. Here, the Sun is lowest in the sky, and its rays and energy reach the Earth at an even larger angle. The polar zone is very cold and cold air can't hold a lot of moisture. Some areas in the Arctic and Antarctic are as dry as our subtropical deserts.
In Australia we're lucky enough to experience the tropical zone in the north, the subtropical zone across much of the centre, and temperate zone in our south. Other features such as our mountains ranges or how far places are away from the sea can make things a bit more complicated, and you can break these zones up into sort of subzones based on temperature, rainfall and vegetation that grows. The Great Dividing Range for example helps the temperate zone reach up along the east coast of New South Wales. Our Red Centre is mainly classified as desert, while coastal regions at a similar latitude are considered subtropical or grassland.
Australia is one of only a few countries that spans multiple climate zones, so be sure to make the most of it.
Ask the Bureau: Why do we have different climates across Australia?
Explains the range of climate zones found across Australia.