Semi-arid climate

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A Semi-arid climate or steppe climate generally describes climatic regions that receive low annual rainfall (250-500 mm or 10-20 in). A more precise definition is given by the Köppen climate classification that treats steppe climates (BS) as intermediates between the desert climates (BW) and humid climates in ecological characteristics and agricultural potential. The Köppen climate classification allows adjustments for temperature and for seasonality of precipitation, effectively excluding forested regions (such as those in most of Canada and Siberia).

Image:Australia-climate-map MJC01.png

A climate map of Australia: semi-arid areas are shown in yellow.

Examples of types of semi-arid biomes are:

Australia: a large portion of the Outback, surrounding the central desert regions, including the following areas:^[1]
- MacDonnell Ranges, including Alice Springs. (The ranges are surrounded by arid desert regions.)
- Southern Kimberley, including Broome
- Central part of the WA Goldfields, including Kalgoorlie
- Western Pilbara, including Karratha
- Eastern Riverland, northern Victorian Mallee and Sunraysia, including Mildura
- Central North West Queensland, including Mount Isa
- Coastal part of the Far North region of South Australia, including Port Augusta
Brazil: the Sertão
Kazakhstan: the Steppe
North Africa: the Sahel on the southern edge of the Sahara
Southern Africa: the Karoo and Kalahari regions in the western interior of South Africa and Botswana, also borders the Namib Desert to the north and west.
Spain: the south-east zone: province of Alicante, province of Almeria and Region of Murcia. This climate is called arid mediterranean.
United States: the western interior, including the following states (except above the tree line in the mountain states and in some localized areas):
- Western parts of the Dakotas
- Western Nebraska
- Western Kansas
- Far Western Oklahoma
- Central and West Texas
- Most of New Mexico
- Colorado
- Montana
- Wyoming
- Most of Utah
- Northeastern Arizona
- Northern Nevada
- Most of Idaho
- Northeastern California
- Eastern Oregon
- Eastern Washington
Canada: The southern Prairie Provinces, that being southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and extreme southwestern Manitoba; plus some low-lying valleys in the British Columbia interior

[edit] See Also

Aridification

[edit] References

^ http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate/cgi_bin_scripts/clim_classification.cgi

v • d • e Climate types under the Köppen climate classification
Class A	Equatorial (Af) · Monsoon (Am) · Savanna (Aw, As)
Class B	Desert (BWh, BWk) · Semi-arid (BSh, BSk)
Class C	Humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa) · Oceanic (Cfb, Cwb, Cfc) · Mediterranean (Csa, Csb)
Class D	Humid continental (Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb) · Subarctic (Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd) · Continental (Dsa, Dsb) . Other continental (Dsc, Dsd)
Class E	Polar (ET, EF) · Alpine (ETH)