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B. Dry Climates. The boundaries of the dry type of climatic group are fixed by precipitation values. The characteristic feature of a dry climate is that the loss of moisture through evapotranspiration is in excess of the annual receipt of water gain from precipitation.
Because of clear and calm weather and the dry atmosphere, the dry climates are severe for their latitudes. Extreme seasonal temperatures cause large annual ranges of temperature. Daily ranges of temperature are still more pronounced. Thus, the meagerness and undependability are the two distinguishing features of precipitation in this great climatic group.
2. Main article
On the basis of annual average precipitation the dry climates have been classified into two climatic types:
(1) BW - the arid, or desert type, and
(2) BS - the semi-arid, or steppe type.
The arid-semiarid boundary is arbitrarily set at one-half the annual precipitation separating dry regions from humid. For example if the humid dry boundary happens to be 40 centimeters then the steppe desert boundary will be 20 centimeters.
3. References
Further, the arid and semi-arid climatic types have been divided into the following subdivisions on the basis of temperature:
(i) BWh-Tropical-subtropical hot deserts
(ii) BWk-Temperate-boreal cold deserts
(iii) BSh-Tropical-subtropical steppes
(iv) BSk-Temperate-boreal steppes
In Trewartha's classification, the isotherm of 8 months with a temperature of 10°Celsius or above is taken to be the boundary between hot and cold (h/k) dry climates. It may be pointed out that the same isotherm forms the boundary separating subtropical and temperate climates. BWh and BWk climates are constantly dry, and are under the influence of subtropical high and dry trades. BSh climate is characterized by a short moist season. Both in summer and winter this climatic type is also influenced by subtropical high and dry trades.
Salient features of the classification. Trewartha's climatic classification tends to emphasize only two principal climatic elements, especially temperature and precipitation. Besides these, the effects of land and water surfaces on climate of an area have also been taken into consideration. In addition to letter combinations, Trewartha also makes use of words or phrases to designate the main climatic types. In this classification scheme there is little provision for mathematical determination of climatic boundaries. However, the primary objective of this classification is to divide the world into climatic regions so as to provide a framework for the study of pattern of land use and human settlement as well as organized geographical description.
Because of its simplicity and usefulness this classification is widely used by geographers. The boundaries of the climatic regions in this classification are based on the average of the climatic conditions over a 30-year period. Lastly, this climatic classification has been kept quite simple and recognizes only a limited number of principal climatic type, usually under 15. Trewartha is of the opinion that if the number of climatic types is increased, the basic characteristics of the climatic pattern will be obscured with the result that it will be difficult to memorize the climatic types and their distributions. In Trewartha's classification the needs of geographers have been kept paramount.
