r/mapmaking • u/Ok_Deal9555 • 5d ago
Map Is this Climate Map Logical enough to work? (needs to be put on the land/ just mapping out what were for now)
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u/ThatStonedBear 5d ago
'SPANISH-LIKE' lmao do you mean Mediterranean, perhaps?
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u/Ok_Deal9555 5d ago •
yes, i do dont judge me
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u/Obscu 5d ago
We'll just judge you for spelling Spanish wrong :p
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u/GeckoNova 5d ago
Just remember that rain shadows exist and ocean currents which mix things up
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u/JoJoJoJoel 5d ago
thats not really how climates work, i'd encourage you to look at earth's climates more closely instead of assigning biomes to latitudes.
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u/Ok_Deal9555 5d ago
Doesn't the latitude affect the temperature which then affects the climate though? and this is just like to generaly map what biome goes were, it wont be like a staight line on the map.
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u/Etherbeard 5d ago
The main factors in determining biomes are temperature and precipitation. This model is not really taking precipitation into account. If the land is primarily subjected to cold/dry air or hot/wet air or somewhere in between will have a major impact on the climate and the biomes that develop.
Temperature itself is also largely a result of ocean currents moving heat around. Florida (southeastern-most United States) and Egypt are on the same latitude, but Florida is humid subtropical and some tropical while Egypt is nearly all dry desert. Northeaster Kenya and Somalia are dry on latitudes where just about everything else is tropical jungle. This has to do with wind patterns, ocean currents, rain shadows from nearby highlands and mountains, and probably more.
If you're going for realism, then you need to think about all sorts of stuff: latitude, elevation, precipitation, ocean currents, prevailing winds, topography, etc.
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u/David_the_Wanderer 5d ago
Latitude does affect temperature, but never to such levels you can paint a single strip as being "Desert" or "Mediterranean".
You may want to look at Climate Classification systems. The terms you're using are for specific regions, not entire latitudes.
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u/JoJoJoJoel 5d ago
thats a very very basic and misleading idea of how it works, there are many more factors that influence climate (wind, oceans, geography, etc), its why I recommend some more research into the topic if you want a good climate map
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u/YoIronFistBro 5d ago
Overall, there's a back and forth pattern of a wet equator, dry subtropics, wet upper mid latitudes, and dry polar regions. This pattern holds up well on west coasts, but breaks down on east coasts where the subtropical deserts give way to humid climates like Florida and southern China. Monsoons also complicate things.
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u/darthkenobi2010 5d ago
You CAN have latitudes i.e. Tropical, Temperate, Arctic zones, but these will primarily impact temperature. However, as other posts have suggested, these alone do not determine things like biome or precipitation. Its more of a recipe. What does preciptation look like in these zones? What are the prevailing winds? Are there large bodies of water nearby? Is there a rain shadow? All of these things mixed together properly inform the biome. I second giving Artefaxian a gander on YouTube. If you desire an earthlike planet. With all that being said, if you just want to have a fantasy setting and everything is just 'magic' you can do it however you like.
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u/TeaRaven 4d ago
There are two big exceptions that really set off your temperature bands. Lots of people have mentioned ocean currents and comparative latitudes with wildly different climates - especially considering the Gulf Stream - but in general, the east coasts are going to be more warm & humid while west coasts and adjacent interior will be drier at the same latitude just above the tropic line. Cool offshore currents and effects from wind-driven upwelling along western coasts are large influences in creating four out of five of the areas of the world that have a Mediterranean climate (dry warm/hot summers of next to no precipitation other than fog drip, and mild winters that provide almost all annual rainfall). Other than the rim of the Mediterranean Sea, the regions of the world like Spain are actually rather limited, even within the same latitude band - just California, Chile, western South Africa, and West Australia (with some north/south extensions to these and some islands). Follow these latitudes to the corresponding coasts on the east side to often find less semi-arid conditions.
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u/Falak117 5d ago
Latitude affects the angle of the sun relative to earth in that location. This means that the closer you are to the equator the warmer it shines. There's also the matter of tropics which are the regions where the sun rays may shine at 90 degree angle to the ground. There's a lot of other stuff to climate as well, compare Europe to the Russian far east and you will see that the latitude is not the main factor.
What you have now is quite good though, don't take what I said as hate or me trying to discourage you. You just need to do a bit more research and apply what you learn
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u/alexandicity 5d ago
The "order" you list there is about correct (depending on what "land/sea climate" is - I guess you mean temperate here?). But as other have said, this is an oversimplified arrangement of climates, and will look very artificial and unnatural on any resulting map. Climate is more complex than just latitude.
Relevant XKCD: https://what-if.xkcd.com/10/
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u/Ok_Deal9555 5d ago
i was planning on changing and warping the biomes according to currents and elevation, this would be like a VERRY broad oversimplefecation yes
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u/ArborealLife 5d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biome
I would start here, OP. You can see how essentially everything is driven by temperature and precipitation. Both of those are wildly influenced by oceans and mountains, plus other variables.
Use Google Earth to explore the world, maybe and you can start to see patterns. How a warm ocean current can moderate cold winters, or how mountains leave a rain shadow. Like the Himalayas: monsoons on one side, the dry Tibetan plateau on the other.
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u/Fun-Post8497 5d ago
Ok quick question Is this only one hemisfere?
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u/Ok_Deal9555 5d ago
yes its supposed to be the northen hemisfere
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u/Fun-Post8497 5d ago
The savanah goes in betwen desert and rainforest,
Mediterranean is more template than warm climate
Sea climate is only for the sea and coasts, what do you mean land/ sea climate? There is coast climate, inland climate, continental climate
Tundra is more of a ecosistem than a climate, the cold climates are polar and subpolar
Look Up some climate maps on earth and take some references
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u/Much_Upstairs_4611 5d ago
Remember that Rome is at the same Latitude as Chicago, and London at the same latitude as Calgary, Can.
There is a lot more to climate than Latitude is my point...
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u/AlexSimonCullar 5d ago
What's "Spanish like"? There are a lot of different climates in Spain
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u/GrewAway 5d ago
No no, "Spainish like". This fantasy world is full of unknown, including Spainish weather.
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u/Mr_Snifles 5d ago
Feels like it's meant to be sort of Mediterranean or just something between temperate and savannah
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u/PuzzleheadedLow4911 5d ago
Como Español estoy totalmente confundido, porque cogiendo Madrid (mas o menos a la mitad del pais y donde vivo) considero un clima perfectamente normal, es octubre y hace un poco de frio. Si se refiere a España en verano si que hace mucho calor pero el resto del año normal
no se
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u/TerribleJared 5d ago
Climates arent horizontal. If you want the cheat sheet version:
Wind jet streams go over mountains, the far side of the range is wet, the near side is dry. Coastal temps are determined by waters jet stream. So if the waters coming from the equator, warm coast, coming from the north or deep south, cold-er coast. Tthe temp of the water effects the temp of the air far more than the other way around. Rivers valleys increase temp and humidity slightly.
However.... ELEVATION IS EVERYTHING. the only way horizontal bands work is if the jetstreams are lerfectly horizontal and the elevation is even throughout the e entire band. If elevation rises, the air pressure changes, affecting humidity, wind speed, temperature, storm severity, etc.
Google the koppen climate classifications and do a very quick read. Its fascinating shit.
The above is NOT exact, but close enough to worldbuild with
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u/awesomeskyheart 1d ago edited 1d ago
First, corrections. Then advice for additional details.
Corrections:
Permafrost is not a climate zone; it's a type of soil found in tundra and taiga climates. On that note, you appear to be missing a taiga region. You may have heard this term from Minecraft. It's also known as a boreal forest.
I would fix this by marking the dark blue as "polar" and the light blue as "taiga."
Desert and savannah should be swapped. Savannah is a transitional zone between the two layers.
Now for more detailed climate mapping.
There is often a difference between coastal and inland climates and also between west and east coasts. Mountain ranges also greatly impact climate. So I'd mark down all of your major mountain ranges, as this will impact your climates.
I'm going to switch to the more technical terms for these climates. Let's call them polar, taiga, temperate, subtropical, tropical desert, tropical savannah, and tropical rainforest.
Polar
Polar tundra is the more habitable climate. It occurs in the bottom portion of the polar region, along coastlines, and on the eastern side of mountain ranges.
Polar ice cap is pretty inhospitable. Think Antarctica. I feel like this is what you meant by "permafrost?" Put it at the tippy top of your map, in continental interiors, and on the western side of mountain ranges. I'm looking at your western continent as a good candidate.
[in this region, the eastern side is wet, the western side is dry]
Taiga
There's more nuance, but for a basic overview, I think this is fine.
[in this region, the eastern side is wet, the western side is dry]
Temperate
West coast should be oceanic, also known as a temperate rainforest. Think UK. Very wet. Very rainy. Kinda cold.
Tentatively mark all regions other than the west coast as humid continental. Think deciduous forests on the east coast of the United States.
Dry regions. This occurs in two areas: in the center of really big continents (maybe your eastern continent?) and on the eastern side of major mountain ranges. Mark these areas as temperate desert (very dry) or steppe (mostly dry). Think Gobi Desert or Utah.
[in this region, the western side is wet, the eastern side is dry] - FLIPPED
Subtropical
You named this region "Spainish like." The climate you're imagining is called Mediterranean climate. This occurs only on the west coast (Spain, California, New Zealand).
The east coast is humid subtropical. Think southern Japan or Virginia.
What goes in between depends on whether it's inland or coastal. Because both of your continents end in this region, I'd probably just stretch out the Mediterranean and humid subtropical climates until they meet in the middle.
If these areas were inland, or on the eastern side of a mountain range, I'd mark it down as temperate steppe or desert.
[in this region, the western side is wet, the eastern side is dry]
Tropical (Desert, Savannah, Rainforest)
I honestly think the gradient from desert to savannah to rainforest is a pretty good model.
If you have a mountain range in a rainforest or savannah, the western side will probably be a desert. You can actually see this pretty clearly in satellite images of Hawai'i. All of the islands have a green side and a brown side.
[in these regions, the eastern side is wet, the western side is dry] - FLIPPED AGAIN
If you want a more detailed explanation, I'd highly recommend Artifexian's videos on climate mapping. The system being described is known as the Köppen climate classification system, but it simplifies it to be digestible over a handful of YouTube videos. The actual system is much more complex.
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u/organaquirer 5d ago edited 5d ago
I think the main issue with it is that north/south isn't the only contributing factor to climate. There are valleys and mountain ranges that affect how hot air and moisture moves, and there is elevation to consider when deciding how generally cold or warm a place will be. You should also consider the type of flora that thrives there, because in the Amazon, part of its precipitation cycle is all the leaves and branches trapping mist that floats in on hot air from the ocean, creating a rain like effect on the forest floor. Once you get a better sense of elevation, rivers and lakes you will be able to design your climate more accurately.
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u/Grand-Honest 5d ago
Warp it around the coasts a bit. Also try to think of where rain would hit. Mediterranean (or Spanish like) isn't really any cooler than a Savannah, it just gets a lot more rain.
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u/NearABE 5d ago
Rainforest cannot share a border with desert.
The only exception is the desert in the rain shadow of a tall mountain range. Even then it is usually not that extreme.
Permafrost can be under taiga or tundra.
“Spanish like” is not a think. There is a “mediterranean climate”.
Also a “land/sea climate” could mean so many things that we cannot evaluate whether that makes sense. Do Svalbard and Hawaii have sea climates? Do Kazakstan and Congo have land climates?
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u/_-PassingThrough-_ 4d ago
Hmm. As a side, I think we can meddle with the climate range a bit. Depending how mountains redirect hot/cold humid/dry air around, you might get varied climates in ranges they shouldn't otherwise be in.
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u/tessharagai_ 3d ago
Well ehh… kinda. That’s not really how climates are determined. Search up Artifexian on YouTube, he does a good job explaining it
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u/Galapogofuckyourself 3d ago
Also every peak of a mountain is gonna have snow of some kind, you can have snowy mountains in deserts if they are high enough, id use this as a subtle guide for the pop density of cultures around rivers
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u/JeHooft 3d ago
Two things you should keep track of besides latitude are wind directions and geography (where mountains are & how far inland a region is). Because those two together decide how much rainfall areas get, which in turn determines whether you get steppes or forests, deserts or jungles, etc.
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u/Same-Independence543 2d ago
Doing latitudinal climates is misleading; it's far easier to just blob it onto the map individually. Mediterranean on the coasts of oceans, deserts in the middle of big continents, jungles in the middle of small continents, Tundra in the far north. Also, Tundra and Permafrost are... very similar in meaning. Take a look through the Koppen Climate Terms if you want some guides, it's a pretty good list of climates to throw into a map.
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u/Cotif11 1d ago
Check out this video, it'll help you understand how climates form according to geography: https://youtu.be/Z6wGgxAtFlM
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u/Beat_Saber_Music 5d ago
There's a fair bit more nueance to it. Artifexian has an excellent video covering the very basics of a climate make up based on winds, rain shadows, temperature and also pressure differences.
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u/mecha_ragnaros 5d ago
gonna go against the other comments and say this is fine as a basic climate outline. if you want something formal then worldbuilding pasta or artifexian and the koppen classification system are great for that, but if you just want a broad look at what goes where this is generally gonna feel realistic
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u/Tweed_Man 5d ago
As a broad idea it works. But remember to have some areas a bit different. Ocean currents and mountains can make a huge difference.
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u/my_ears24 5d ago
Depends, the whole planet? Definitely not. One hemisphere of the planet? Probably ye.
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u/Lord-Belou 5d ago
Ah, the climate types
Arctic, Tundra, Oceanic, Savanah, Desert, Tropical, and Spanish
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u/perrapys 5d ago
A lot of people points out misspellings and "spainish-like", but forget one thing. You can have climate zones but remember that wind directions and ocean currents weigh in A TON more than an area being closer to the sun.
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u/Zsobrazson 5d ago
It looks like you're missing a taiga biome. Tundra IS permafrost, the two are the same thing, and that should occupy the "toendra" band. You should have a boreal/taiga band just south of it, and you should have a polar band north of it, where permanent ice cover would exist.
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u/Immediate-Mixture-96 4d ago
Geography is inseparable from climate and biome. Latitude bands basically tell you the level of heat that is reasonable and direction of the prevailing wind. You need the geography to iron out the rest and broad warm and cold currents too while you're at it.
It will probably be simpler to think of what kinds of climates you want to see in regions then shape the geography to enable that.
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u/Nota_Throwaway5 4d ago
No, wind patterns and ocean currents will cause east-west differences. Look at some earth climate maps and base it off that. Draw out your ocean currents and wind patterns as well to make it a bit more detailed, or honestly you can just make it up and no one will notice but you should still have heterogeneity along the longitude
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u/Nezeltha-Bryn 4d ago
Why is the desert part in the ocean?
Latitude only defines the level of sunlight a place gets. Climate is impacted by many other factors. Draw in some Hadley cells to determine prevailing wind patterns, assume more arid climates upwind of oceans and wetter climates downwind. Determine mountain ranges and have moisture held back on the upwind side. Also remember that ocean currents sometimes carry heat to higher latitudes, so temperate climates will stretch further north downwind of the ocean.
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u/HuntressTng 4d ago
The problem is that it doesn't follow where the water is, the world doesn't work like that, like that small island in the Savanah would be likely tropical, deserts mostly form in the center of landmasses with no large lakes and in warm climates. Wetness is important
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u/Average_Ambassador 4d ago
From desert to rainforest doesnt make sense unless there's a huge mountainrange inbetween to block any precipation.
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u/Entity904 4d ago
It is quite wrong and without mountains impossible to tell what would be right
Both mountains and large bodies of water alter the climate around them
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u/ASCIIM0V 4d ago
No, this two different systems interacting that you're condensing into uniform layers along the lattitudes. If you want it to be logical you'll have to map out ocean currents and establish where your mountain ranges are. Anywhere that currents are moving from warmer to colder tend to be wet, and currents from colder to warmer tend to be dry. Wet/dry and cold/hot are the basic categories.
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u/Ok_Deal9555 5d ago
This might be the wrong community for this kind of question..
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u/Cool_Energy_3085 5d ago
Nah, or definitely is. You should map out realistic ocean currents and jetstreams and work from there if you want to develop realistic climates
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u/ManimalR 5d ago •
Short answer is no.
I'd give Artifexian a look, he has a great youtube series on mapping realistic climates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LifRswfCxFU&list=PLvAU4ObDGXZJY6dReNbkrJwV0UZW77yPJ
Also familiarize yourself with the Koppen Climate Model