In North and Central America there are all climatic zones on earth. In the north, America extends beyond the Arctic Circle into the subpolar and polar zones. Further south, in the United States, it includes the mid-latitude zone and the subtropics. Central America is already part of the tropics
NORTH AMERICA
In July, the land masses in the interior of the continent warm up rapidly. In addition, tropical air masses keep pushing far north and bring very warm weather with them. Temperatures reach 25 ° C up to about 50 degrees of latitude. The warm and humid air masses advancing from the south favor the formation of tornadoes in summer, as the air stratification loses stability due to the warm air masses. In the summer and autumn months, tropical cyclones can also occur at water temperatures of 26-27 ° C. Over the Caribbean region, warm, humid and unstable air masses form the basis for the cyclones, which in North America are known as hurricanes. You wander over the Caribbean islands to the American continent,
Yosemite National Park
The Yosemite National Park, part of the UNESCO World Heritage, is 300 kilometers or four hours’ drive east of San Francisco in the Sierra Nevada. It is 3081 square kilometers (for comparison: Saarland 2569 km 2) and ranges from the forested submontane and montane level to the subalpine level to the alpine level, the rock region. A nature reserve was established there as early as 1864, and it was designated a national park in 1890. The Hetchy Aqueduct begins to the west of the national park.
The map section shows around an eighth of the entire national park with an area of 380 square kilometers. With the valley of the Merced River and the Yosemite Village a central part of the national park is shown.
The valley of the Merced River is gorge-like and very narrow. It is cut more than 1000 meters deep into the mountains. Yosemite Village is 1205 meters above sea level, while Eagle Peak is 2371 meters. The walls of the Yosemite Valley are very steep. In the above example, the height difference is overcome over a horizontal distance of only around two kilometers.
Numerous waterfalls have formed on the valley walls (including Yosemite Falls, 739 m high). These make the Yosemite Valley, together with the hiking and climbing opportunities as well as the population of giant sequoias, particularly attractive for tourists and day visitors. Every year around 3.7 million people come to the national park, especially between May and October. Most guests visit Yosemite Valley and the surrounding peaks. Yosemite Village is in a particularly scenic location near Yosemite Falls. There, visitors will find a well-developed tourist infrastructure with overnight accommodation, supply facilities, leisure activities and information centers. The temporally and spatially concentrated flow of visitors makes the balance of interests between nature conservation and tourism a balancing act. The other parts of the national park are much less visited.
Texhoma, Oklahoma – Farming
Texhoma is located in the extreme northwest of the state of Oklahoma, near the border with New Mexico and Texas. The place itself is outside the map section and has around 1000 residents.
The map shows the land use on the scattered farms in the surrounding area. The area belongs to the western part of the Oklahoma Panhandle, a typical wheat growing region. The natural vegetation is the short grass prairie, which can still be seen in the northern part of the map section. Due to the lack of rainfall, the wheat is grown either in dry farming or with the help of carousel irrigation. Other products are corn, millet and sunflowers (as oil plants).
