 What Makes the Sacramento Area a Mediterranean Climate?
Hot, blazing, pan-fried summers with little to no humidity and nothing in the way of rain. Mild and cool, occasionally cold, winters with about an average of no more than twenty inches of rain, the majority falling in January- these conditions are what define the Sacramento climate and make it so amicable to agriculture. Though, for anyone native to or having lived within the area long enough, they may have come across someone, perhaps the local news meteorologist describe the climate as that of “Mediterranean.” Yet, the mediterranean normally conjures up ideas of coastal areas such as that of Greece or perhaps southern Italy, Malta or southern Spain, not the valley-centric agricultural hub that is Sacramento. So, just how does Sacramento come to be named as a Mediterranean climate? The very definition of a Mediterranean Climate is a climate that produces relatively warm and wet winters followed by a long, hot and very dry summer with no precipitation. Winds in these types of climates are called “westerlies” as they find origin to the west. Any area with this sort of climate sits coastally, or relatively close to the coast and can be geographically pinpointed to about forty degrees latitude. Sitting just above the thirty degrees latitude line where the majority of the world’s deserts sit, and just below the sixty degree line where the subarctic region exists, one might easily see why the Mediterranean climate experiences extremely hot and dry summers and cool, wet winters. Vegetation throughout Mediterranean climates are often scrubby and small, and typically very drought tolerant. Flora all throughout the expanse of this climate zone must be able to endure the natural drought that summer brings, and to tolerate the deluge of rains in midwinter. Some deciduous trees such as oaks may be found, especially towards hills, though evergreens are found here as well such as that of Pine. Agricultural crops such as citrus, grapes, and olives flourish throughout the region and as a result, often define local cuisine. For those native to Sacramento, it may now be more easily recognizable that the capital does, in fact, exist within a Mediterranean climate. From the large crops of grapes produced and wine made, olives grown and their oil processed and sold all throughout the Sacramento region, to the Valley and Blue Oaks that dot the landscape, the land itself emanates the Mediterranean. With its ripping hot, frying-pan summers and mild, humid winters, the climate is a twin to that of Greece and the surrounding areas, the only difference being that of physical location. To read more about weather and atmospheric phenomena within North America, click here! https://www.globalweatherclimatecenter.com/north-america-weather-climate-topics © 2019 Weather Forecaster Alexis Clouser
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 Although the Sonoran Desert might seem like a barren wasteland, it’s actually a delicate ecosystem that relies on important food webs and a predictable climate. All the plants and animals native to this desert have specially adapted to their environment and each other, often making the existence of a particular species essential to the health of the ecosystem. These species are often called keystone species because of their critical value to the environment. One such species is the Saguaro cactus, located only in the western United States within the Sonoran Desert. These cacti provide shelter, shade, food, and water for small animals, as well as contribute to the natural beauty of the desert. These animals need the Saguaro because the harsh climate of the desert does not allow for many resources to exist.
Regrettably, people have been cutting down and taking cacti from the desert, usually in an effort to populate their front yard with succulents. This practice is not only bad for the environment, but it’s also illegal in the state of Arizona, which is where most Saguaro are found. Those found attempting to transplant, destroy, or otherwise uproot the cactus are subject to a felony charge. This doesn’t stop people from stealing the crucial desert flora, sadly. In fact, cacti heists have become so profuse in Arizona that park officials have started to install microchips in especially iconic cacti to deter succulent swindlers. The microchips have the ability to send out signals that notify park officials when a cactus has been wrangled. Directly moving cacti is not the only way people have been harming the Saguaro. Increasingly, wild fires have become a problem in the Sonoran Desert. Typically, wildfires don’t occur in the desert because of the lack of vegetation. If a fire were to start, it would burn out quickly before spreading because it would have nearly no fuel. With short grasses and shrubs added into desert by farmers, wild fires have become more of a problem in the southwest United States (although nowhere near as big of a scale as, say, the dry forests in California). Saguaro are especially vulnerable to wildfires because they have no defense against them as they have never experienced them before. Thankfully, the Saguaro is not currently endangered, with its conservation status listed as being of “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). That doesn’t mean people should be allowed to just meddle with them however they want, though. Regulation of the cactus exists because of how vital it is to the habitat of many plants and animals. Allowing them to be removed or destroyed could easily cause the cactus to plummet into endangered status, harming the rest of the desert with its decline. It should be well known at this point in ecological history that it’s not wise to wait until something is almost gone to protect it. To learn more about other global climate topics, be sure to click here! © 2019 Weather Forecaster Cole Bristow |
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