7 Climate Change & Site Analysis

Where Am I?

There are recurring characteristics in every climate that will affect the land, and what can grow and live there. These recurring characteristics are called climatic patterns. By understanding climatic patterns, you can incorporate the characteristics into your plan, use them to inform your choices and create a more effective permaculture design.

In this book we will focus on Earth’s three major climate zones (climate types). There are many more then 3 climate zones; the Earth is an incredibly diverse place with great variability! But for the purposes of the introductory book we will look at the three most general categories: Tropical, Drylands and Temperate zones. Let’s take a closer look at these now, and explore the climatic patterns of each one.

Three Major Climate Zones

Tropic

Drylands

Temperate

For greater detail, please see the Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification System.

The Effects of Climate Change

The climate is changing and weather extremes are increasing throughout the planet. Changing climatic patterns can have an effect on native plants, animals, weather, temperature, agriculture, sea levels, energy use, and much more. A Permaculture design is “permanent” because it is planned around resilience to extreme weather events. A Permaculture designer studies historical and projected weather events, and uses these to make informed design choices. Understanding weather and climate are important for the designer to have all the information to make the best design choices.

View the following video and explore the links below to learn more about the projected changes for locations around the globe.

• Intro to Permaculture: Climate Zones, Climate Change and Permaculture – Video Transcript

References

• NOAA – U.S.Temperature Extremes and the Polar Jet Stream
• Evidence Linking Arctic Amplification to Extreme Weather in Mid-latitudes

Explore Climate Change Predictions

Explore climate change predictions by viewing the videos and clicking on the links below.

Videos

• Temperature and Precipitation Changes Across the World – NASA
• Linking Extreme Weather Events to Climate Change – Weather Underground

Animations

• A Breathing Earth – An Annual Pulse of Vegetation and Ice
• Animated Jetstream Forecast

Web Pages

• 21st Century Precipitation Scenarios – NASA
• 21st Century Temperature Scenarios – NASA
• Permaculture Solutions for Climate Change
• Permaculture Planning and Planting for Climate Change
• Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
• USDA Zone Hardiness Changes

Interactive Tools

• Climate Inspector – University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Wikipedia

• General Circulation Model – Wikipedia

Podcasts

• Earth Repair Radio: Tao Orion on Ecosystems in a Hotter World
• Permaculture Design in Temperate Zones and Cold Climates with Ben Falk – Permaculture Voices

What Will You Do?

Ask yourself “What are the major climatic patterns that determine the conditions which I will respond to with my Permaculture designs? How are my design parameters potentially affected as the climate changes?”