THE WARM TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN ( CHINA TYPE) CLIMATE

• Rainfall mainly in summers, with more rainfall than the Mediterranean climate in the same latitude.
• It is a modified form of monsoonal climate it is thus called Temperate Monsoon or China Type of Climate.
• In the southern hemisphere this kind of climate is experienced along the warm temperate eastern coastlands of all three continents- New South Wales, Natal and Parana Paraguay Uruguay Basin.

1. Climate

• Warm moist summers and cool dry winters. The mean monthly temperature varies between 40 ^○ F to 78^○F. Strongly modified by maritime influence Though frosts are rare, they occasionally occur in the colder interiors.
• For most of the time, it is pleasantly warm. Rainfall is more than moderate anything from 25 inches to 60 inches. Another important feature is the fairly uniform distribution of rainfall throughout the year
• There is rain every month, except in the interior of central China. Rain comes either from convectional sources, orographic rain in summer or from depression in prolonged showers in winter. Local storms eg typhoons, hurricanes also occur
• This type of climate can be further divided into the China Type, The Gulf Type and The Natal Type. 

The China Type

• The great landmass of the Asiatic continent with its mountainous interior induces great pressure changes between summer and winter.
• Intense heating in the heart of Asia sets up a region of low pressure in summer and a tropical Pacific air stream is drawn in as the rain-bearing southeast monsoon.
• Another feature is the great annual temperature range. Another feature is the occurrence of typhoons- intense tropical cyclones that originate in the Pacific Ocean and move westwards to the coastlands bordering in South China Sea. They are most frequent in late summer.

The Gulf Type

• The Gulf Atlantic regions of the United States experience a type of climate similar to that of central China except that the monsoonal characteristics are less well established.
• There is no complete seasonal wind reversal, for the pressure gradient between mainland America and the Atlantic.
• Summers are warm and pleasant. It rarely snows in winter. The annual rainfall is heavy.
• There is no distinct dry period as in monsoon lands, and the abundant moisture has stimulated extensive cultivation of cotton and maize, in the cotton and corn belts both of which are the world's leading areas for these crops.
• There is a tendency toward summer maximum brought by the onshore trade winds which swing landwards from the Atlantic.
• The amount of rain is increased by the frequent thunderstorms in summer and by hurricanes in September and October.

The Natal Type 

• There are three distinct areas on the eastern coasts of the southern continents, lying just south of the Tropic of Capricorn which experience this type of climate.
• The narrowness of the continents and the dominance of maritime influence eliminate the monsoonal elements which characterize the corresponding climates of the northern hemisphere.
• The southeast trade winds bring about a more even distribution of rainfall throughout the year.
• The passage of depressions across the southern edges of the warm temperate eastern margins results in a slight autumn or winter maximum.
• Another feature to note is the small annual temperature range, without any really cold months.

2. Natural Vegetation

• Eastern margins of warm temperate latitudes have a much heavier rainfall than either the western margins or the continental interiors and thus have luxuriant vegetation.
• The lowlands carry both evergreen broad-leaved forests and deciduous trees.
• On the highlands are various species of conifers such as pines and cypresses which are important softwoods.
• The well-distributed rainfall all year round makes the regions look green at all times.
• These areas are home to timber species.
• The highlands yield extensive forests of chestnuts, ironwoods and blackwoods.
• The forests also have oak, camphor, camellia and magnolia.

3. Economic Development

• These are intensively tilled areas. Widespread cultivation of maize and cotton in the corn and cotton belts of the USA. Fruit and tobacco are also grown. Rice, tea and mulberries are extensively grown in monsoon China.
• Cane sugar in Natal, coffee and maize in South America and dairying in NEW South Wales and Victoria.
• These are the world's greatest rice-growing areas. The most intensively farmed areas are the basins of the SI-Kiang, Yang-Tze Kiang, and Hwang Ho.  In the Gulf States- corn, cotton and tobacco are important crops.

CORN

• The chief food crop raised is corn –the humid air, sunny summer, and heavy showers suit the crop well. It is grown right from the Gulf Coast to the Midwest south of the Great Lakes, with the greatest contribution in Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana and Ohio.
• It accounts for less than 3 per cent of corn exports because most of it is used for fattening animals, mostly cattle and pigs.
• The Gulf-type climate is best for cotton growing. It's long, hot growing season with 200 days frost-free and a moderately high temperature of about 75F.

Cotton Cultivation: Mississippi Flood Plains, Atlantic Coastlands of Georgia and South Carolina, Black Prairies of Texas and Read Prairies of Oklahoma. South of the Gulf land is devoted to citrus fruits, cane sugar and, market gardening as in Florida.

Tobacco-Incidentally native crop of America: Tobacco Growing Areas-Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.  The humid atmosphere the warmth and the well-drained soils of the Gulf states, enable tobacco to be successfully cultivated in many of the eastern states of the USA. 

Crop cultivation in the eastern margins of the Southern Hemisphere

• The warm moist summers and frost-free winters not only support crops but also animals. In the coastlands of Natal, cane sugar is the dominant crop followed by cotton and tobacco.
• Maize is extensively cultivated for use both as mealie an important food item for Africans and Silage an animal fodder for cattle rearing.
• In South America where rainfall is less than 40 inches, there is much grassland on which cattle and sheep are kept for meat, wool and hides.
• In southern Brazil, yerba mate(Paraguay tea ) and the lumbering of araucaria or Parana pine are important occupations. cattle and sheep are reared and maize and cane sugar are grown.