North America

=== Climate ===
[[File:Koppen-Geiger Map North America present.svg|thumb|A Köppen climate classification map of North America]]
North America is a very large continent that extends from north of the [[Arctic Circle]] to south of the [[Tropic of Cancer]]. Greenland, along with the [[Canadian Shield]], is [[tundra]] with average temperatures ranging from {{cvt|10|to|20|C}}, but central Greenland is composed of a very large ice sheet. This tundra radiates throughout Canada, but its border ends near the Rocky Mountains (but still contains Alaska) and at the end of the Canadian Shield, near the [[Great Lakes]].
Climate west of the [[Cascade Range]] is described as being temperate weather with average precipitation {{convert|20|in|abbr=off|sp=us}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cses.washington.edu/cig/pnwc/pnwc.shtml|title=Cascades weather|author=University of Washington|work=University of Washington|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=10 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310162902/http://cses.washington.edu/cig/pnwc/pnwc.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>
Climate in coastal California is described to be [[Mediterranean climate|Mediterranean]], with average temperatures in cities like [[San Francisco]] ranging from {{cvt|57|to|70|F}} over the course of the year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sftodo.com/sanfranciscoweather.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130719235932/http://www.sftodo.com/sanfranciscoweather.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 July 2013|title=Temperature of San Francisco|author=SF to do|work=tourism}}</ref>

Stretching from the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] to eastern [[North Dakota]], and stretching down to [[Kansas]], is the [[humid continental climate]] featuring intense seasons, with a large amount of annual precipitation, with places like [[New York City]] averaging {{cvt|50|in}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-York/average-yearly-precipitation.php|title=Rainfall of NYC|work=Current Results|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=5 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705180619/http://www.currentresults.com/Weather/New-York/average-yearly-precipitation.php|url-status=live}}</ref>
Starting at the southern border of the humid continental climate and stretching to the [[Gulf of Mexico]] (whilst encompassing the eastern half of Texas) is the [[humid subtropical climate]]. This area has the wettest cities in the [[contiguous U.S.]], with annual precipitation reaching {{cvt|67|in}} in [[Mobile, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/1558-study-reveals-top-10-wettest-cities.html|title=Top 10 wettest cities|first=Andrea|last=Thompson|work=livescience|date=18 May 2007|access-date=7 June 2015|archive-date=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215104426/http://www.livescience.com/1558-study-reveals-top-10-wettest-cities.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Stretching from the borders of the humid continental and subtropical climates, and going west to the [[Sierra Nevada]], south to the southern tip of [[Durango]], north to the border with tundra climate, the [[semi-arid climate|steppe]]/[[desert climate|desert]] climates are the driest in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://home.comcast.net/~rhaberlin/crpptnts.htm |date=2015 |title=Climates Regions of North America |first=Rita D. |last=Haberlin |work=Peralta Colleges, Physical Geography |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002103016/http://home.comcast.net/~rhaberlin/crpptnts.htm |archive-date=2 October 2015 }}</ref> Highland climates cut from north to south of the continent, where [[Subtropics|subtropical]] or [[temperate climate]]s occur just below the tropics, as in central [[Mexico]] and [[Guatemala]]. [[Tropical climate]]s appear in the [[island]] regions and in the subcontinent's bottleneck, found in countries and states bathed by the [[Caribbean Sea]] or to the south of the [[Gulf of Mexico]] and the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.naturalhistoryonthenet.com/Continents/north_america.htm|title=Facts and Information about the Continent of North America|date=7 July 2016|work=Natural History on the Net|access-date=15 September 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=15 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180915125641/http://www.naturalhistoryonthenet.com/Continents/north_america.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Precipitation patterns vary across the region, and as such [[tropical rainforest climate|rainforest]], [[tropical monsoon climate|monsoon]], and [[tropical savanna climate|savanna]] types can be found, with rains and high temperatures throughout the year.