Which country has the most climate diversity? (snow, warm, record)

[deneb78]

I would say Chile which was not mentioned also has very high climate diversity

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by burloak

China is pretty diverse, people forget just how big it is,
bigger than contiguous USA (that is USA minus Alaska and Hawaii)

North to south China spans from 55 degrees north to 20 degrees south,
again more than USA (49 degrees north to 25 degrees north)

Extreme northern China has severe Siberian like long cold winters
Extreme southern China is humid and tropical.
Elevations range from below sea level at Turpan depression
to Mount Everest 29,035 ft

China has deserts too, hot Takla Makan (200,000 sq miles of sand dunes),
and higher cooler Gobi desert.

Argentina defintely should be on any diverse climate list too.

Argentina spans from 22 degrees south to 55 degrees south
It has tropical-like "Gran Chaco" area in the north bordering Paraguay,
It has northern hot desert areas with cacti (Cardon Grande) that are similiar to
Arizona's giant Saguaros, and cooler desert area in Patagonia
Great grasslands of the Pampas and the rugged giant Andes Mountains.
Including the mighty peak of Aconcagua almost 23,000 ft ASL

However, if you include Alaska and Hawaii, the US is hard to beat.

Well, how can you not include Alaska and Hawaii? That makes zero sense. They are part of the country.

The United States covers 53 degrees of latitude, from 18 degrees north to roughly 71 degrees north. And China doesn't span the Equator, so I don't know where you got your southernmost latitude of 20 degrees south.

[dunno what to put here]

This again? It's the USA, it has all the climate classifications, China doesn't.. it's close, but not quite, a lot of climate diversity nonetheless.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by wavehunter007

Not sure about that one?

Most stations from Shanghai westward have mean temps above 40 F in the coldest month I think?

Chinese people consider "Shanghai in the south".

[Trimac20]

Australia is diverse for its size, it spans from 8 to 43 degrees south of the equator, but like Russia and Canada most of its landmass is covered by one or two zones.

[Bettafish]

Originally Posted by deneb78

America no contest... China simply does not have the same diversity of climates.. where is the Mediterranean climate.. the oceanic climate.. and even polar climate (outside of alpine areas).. where does China have this?

Well, I think one should not just look at the classification, which is subjective to some extent.

For example, China does not have the Mediterranean climate, but if you look at the climate of Chongqing, it is somehow similar: wet and cloudy winter (cloudier than any major city in the world), hot and sunny summer with humidity reaching the minimum in July and August. In fact, Chongqing and adjacent area produce the most olives in China.


China does not have oceanic climate, but Cities like Anshun are close.
Anshun - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Most of Alaska has real springs/autumns at least. A large area of west China does not. It is permanently in winter.

[Kaul]

Originally Posted by Bettafish

Well, I think one should not just look at the classification, which is subjective to some extent.

For example, China does not have the Mediterranean climate, but if you look at the climate of Chongqing, it is somehow similar: wet and cloudy winter (cloudier than any major city in the world), hot and sunny summer with humidity reaching the minimum in July and August. In fact, Chongqing and adjacent area produce the most olives in China.

Chongqing is remotely far from any Mediterranean classifications. Look up Dallas and Atlanta, they are identical climates to Chongqing

Originally Posted by Bettafish

Most of Alaska has real springs/autumns at least. A large area of west China does not. It is permanently in winter.

I would like to hear your explanation on this one

[Derek40]

India has tropical rainforests, tropical wet and dry and even deserts on the border with Pakistan.
All other climates can be found between the bottom and top of the Himalalyas, from tropical to subtropical to temperate to polar.
But they are in very narrow bands - and often uninhabited at the higher altitudes.
So in some ways, India offers the full spectrum of climates.

[Patricius Maximus]

I agree with the comments in favor of the United States. The States win the contest by a large margin, although they fall short of having every single Koeppen climate type. That's not to say there aren't other diverse countries - China is certainly one, as is India, Argentina, and Australia. However none of these comes close to the type of diversity exhibited in the U.S., and none of them except China have any sort of real selection of hot or cold climates.

Kaul, perhaps Bettafish was referring to higher-altitude areas of Tibet, where a tundra climate prevails and there isn't much of a spring or autumn (ETw and Dwc prevail). Otherwise I agree with everything you have to say.


In response to a previous point, I'd like to set the record straight on the climate types the U.S. possesses, going down a list of all the Koeppen types, seeing if the States have these and giving examples:

Af - Check. Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Aw - Check. Key West.
As - Check. Honolulu.
Am - Check. Miami.
BWh - Check. Phoenix.
BWk - Check. Garrison, Utah.
BSh - Check. Brownsville, Texas.
BSk - Check. Helena, Montana.
Cfa - Check. Jackson, Mississippi (this is the most common type)
Cfb - Check. Astoria, Oregon.
Cfc - Check. Unalaska Island.
Cwa - Check. Phillipsburg, Kansas.
Cwb - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of.
Cwc - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of and to my knowledge this type is only found in isolated spots of the Yunnan, China region.
Csa - Check. San Jose, California.
Csb - Check. San Francisco, California.
Csc - Check. Bohemia Mountain, Oregon.
Dfa - Check. Chicago, Illinois.
Dfb - Check. Fargo.
Dfc - Check. Fairbanks.
Dfd - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of.
Dwa - Check. Hyannis, Nebraska.
Dwb - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of.
Dwc - Check. Hartsel, Colorado.
Dwd - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of, and to my knowledge this climate exists only in Siberia.
Dsa - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of.
Dsb - Check. Spokane, Washington.
Dsc - Check. Bodie, California.
Dsd - No check. To my knowledge this climate does not exist anywhere in the world.
ETf - Check. Barrow, Alaska.
ETw - No check. There are no locations I'm aware of.
ETs - Check. Mauna Kea Summit.
EF - Check and no check. There are no records I'm aware of, but the United States does have glaciers that likely feature climates cold enough to qualify.

So running the gamut we see unparalleled diversity in climates, but still with a few types missing, so the U.S. can't claim to have every climate type, even among the subset that actually exist anywhere. To the (large) extent of my knowledge, the climate types it doesn't have are Cwb, Cwc, Dfd, Dwb, Dwd, Dsa, Dsd, and ETw. All of these types except Dsd exist elsewhere in the world.

[Kaul]

Originally Posted by Patricius Maximus

EF - Check and no check. There are no records I'm aware of, but the United States does have glaciers that likely feature climates cold enough to qualify.

Hubbard Glacier, Alaska's largest