The Classification of Climates from Pythagoras to Koeppen

Abstract

In this paper attempts are made to trace the ways in which climates were shown on maps of the world beginning with the Greek philosopher Pythagoras and ending with Koeppen. Much of the information was obtained by examining original maps in the Clements Library of the University of Michigan. It is concluded that the most-used climate classification of climates today, that of Koeppen, derives from the five climate zones of the ancient Greeks and that the world is ready for a new classification.