Climate Change Overview

Country Summary

This page presents high-level information for Saudi Arabia's climate zones and its seasonal cycle for mean temperature and precipitation for the latest climatology, 1991-2020. Climate zone classifications are derived from the Köppen-Geiger climate classification system, which divides climates into five main climate groups divided based on seasonal precipitation and temperature patterns. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (dry), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). All climates except for those in the E group are assigned a seasonal precipitation sub-group (second letter).  Climate classifications are identified by hovering your mouse over the legend. A narrative overview of Saudi Arabia's country context and climate is provided following the visualizations.

 

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia constitutes the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia with a total area of approximately 2.25 million km2 of which about 38% are desert lands. The country is arid, and the sand desert renders several regions susceptible to flooding and desertification. Saudi Arabia’s population is approximately 35 million (2020) people and its economy is heavily dependent on oil. The country is the world’s largest petroleum exporter. Saudi Arabia lacks permanent water resources and, therefore, must depend on groundwater and seawater desalination to meet its water demands. Saudi Arabia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change that pose increasing risk to its water security, such as decrease in frequency and amount of precipitation and increase in temperature.