Although both states are located near the coast, the oceans they face are different. For example, California faces the Pacific ocean, while Massachusetts faces the Atlantic ocean. California's location is important because it cause temperatures to vary from north to south. However Boston does not see as much variation as California. As we have previously discussed, Boston has continental mid-latitude climate. In this type of climate boston is more likely to experience warm summers, and "frost-free period of at least three months and less precipitation than the humid hot summer climates or the mesothermal climates." (34) Boston Massachusetts is affected by the Maritime tropical (mT). The first level ecoregion is eastern temperate forest, and its level two ecoregion is mississippi alluvial and southeast US coastal plains.
http://www.rssweather.com/climate/Massachusetts/Boston/
Now lets explore California's climate. Although there are various differences in precipitation, california is described as having a mediterranean climate. A mediterranean climate, as defined in, "The Geography of North America", has "cool and occasional rainy winters and long summers with warm to hot temperatures and little to no precipitation". (287) For example, the northern part of California experiences higher levels of precipitation than the southern portion of the state. As can be seen in the figure below, which compares three different cities in California, starting with Redding in the north and Bakersfield in the south.
http://californiarangeland.ucdavis.edu/Mediterranean_Climate/
This climate also affects California's vegetation. In the northern part of california, there is a "variety of coniferous forest along the coast". In the central valley, there is "natural vegetation with dense shrubs, known as chaparral". While in southern california you can find more "cacti, sagebrush, and other drought-tolerant plants". (278)
http://room42.wikispaces.com/Chaparral+Climate
Now that we have explored california's climate, we will explore three of California's major landforms, which are responsible for shaping California's landscape. These landforms are the "mountains that parallel the coast, interior valleys, and higher mountain ranges in the east". (285) It is interesting to note, that these landforms run from northwest to southeast. California is also known for its various fault lines. However, it is not commonly know that the movement of the Pacific Plate to the North American Plate created many of these faults. Although there are many different types of faults, we will explore California's most known fault type, the strike-slip fault. The San Andreas fault is a strike-slip fault that has a primary horizontal movement, with a northwest movement on the Pacific Plate relative to southeast movement along the continental plate."(285)(see figure 1.) As a result of these faults, California has numerous mountain ranges , and also, it experiences many earthquakes. One of the most widely known earthquakes was the northridge earthquake on January 17, 1994. This earthquake had a magnitude of 6.7, and had a pretty major effect on the lives of Californian's. (see figure 2.)
(figure 1.) 
(figure 2)
Finally, California's history greatly differs from the history of Massachusetts. The name California comes from a popular romantic novel published in spain in 1510, as was used to describe a beautiful mythical paradise. (289) The mission system established by the Spanish was so important, that remnants can still be found in California today. After the Mexican War in 1848, California officially became a state.However, it wasn't until the discovery of gold in 1848 that California truly began growing into one of the most important states of the union.
