Subarctic climate - a certain type of weather conditions that corresponds to one of the planet's climatic zones. Geographically, it is closer to the North Pole. This is a transitional type between the coldest arctic and favorable temperate weather conditions. The subarctic climate dominates in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the Southern at the same latitudes there is a subantarctic one.
The described belt runs along the northern part of Canada, the Alaska Peninsula, the southern coast of Greenland, the northern regions of Iceland, the Scandinavian Peninsula, the Far East and Siberia.
Climate characteristics
- The subarctic climate has a distinctive feature: it has a long winter and a short summer (sometimes absent altogether).
- The dominance of cyclones throughout the year (Arctic, winter Siberian and North American, constantly replacing each other).
- The maximum temperature of the warmest month is+15 °С.
- Frost is possible throughout the year. In winter, the thermometer mainly shows -5 °С on the islands and -40 °С on the mainland.
- Low temperatures do not saturate the air with moisture, as a result of which there is very little precipitation in the climatic zone. They fall out mainly in the summer. However, due to low temperatures, precipitation still exceeds evaporation, and this affects the swampiness of the region.
- In winter, when the Arctic air masses come from the Pole, the air temperature drops. Penetrating deep into the continents, it can reach -60°С.
- The average air temperature varies depending on the natural zone and remoteness from the oceans: there is practically no summer in the tundra zone, the temperature in July is not more than +12 ° С, the winter is long and frosty, precipitation is less than 300 mm; in the taiga zone, precipitation increases to 400 mm / year, the summer season, although short-lived, is more clearly manifested.
- Polar nights and low sun height at noon provide a negative radiation balance in the territory, which affects the constantly cold underlying surface. Even if the weather stays warm for several days, the soil still doesn't have time to warm up.
Varieties
The subarctic climate is divided into 4 main types. The main difference criterion is the wet cold index (Köppen classification):
- dwc - cold temperate climate with dry winters;
- dwd - cold dry climate with frosts up to-40°С;
- dfc - moderately cold climate with uniform moisture;
- dfd – moderately cold climate with warm temperatures up to +20°С.
Features
The subarctic type of climate has formed a natural geographical zone of the same name with natural zones of tundra and forest-tundra.
The Pole of Cold (the lowest temperature) was registered in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the village. Oymyakon. Here the subarctic climate is particularly severe: the lowest temperature was recorded at around -71°C. The average winter temperatures in the Oymyakon Valley are -50°C. This territory is considered the northernmost inhabited region on the planet.
Human life
This type of climate is unfavorable for human habitation. The weather conditions are so severe that it is quite difficult to survive in these places. However, life still exists in these areas. Historically, populations of people have developed that have adapted to the conditions of a certain type of climate (ecotypes). One of the largest is the Arctic adaptive type. This is the population that lives within the Arctic and subarctic climatic zones.
If people cannot exist on a permanent basis in the Arctic zone, then life in the subarctic is possible. The only thing to note: it has its own characteristics. Adaptation of people to the subarctic climate takes a long time and hard. It is difficult to build houses in the permafrost zone and frozen ground, especially urban ones.
OnThe climate also has a detrimental effect on humans: constant frosts and cold winters expose the body to frequent colds and other viral diseases, and long periods of polar nights negatively affect the nervous system.
What does a person's life depend on in such conditions?
Human life in the subarctic zone is completely dependent on nature: in the short summer period, people pick berries, mushrooms, herbs. The taiga is rich in game and other animals, and there are many fish in the reservoirs.
Characteristics of the subarctic climate make it clear that growing plants in such conditions can sometimes please, and in other cases - upset. The amount of food is not a constant factor, a rich harvest in summer can be replaced by a meager winter. For this reason, large industrial cities are not built within the subarctic zone, people live in a few villages where they can feed themselves.
In recent years, man has constantly challenged nature, and what was considered impossible before is becoming a reality now. High technologies help to solve the issue of building houses suitable for living in these harsh regions, and the possibility of rapid transportation provides the people of the Far North with those products that they have in short supply (fruits, vegetables).
Need examples of human adaptation to the subarctic climate? People living in this area are forced to get their own food and buy warm clothes. Chukchi and Nenets wear things made of deerskin and fur. They are engaged in hunting, fishing in order to feed themselves.
In this belt are the southern islands belonging to the Barents Sea, some areas of the Russian Federation: Western Siberia, the northeast and the East European Plain.
