The subarctic climate is a certain type of weather conditions that corresponds to one of the climatic zones of the planet. By geographical location, it is closer to the North Pole. This is a transitional type between the coldest arctic and favorable moderate weather conditions. The subarctic climate dominates in the Northern Hemisphere, and in the Southern at the same latitudes there is a Subantarctic.
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 characteristic
- 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 changing each other).
- The maximum temperature of the warmest month is +15 ° C.
- Freezing is possible throughout the year. In winter, the thermometer mainly displays -5 ° C on the islands and -40 ° C on the mainland.
- Low temperatures do not saturate the air with moisture, as a result of which there is very little rainfall in the climate zone. They fall mainly in the summer. Nevertheless, due to low temperatures, precipitation still exceeds evaporation, and this affects the swampiness of the region.
- In winter, when arctic air masses come from the pole , the air temperature drops. Penetrating deep into the continents, it can reach -60 ° C.
- The average mark of 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 no more than + 12 ° C, the winter is long and frosty, and the rainfall is less than 300 mm; in the taiga zone, precipitation increases to 400 mm / g; the short-term but still summer season is more clearly manifested.
- Polar nights and the low height of the sun at noon provide negative radiation balance in the territory, which affects the constantly cold underlying surface. Even if the weather is warm for several days, the soil still does not have time to warm up.
Varieties
The subarctic climate is divided into 4 main types. The main criterion for the difference is a wet cold indicator (Köppen classification):
- dwc - moderately cold climate with dry winters;
- dwd - cold, dry climate with frosts down to -40 ° ;
- dfc - moderately cold climate with uniform moisture;
- dfd - moderately cold climate with warm temperatures up to + 20 ° .
Features
The subarctic type of climate formed the eponymous natural geographic belt with natural zones of the tundra and forest-tundra.
A cold pole (the lowest temperature) was registered in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in s. Oymyakon. Here, the subarctic climate manifests itself especially severely: the lowest temperature indicator was recorded at -71 ° C. The average winter temperatures of the Oymyakon Valley are -50 ° . This territory is considered the northernmost inhabited region on the planet.
Human life
This type of climate is unfavorable for people to live. The weather conditions are so severe that it is quite difficult to survive in these places. However, life in these territories still exists. Historically, populations of people 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 is quite long and difficult. In the permafrost zone and frozen ground it is difficult to build houses, especially urban ones.
The climate is also detrimental to a person: 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 determines a person’s life in such conditions?
Human life in the subarctic zone depends entirely on nature: in a short summer period, people pick berries, mushrooms, herbs. Taiga is rich in game and other animals, there are a lot of fish in the ponds.
The characteristic of the subarctic climate makes it clear that growing plants under such conditions can sometimes please, and in other cases, upset. The amount of food is not a constant factor, a rich harvest in the 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 previously considered impossible was becoming a reality now. High technology helps to solve the problem of building houses suitable for living in these harsh regions, and the possibility of fast transportation provides people of the far north with those products that are in short supply (fruits, vegetables).
Are examples of people adapting to the subarctic climate needed? People living in this area are forced to get their own food and buy warm clothes. Chukchi and Nenets wear reindeer skin and fur. They are engaged in hunting, fishing in order to feed themselves.
In this zone are the southern islands belonging to the Barents Sea, some regions of the Russian Federation: Western Siberia, the northeast and the East European Plain.