1. Task 4. COLD CLIMATES
a. POLAR CLIMATE
It is located above the polar circles ( Arctic in the Northern hemisphere and Antarctic in the
Southern ) . Average temperature is around 0ºC and winters are long and hard with
temperatures between -10 ºC y -50ºC . There is no real summer and the warmest month
is under 10ºC
There are few precipitations (less than 300 mm per year) and they falls as snow.
Precipitations remain frozen due to low temperatures.
Polar landscape
It is characterized by perpetual ice . There is no vegetation due to the subsoil is always
frozen . Its fauna is adapted to the extreme cold like penguins, whales, seals and polar
bear.
There are areas , near temperate zones, with a short summer. In these areas ice is melted
and a little vegetation grows as grass and shrubs. Here can live animals like reindeer,
foxes and wolves. This climate is called Tundra.
So we can identify two different climates: PERPETUAL ICE AND TUNDRA
Fuente: Wikipedia
Human life in these areas is very difficult, only a few human beings as inuits or Sami can
live there.
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2. b. ALPINE CLIMATE
Alpine or high mountain climate is the climate of the highest mountains ( Himalaya, Alps,
Andes, Rocky Mountains or Pyrenees ) His features are:
- Low temperatures in winter and cool in summer.
- Abundant precipitations ( as snow in winter)
- Temperatures decrease with altitude and precipitation increase if we go up .
Alpine landscape.
It is adapted to the cold winters. Vegetation change with:
a) Altitude. Vegetation is in tiers according to the temperatures and precipitations. There
are trees as oaks, chestnut or beech trees in lower levels ( deciduous forest) , conifers
in middle levels and meadows and little flowers in upper levels.
b) Insolation. Sunny slopes have more vegetation than shady slopes.
c) There is less vegetation in windy places.
EXERCISES
1. Read the sentences and identify the climate or the landscape.
a. There is no real summer and the warmest month is under 10ºC.
b. It has a little vegetations as grass and scrubs
c. It is situated along the world.
d. It is very cold in winter and it has abundant precipitations
e. It has a hard winter and temperatures between -10ºC and -50ºC
f. It has little precipitations and a short summer.
g. Precipitations remain frozen due to low temperatures.
h. Vegetations change with altitude.
2. Are the following sentences true or false? Correct the wrong ones
a. Perpetual ice climate has a short summer with months above 10ºC
b. Perpetual ice is only in northern hemisphere
c. Tundra climate has a short winter and a short summer
d. High mountain climate has abundant precipitations.
e. We can find any trees in Tundra climate
f. There is more vegetation on sunny slopes than shady ones.
g. There is no summer in Tundra climate
h. Average temperature in perpetual ice climate is around -15ºC
i. There are a lot of precipitations in tundra climate
j. There are a lot of precipitations in perpetual ice climate.
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3. 3. Make a climate graph with these figures.
T ºC P mm.
E -42 15
F -47 5
M -40 7
A -32 5
M -21 2
J -17 2
J -12 2
A -19 10
S -22 7
O -43 12
N -43 12
D -39 25
TºC P mm.
E -13 109
F -13 111
M -11,5 132
A -8,5 152
M -4 150
J -1 124
J 1 137
A 1 122
S -1 104
O -4,5 117
N -8,5 106
D -11,5 119
TºC P mm.
E -21,5 10
F -23 12
M -21 17
A -14 15
M -3,5 15
J 2 15
J 5 23
A 5 28
S 1 28
O -4 28
N -9,5 28
D -16,5 15
4. Analyze the climate graph
5. Complete the chart
CLIMATE
ZONES
Situation Temperature Precipitation Landscape Fauna
Cli
mas
fríos
POLAR
Cli
mas
fríos
TUNDRA
Cli
mas
fríos
A L T A
MONTAÑA
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