The climatic zones of the Earth were formed under the influence of several basic factors, which include the amount of heat, moisture and radiation in the atmosphere, as well as the dynamics of air masses. According to the accepted classification, all air masses that determine the nature of the climate are divided into four types: Arctic, temperate, tropical and equatorial. Based on the nature of the surface over which the air masses are formed , they are further divided into continental and marine.
The climatic zones of Russia, like the entire planet, are designated in accordance with the names of the air masses. The prefix “sub” is added to some names if the air masses in a given region replace each other seasonally.
With the exception of the equatorial, all climatic zones are present in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Russia has a vast territory with various types of climate, since the nature of the surface, humidity, temperature and background radiation vary significantly in different parts of the country.
Climatic zones of Russia: temperate, arctic and subarctic. In the zone of the temperate zone , several distinct types of climate are distinguished, which, despite some common features of weather conditions and changing seasons, have noticeable differences in temperature conditions and rainfall.
Characteristic of climatic zones of Russia:
1. The Arctic belt - the coast of the Arctic Ocean in Siberia and nearby islands, except for the southern islands of the Barents Sea. The coldest of all belts. There is very little solar heat here, and during the long polar night it is not at all. The average temperature in winter is minus 30-35 degrees, in summer - from zero to plus five. In the summer, solar heat is spent mainly on melting ice and snow, as well as on partial warming of cold air that comes from the ocean. The weather at this time of the year is rainy and cloudy.
The amount of precipitation, with the exception of small areas, is not so great - from 200 to 300 mm per year.
Several climatic regions of the Arctic zone are divided:
- intraarctic, with the longest and most severe polar night;
- Siberian - the coldest of all coastal zones;
- Pacific - medium in severity zone;
- Atlantic - the warmest and windiest.
Within the Arctic zone, climates of the tundra and the Arctic desert form.
2. Subarctic belt - includes the southern islands of the Barents Sea, Western Siberia, the East European Plain and northeast of Russia up to 60 degrees north latitude. In this zone, there is a seasonal change in air flow. The severity and frost of winter is gradually increasing to the east. On the Kola Peninsula, the average winter is –7 ... –12, and on the Pacific coast it is –12 ... –18 degrees.
Summer is a little warmer and longer than in the Arctic belt. On average, the temperature reaches +10 degrees. The amount of annual precipitation is higher: an average of 400 - 450 mm.
In the subarctic zone , the Siberian climatic zone, the Pacific and the Atlantic, are also distinguished. Here the climates of forest tundra, Siberian woodlands and northern taiga are formed.
3. The temperate zone is the main territory of the country: the European part, Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East. If we compare the climatic zones of Russia, then here we will meet the greatest variety of weather conditions.
From the northern boundary of the belt to the south, the dryness of the climate gradually increases and the amount of precipitation decreases, and from west to east you can meet repeating climatic zones: continental, moderately continental, sharply continental and monsoon. This is due to the peculiarities of the circulation of air masses within the temperate zone.
Everywhere there is a seasonal change in weather. Frosts in winter are mostly low, and summers are quite warm. Temperature differences increase in conditions of sharply continental climate. The wettest and coolest type of climate is monsoon, while the most even of all is continental.
The changing climatic zones of Russia can be almost completely met in the mountains, since the mountain climate is significantly different from all the others. Here, the variability of the weather sharply increases, and at small distances completely different temperatures, windiness and humidity are adjacent. The farther south and higher the mountains, the more diverse their microclimate.