COLD ENVIRONMENT - ALASKA

• Summers can have temperatures reaching into 34 °C while in the winter the temperature can fall below −45 °C and in rare cases, below −51 °C
• climate


  • long cold winters with annual temperatures mostly below freezing.
  • Polar areas are often windy, with very little precipitation.
  • Permanent ice caps cover polar landscapes.
• soil

  • the soil is covered with ice throughout the year
• plants


  • hundreds of species of moss, algae and lichen survive the harsh conditions of the Polar biome.
  • Few other plants can survive.
• animals


  • Whales, seals and snowy owls are also found in polar regions
• Polar environments are found in inland areas far from the warming influence of the sea.

  • Most polar regions are partly or completely covered with ice caps. These include areas such as Greenland, Northern Canada, Siberia and Antarctica.
• Tundra environments are found south of the ice caps in the northern hemisphere.

  • They occupy 1/5 of the Earth’s land surface including huge parts of Russia and Canada.
• some adaptions to the cold

  • caribou: Have 2 layers of fur to help them survive the bitter cold. Large hooves help them to travel over soggy ground.
  • snowshoe rabbits: Have white fur, so they cannot be easily seen against the snow.
  • lichens and mosses: Shallow roots that can tolerate both dry and wet conditions. This allows them to cope with seasonal change as the active layer melts.