Arctic Tundra Climate

Think tundra and you can immediately visualize the pale, icy White Witch - Queen Jadis - from The Chronicles of Narnia. The bone-shattering cold blizzards, the long winter nights lasting for weeks - yes, the Arctic tundra is all that and much more! This article on Arctic tundra climate is an attempt to put down the facts regarding the Arctic tundra biome complete with details on the climatic conditions that prevail in the Arctic region and the plants and animals that are native to this tundra of the Northern Hemisphere. However, before we get to the details of the Arctic tundra biome, let's first understand the meaning and entire scope of the word tundra.

A tundra is a type of biome which is characterized by extremely low temperatures, often going below freezing point (especially during the winter months), sparse vegetation with most botanical life forms experiencing short spurts of growth and reproduction during short summers that are just about warm enough to melt the ice and allow plants to grow and seeds to germinate. The environment is extremely dry with little atmospheric moisture being present and the soil remains permanently frozen for a good part of the year. At present, there are three major geographical regions that are classified as having tundra biome - Arctic tundra, Antarctic tundra and Alpine tundra. Let's, now, proceed towards Arctic tundra climate, including tundra plants and animals.

Arctic Tundra Climatic Conditions

The climate of the Arctic tundra remains very low for a significant part of the year with the mercury dipping below freezing point during the winter months. Vegetation is sparse and much of the soil, from surface to, as deep as 70 centimeters, down remains frozen all over the year. The only vegetation that survives such harsh cold climate and form the native flora of the Arctic tundra region include moss, lichen and some species of low-growing heath. In line with its extreme climatic conditions, the seasonal and diurnal cycles also tend to inch towards extremes. There are only two seasons in the Arctic tundra - summer and winter. The sun shines 24/7 during the short summer months while there prevail 30 Days of Night (sans the vampires, of course!!) during the long, dark winter months. Temperatures can go as low as -50 °C during winters, though on an average, it stays somewhere between -25 °C to -30 °C. The highest recorded temperature during the fleeting summers have never gone beyond 15 °C and tend to hover between 3 °C and 13 °C on an average.

The Arctic tundra is very windy with howling blizzards occurring every other day, during the winters. There is hardly any moisture in the tundra atmosphere and annual precipitation is never more than 10 centimeters on an average. The slight warmth of the summer may melt the surface ice to expose soggy, slimy soil for the brief summer period. During this time, the tundra may be marked with shallow bogs and marshes. However, the deeper recesses of the earth's crust remain frozen and hence water, formed from the melting of surface ice, cannot seep much deeper. This water forms shallow lakes and marshlands during the lukewarm summers.

Arctic Tundra Plants

As discussed above, mosses, lichen and some low growing heath are the only vegetation that survives the roughs of the Arctic tundra climate. Trees do not thrive in this region as they are not able to stand and extend their roots much in the frozen depths of the tundra soil. The typical tundra vegetation is composed of about 1700 species of botanical life forms. Some such tundra plant varieties include Arctic Willow, Arctic Poppy, Cottongrass, Cushion Plants, Orange Lichen, etc.

Arctic Tundra Animals

Owing to the harsh climatic conditions, the Arctic tundra is host to only about 48 species of land mammals and a few species of fish. During the summer months, a large number of birds migrate to the Arctic tundra, drawn by the marshes. The most significant animals found in this region include Tundra Wolf, Arctic Wolf, Caribou, Musk Oxen, Wolverine, Arctic Fox, Ermine, Arctic Hare, Lemmings, Arctic Ground Squirrels, Whales, Polar Bears, Ptarmigan, Snowy Owl, Ravens, Seals, Walruses, etc.

That was a brief outline of the climate and biome of the Arctic tundra. The recent climate changes that are taking place owing to global warming and ozone layer depletion pose a major threat to the biosphere of the Arctic region as well as the rest of the world. The foremost concern is the possibility of en masse melting of polar ice owing to steadily rising global warming. Would the world be able to handle the deluge that would result as a consequence of massive ice-melts? Another concern regarding the release of soil bound carbon into the Earth's atmosphere as a result of melting permafrost continues to haunt the entire human race. Alaska is a burning example of this carbon-sink-converted-to-carbon-source phenomenon. Can we afford tipping the balance?