Abstract
Polar regions have some unique climatic peculiarities:
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perpetual polar night and day (at latitudes greater than Polar Circles —66°33′ 03″ N and 66°33′ 03″ S);
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negative radiation balance over vast areas;
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very low air temperatures throughout the year;
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strong winds with blowing snow and blizzards;
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small absolute water vapor content in the air and considerably large relative humidity, especially in summer;
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small ice surfaces on seas and glaciers on land (areas with a great albedo of 70–90%);
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permafrost.
Limits of ranges of many flora and fauna species are found on the edge of these areas. Tundra with comparatively rich organic life (at least in summer) may be called a subpolar zone. But soils thaw only near the surface and permafrost remains at deeper levels for the whole year.
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Niedzwiedz, T. (1997). The Climates of the “Polar Regions”. In: Yoshino, M., Domrös, M., Douguédroit, A., Paszyński, J., Nkemdirim, L.C. (eds) Climates and Societies — A Climatological Perspective. The GeoJournal Library, vol 36. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1055-8_14
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