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The Climate of Norway

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Landscapes and Landforms of Norway

Part of the book series: World Geomorphological Landscapes ((WGLC))

Abstract

Mainland Norway shows a complex combination of physical factors leading to various climate settings. Due to the huge extension in north–south direction from 57° 58′ N to 71° 11′ N, Norway encompasses five climate zones according to the Köppen classification. Its location on the west side of the Scandinavian Peninsular close to the North Atlantic Current, however, shifts most climate effects to a more temperate level compared to what is to expect from the given geographical zone. Especially during the last two decades, a marked temperature increase is observed over the whole country. The close interlink with sea climates due to the very long coastline with many fjords and islands, effects of altitude as well as of luv and lee situations of different mountainous regions up to 2469 m a.s.l. and the general west–east gradient from maritime to continental climates result in various patterns of climate elements on a regional and local scale. Southwest Norwegian coastal lowlands have a quite temperate climate and the mountainous areas situated behind often show huge amounts of precipitation during all seasons including partly enormous snow accumulation in winter supplying numerous glaciers. The more continental areas of Eastern Norway are very dry, and the elevated mountain plateaus, especially in Northern Norway, are of subarctic appearance including phenomena of permafrost.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography and Climatology, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52062, Aachen, Germany

    Gunnar Ketzler & Wolfgang Römer

  2. Geomorphological Field Laboratory (GFL), Sandviksgjerde, Strandvegen 484, 7584, Selbustrand, Norway

    Achim A. Beylich

Authors
  1. Gunnar Ketzler
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  2. Wolfgang Römer
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  3. Achim A. Beylich
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gunnar Ketzler .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geomorphological Field Laboratory, Selbustrand, Norway

    Achim A. Beylich

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Ketzler, G., Römer, W., Beylich, A.A. (2021). The Climate of Norway. In: Beylich, A.A. (eds) Landscapes and Landforms of Norway. World Geomorphological Landscapes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52563-7_2

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