Arctic and Antarctic Climatic Regions

There are two kinds of polar zones: Arctic and tundra. The Arctic zone is in the North. It occupies the Northern line of land of the European continent and the Northern part of Canada; Eastern, Western and Southern parts of Greenland and all the isles in the seas of the Arctic Ocean. Tundra zone occupies the Northern and central parts of Greenland and the Antarctic continent.

The sun’s rays are very weak in these regions. These are the coldest places on the planet. The region around the North Pole is called Arctic. It is the vast territory of the Arctic Ocean covered with ice. The South Pole is called Antarctic. This is the land covered with ice. Very strong icy winds are blowing above the territories of Arctic and Antarctic all the year round. The level of precipitation is very low because it is too cold for water circulation process.

No plants grow in the North Pole because there is no ground under ice. Arctic polar zone represents the vast snow desert. And the growing season in tundra zone is very short. It lasts about two months. The common plants of this region are herbs, berries, and small shrubs. The vegetation also includes mosses, and lichens.

In Arctic of the North Pole white bears and seals are the animals which adapted to these severe climatic conditions. Different species of penguins are found in Antarctic and nowhere else. Tundra in Spring

In tundra zone more living creatures could be found. Wildlife includes reindeer and their relatives the caribous, polar bears, Arctic foxes and hares, musk oxen, and lemmings, walruses, swans and some other birds.

The Native Arctic peoples include the Lapps of Scandinavia and the so-called Eskimos; and Yupik in Alaska, Inuit in Canada and Greenland, and Yuit in Siberia. Also in Siberia are peoples similar to Native Americans, such as the Chukchi and the Koryaks, and Asians such as the Yakuts and Tungus. The traditional ways of life of these Arctic peoples were based on hunting (mostly reindeer, musk oxen, whales, and seals) and fishing. Some people herded reindeer. These traditional ways have now almost wholly vanished. Arctic

In some parts of Antarctic the thickness of ice is about 3.7 kilometers. If all the ice melted the level of the World Ocean would rise 55 meters. We are still lucky it doesn’t melt because of the very cold temperature. Do you know that in Arctic there is the coldest place in the world? It is the Pole of Inaccessibility. The average temperature there is 58º Celsius below zero.

Exercise 4. Translate the following sentences into English:

1. Умеренный пояс охватывает центральную часть России, северную Европу и южную часть Канады. V1=occupy(reg.) 2. Солнечные лучи слабые на полюсах. V1=be(irreg.) 3. Некоторые части этого климатического пляса, такие как Северная Европа, Исландия, находятся под влиянием тёплого океанического течения Гольфстрим.V1=be affected(irreg.)

Exercise 5. Describe Arctic or Antarctic climate region according to the following plan (using the climate map and the information from the text above):

1. … occupies …

2. The sun’s rays are …

3. The average temperature in summer is … degrees Celsius (above/below zero)

4. The average temperature in winter is … degrees Celsius (above/below zero)

5. The level of precipitation is … mm. a year.

6. The prevailing winds are blowing from … to … in summer and from … to …in winter.

7. The growing period lasts …

8. The common plants of the region are …

9. … are the animals which adapted to these climatic conditions.

10. Some parts of this climate zone are affected by … - the ocean current/ the nearness to the sea/ the prevailing winds/ the altitude

Exercise 6. Describe a climate region orally (See Student’s Individual Task: Unit 3., Part 2., Ex. 1.)

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