Alpine climate - the climate of the highlands above the border of the forest .
In the Köppen classification of climates, the alpine climate, as well as the polar one , is included in the group of climates E. This group of climates includes areas whose average temperature of the warmest month does not exceed 10 ° C (50 ° F) . [1] . Moreover, the climate of some highland regions can also be classified as a humid continental or semiarid climate .
Description
The climate of the highlands is colder than the lowlands due to the peculiarities of heat transfer in the Earth’s atmosphere. Almost all the thermal energy accumulated by the Earth’s surface arose as a result of the conversion of the energy of the Sun. Solar radiation is absorbed by water and land, which as a result are heated. Heated land loses heat due to convection of air currents and the return of solar radiation back into space. Solar radiation is absorbed and re-emitted by triatomic molecules such as hydrogen oxide and carbon dioxide . As a result of the re-emission of thermal energy , part of the heat that would be radiated back into space, returns back to the Earth's surface. Thus, the ( troposphere ) plays the role of a kind of blanket that retains the heat emitted by the earth's surface. This process is known as the greenhouse effect . However, with an increase in the height of the surface above sea level, the layer of the troposphere above the surface decreases. Accordingly, in the mountains the greenhouse effect is weakened, and the average temperature is lower than in the lowlands. located in the same latitudes [2] .
For areas with an alpine climate, the dominant biome is the alpine tundra .
Alpine climates
Cascade Mountains , Rocky Mountains , Appalachian Mountains , Alps , Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada , Andes , Himalayas , Tibetan Highlands , Gansu , Qinghai , East African Highlands , individual peaks of the Atlas Mountains , Kalimantan and New Guinea . In the Northern Andes, four subzones are traditionally distinguished:
- Tierra Caliente or hot land;
- Tierra templada or temperate land;
- Tierra fria or cold earth;
- Tierra Elada or frozen ground.
Notes
- ↑ McKnight, Tom L. Climate Zones and Types: The Köppen System // Physical Geography: A Landscape Appreciation / Tom L McKnight, Darrel Hess. - Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2000. - P. 235–7. - ISBN 0-13-020263-0 .
- ↑ Lutgens, Frederick K. The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology / Frederick K. Lutgens, Edward J. Tarbuck. - Prentice Hall, 1998. - P. 15–17, 30–35, 38–40. - ISBN 0-13-742974-6 .