Siberia, meaning "sleeping land," is a large region inside Russia, extending from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The southwest area of Siberia expands into Mongolia and China, touching the north of Kazakhstan. Much of Siberia is inhabitable, covered by either permafrost or thick taiga. Eastern Siberia is well-known for its mountain ranges and water bodies, including Lake Baikal, the deepest and cleanest lake in the world. The north coast of Siberia is north of the Arctic Circle.
Until the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway at the end of the 20th century, Siberia remained inaccessible to everybody except for local nomads such as the Huns, Yenets, and Uyghurs. The creation of the railway, which runs 5,772 miles (9,288 kilometers) from Moscow to Vladivostok, opened the door for further exploration and settlements. Construction workers and agriculturalists were the first to move to the East, encouraged by a government campaign to populate Eastern Russia. By the 1930s, two Siberian cities, Omsk and Novosibirsk, had already become cultural and business centers.
Siberia is infamous for its Gulag, or labor camps, first established in 1917 but not officially recognized until 1930. The Gulags were used to house not only criminals, but also political prisoners. By 1939, there were over 1.5 million prisoners in Siberian camps. Those people who were freed after finished their sentences were not allowed to settle back in the big cities, which lead to the creation of towns all around Siberia.
Modern Siberia is progressive and thriving. While the population remains low at only three people per square kilometer, Siberia has developed a cultural presence that transcends frontiers. Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia and the third in the country after Moscow and St. Petersburg, houses the State Academy Opera and Ballet Theater, a large scientific research center, and a large variety of casinos, universities, and theaters.
Today, visitors come to Siberia to experience extremes. Summer on the north Coast of Siberia is only about a month long. Winter visitors can stop in Novosibirsk to see what it's like to breathe in -37 degree Celsius (-34.6 degree Fahrenheit), or head to the Altai Mountains for hiking, skiing or rafting.
Why is Siberia so incredibly cold in the winter?
The coldest places there are at similar latitudes to a large part of northern Canada, and are closer to the ocean than many other places. The official record for the coldest Northern Hemisphere temperature is -90 degrees F (-67.8 degrees C) for both Verkhoyanski and Oimekon (also spelled Oymyakon in English). Both were recorded on Feb. 6, 1922. Their part of Siberia is informally called the Northern Hemisphere's "Cold Pole."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers booklet Weather and Climate Extremes, which lists and discusses global weather extremes of all kinds, notes that this area is in the East Siberian taiga (northern coniferous forest) and is so cold because "it is located near the eastern end of the world's largest land mass (Asia) and blocked by mountain ranges from moderating oceanic influences."
During the winter, strong areas of high atmospheric pressure dominate. High pressure keeps the sky clear, which allows the Earth's heat to radiate away into space, and also creates light winds, which don't stir up the air to mix very frigid air near the ground with slightly warmer air higher up. While some parts of northern Canada are farther from the ocean than Siberia's "Cold Pole," mountains don't block milder air from the ocean from reaching these parts of Canada.
Both of Siberia's record-cold locations are relatively far south. Verkhoyanski is only 74 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and Oimekon is not even in the Arctic, it is 209 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
This leads to the question: Why isn't any place over the vast area closer to the North Pole than either of these two locations colder?
The answer illustrates why Antarctica is much colder than the Arctic. The Arctic is dominated by the Arctic Ocean, with land around it. The Antarctic — the region south of the Antarctic Circle — is mostly filled by the Continent of Antarctica.
While the Arctic Ocean is covered by ice in the winter, the water under the ice is relatively mild, and some of this warmth flows through the ice to make the air above the ice warmer than it otherwise would be. Even in the middle of winter, places right around the ocean, even though they are much farther north, don't grow as cold as those farther from the ocean.
By the way, the world's coldest official temperature is the -129 F (-89.4 C) recorded at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.
Until the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway at the end of the 20th century, Siberia remained inaccessible to everybody except for local nomads such as the Huns, Yenets, and Uyghurs. The creation of the railway, which runs 5,772 miles (9,288 kilometers) from Moscow to Vladivostok, opened the door for further exploration and settlements. Construction workers and agriculturalists were the first to move to the East, encouraged by a government campaign to populate Eastern Russia. By the 1930s, two Siberian cities, Omsk and Novosibirsk, had already become cultural and business centers.
Siberia is infamous for its Gulag, or labor camps, first established in 1917 but not officially recognized until 1930. The Gulags were used to house not only criminals, but also political prisoners. By 1939, there were over 1.5 million prisoners in Siberian camps. Those people who were freed after finished their sentences were not allowed to settle back in the big cities, which lead to the creation of towns all around Siberia.
Modern Siberia is progressive and thriving. While the population remains low at only three people per square kilometer, Siberia has developed a cultural presence that transcends frontiers. Novosibirsk, the largest city in Siberia and the third in the country after Moscow and St. Petersburg, houses the State Academy Opera and Ballet Theater, a large scientific research center, and a large variety of casinos, universities, and theaters.
Today, visitors come to Siberia to experience extremes. Summer on the north Coast of Siberia is only about a month long. Winter visitors can stop in Novosibirsk to see what it's like to breathe in -37 degree Celsius (-34.6 degree Fahrenheit), or head to the Altai Mountains for hiking, skiing or rafting.
Why is Siberia so incredibly cold in the winter?
The coldest places there are at similar latitudes to a large part of northern Canada, and are closer to the ocean than many other places. The official record for the coldest Northern Hemisphere temperature is -90 degrees F (-67.8 degrees C) for both Verkhoyanski and Oimekon (also spelled Oymyakon in English). Both were recorded on Feb. 6, 1922. Their part of Siberia is informally called the Northern Hemisphere's "Cold Pole."
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers booklet Weather and Climate Extremes, which lists and discusses global weather extremes of all kinds, notes that this area is in the East Siberian taiga (northern coniferous forest) and is so cold because "it is located near the eastern end of the world's largest land mass (Asia) and blocked by mountain ranges from moderating oceanic influences."
During the winter, strong areas of high atmospheric pressure dominate. High pressure keeps the sky clear, which allows the Earth's heat to radiate away into space, and also creates light winds, which don't stir up the air to mix very frigid air near the ground with slightly warmer air higher up. While some parts of northern Canada are farther from the ocean than Siberia's "Cold Pole," mountains don't block milder air from the ocean from reaching these parts of Canada.
Both of Siberia's record-cold locations are relatively far south. Verkhoyanski is only 74 miles north of the Arctic Circle, and Oimekon is not even in the Arctic, it is 209 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
This leads to the question: Why isn't any place over the vast area closer to the North Pole than either of these two locations colder?
The answer illustrates why Antarctica is much colder than the Arctic. The Arctic is dominated by the Arctic Ocean, with land around it. The Antarctic — the region south of the Antarctic Circle — is mostly filled by the Continent of Antarctica.
While the Arctic Ocean is covered by ice in the winter, the water under the ice is relatively mild, and some of this warmth flows through the ice to make the air above the ice warmer than it otherwise would be. Even in the middle of winter, places right around the ocean, even though they are much farther north, don't grow as cold as those farther from the ocean.
By the way, the world's coldest official temperature is the -129 F (-89.4 C) recorded at the Russian Vostok Station in Antarctica on July 21, 1983.
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