North America Climate Vegetation Wildlife Part 1 Geography iKen

north america climate vegetation and wildlife part one north america lies entirely in the northern hemisphere and the width of the continent is maximum in the middle latitudes and so most of the continent lies in the temperate zone small part of north america lies south of the tropic of cancer southern mexico the countries of central america and the caribbean islands have subtropical climate the arctic circle passes through the extreme north region which is extremely cold the large size of the continent results in great extremes of temperatures in most parts of the continent thus the summers are hot and winters are cold the western cordilleras as well as the eastern highlands run parallel to the coast they cut off the influence of the ocean from reaching the interior to good extent ocean currents affect the temperature and rainfall along the coastal regions the cold labrador current in the northeast keeps the adjoining coast frozen in winter the cool california current in the southwest lowers the temperatures along the coast winds blowing over this current get cooled and pick up little moisture and bring little rainfall the warm alaska current in the northwest warms the adjoining coastal regions winds blowing over these currents are also warm and so their ability to absorb moisture increases these winds bring heavy rainfall throughout the year the great lakes are like the ocean french missionaries gazing across seemingly limitless horizon of water in the 17th century thought they had found the ocean they called them sweet water seas in the great lakes regions cluster the heaviest concentration of industries large quantities of minerals are found here the lake waters provide inexpensive transportation large seafaring ships can reach the interior since the lakes are connected to the atlantic ocean by the saint lawrence waterway north america can be primarily divided into 10 climatic regions the first such climatic region is the tundra region the extreme northern part of north america that lies beyond the arctic circle has very cold climatic conditions it includes the northern coast of canada and the northern islands in this region winters are long and severely cold while summers are short and cool rainfall is scanty and most of the precipitation is in the form of snow the vegetation here is pass as the ground remains frozen throughout the year mosses and legends grow here this kind of vegetation can withstand extreme cold and survive on very little moisture it can also remain alive under snow during the short summer the land looks bright with flowers in some places stunted shrubs are also seen trees cannot grow here because the surface is frozen during winter and the subsoil remains permanently frozen animals that are found here usually have thick fur outside and woolly undercoat to keep them warm the arctic fox for instance has grey fur in summer but it turns white in winter thick layers of fur give additional protection as well as provide food reserves for winter the reindeer is the most important animal of the tundra it is well adapted to the severe cold of the tundra region its thick hair and the air cells in each air makes an excellent protection against the cold the long and flat hoops of the reindeer are suitable for traveling across the snow and also for digging in the snow for buried vegetation the reindeer also provides meat and milk its skin is used for clothing and tents and bones as needles the internal organs of the reindeer provide vitamins and salts needed by the human body the other common animals are the musk ox the polar bear wolverine sable and the blue fox whales seals and fish are also found in the seas bordering the coast the second type of climatic region found here is the tega or the coniferous forest belt this region forms belt from the pacific coast in the west to the atlantic coast immediately south of the tundra it includes alaska and most of canada in this region the winters are very cold and severe and last for about seven months the summers are warm and short most of the precipitation is in the form of snow the vegetation consists of coniferous trees these are evergreen trees that is they do not shed their leaves once every year coniferous tree bears woody cones and hence the name coniferous trees since the trees are conical in shape the snow slides off their branches easily preventing damage to the trees the leaves are needle shaped and so the loss of water through evaporation is reduced since the surface area of the leaf is reduced hence they are able to survive the long winter when the water is frozen and not easily available the common trees found here are the pine fur seda and spruce they are adapted to survive the severe long winters the coniferous forests are of great commercial importance large areas of single kind of tree grow together in other words trees grow in social strands making lumbering operations easy there is little undergrowth to hinder transportation since the ground freezes and so plants with short routes cannot survive during winter which is the season for lumbering the ice and snow make it easy to transport the logs of wood coniferous trees yield soft wood which is used in the manufacture of paper matchsticks furniture doors windows plywood sports goods and toys prairies are extensively cultivated quantities of maize wheat and barley are grown here there are very few animals in this region and most of them are small the beaver fox sable urman skunk and raccoon yield fur caribou moose elk and brown black and grizzly bears are common the rivers and streams here are full of fish birds like the grouse and the woodpecker are also found here do do