Global Distribution of Cold & High-Altitude Environments
What is an extreme environment?
- Extreme environments are places that are considered inaccessible and very hard for human life to survive in
- Some areas can provide opportunities for development and economic activity
- They can have rich mineral deposits such as oil, gas, gold, etc.
- However, exploiting these resources is costly
- Population densities are low in these areas
- Harsh conditions make it difficult to obtain and maintain energy and food supplies
- Many Indigenous peoples are abandoning traditional lifestyles
- Examples of extreme environments include:
- Deep ocean trenches
- Hyper-arid deserts (cold or hot)
- Salt lakes
- Volcanoes
- Mountain plateaus, etc
Distribution of cold and high-altitude environments
- These environments include:
- Polar regions
- Glacial areas
- Periglacial areas
- High mountains in non-tropical latitudes
- Cold areas are mostly found at high latitudes (66° north and south of the equator), such as the polar regions and arctic tundra
- These areas are also known as cold deserts because of:
- Low levels of precipitation
- Poor soil conditions
- Low levels of vegetation
- These areas are also known as cold deserts because of:
- Cold environments are also found at high altitude, such as the Himalayas and the Andes
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Distribution of cold and high-altitude environments
- The distribution of cold environments can be divided into polar, glacial, periglacial and high-mountain areas
- Polar environments are found where levels of solar radiation are very low
- Located in high-latitudes within the Arctic and Antarctic circle (from 66.5° to 90° N and S)
- They are the coldest places on Earth
- Examples include the Poles, Greenland and northern Canada
- Glacial
- Found at higher latitudes and altitudes, with high levels of precipitation
- Found at the edges of polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers
- Ice remains throughout the year
- Examples include the Andes, Himalayas and Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand
- High-mountain (non-tropical)
- Also referred to as alpine
- Found at high latitudes and altitudes of over 3 000 m, where snow and ice remain throughout the year with a cooler climate and seasonal coverage of snow at lower altitudes
- Examples include the Himalayan and Tibetan mountain ranges in Asia, the Rockies and the Andes in the Americas, and the New Zealand Alps
- Periglacial or tundra environments are found at the fringes of permanent glaciated areas
- Either at high-altitude mountain regions or high-latitude polar regions
- Mainly located in the northern hemisphere due to a lack of land mass in the southern hemisphere
- These areas account for a third of the Earth's surface
