Ice cap climate

The climate generally covers areas at high altitudes and polar regions (60–90° north and south latitude), such as Antarctica and some of the northernmost islands of Canada and Russia.

Some regions on the islands of Norway's Svalbard Archipelago facilitate an ice cap climate.

[3] The following chart indicates the average and record temperatures in this research station through a year: The two major areas with ice cap climates are Antarctica and Greenland.

The only large landmass in the extreme northern latitudes to have an icecap climate is Greenland, but several smaller islands near the Arctic Ocean also have permanent ice caps.

This is because the Arctic Ocean moderates the temperatures of the surrounding land, making the extreme cold seen in Antarctica impossible.

In fact, the coldest winters in the northern hemisphere are in subarctic climates in Siberia, such as Verkhoyansk, which are much farther inland and lack the ocean's moderating effect.

This same lack of moderating oceanic effect, coupled with the extreme continentality of the Russian interior allows for very warm summers in the same areas that experience harsh winters.

As a result, high-speed winds circle around Antarctica, preventing warmer air from temperate zones from reaching the continent.

While Antarctica does have some small areas of tundra on the northern fringes, the vast majority of the continent is extremely cold and permanently frozen.

[9][10] Factors that cause icehouse Earth include changes to the atmosphere, the arrangement of continents, and the energy received from the sun.

Vegetation cannot grow on ice,[11] and is non-existent except in the warmer fringes that occasionally peak above freezing; even then, it is confined to mosses and lichen.