Polar climate

Polar climate has temperatures below  for much of the year. According to the Köppen climate classification, a polar climate is one in which no monthly average goes above .Robert Gabler; James Petersen; L. Trapasso, Essentials of Physical Geography (Belmont, CA: Thomson-Brooks/Cole, 2007), pp. 210–11 If the temperature is between  and  in the warmest month, it is a tundra climate. If the average temperature is below  in the warmest month, it is an ice cap climate. These climates are found near the poles and on high mountains. There is usually little precipitation because the air is so dry. Ice cap climates are in the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, Antarctica and at high altitude.

About 20% of the Earth has a polar climate.Kenneth J Gregory, The Earth's Land Surface: Landforms and Processes in Geomorphology (Los Angeles: Sage, 2010), p. 166

References

Category:Köppen climate classifications