The Subarctic Climate - Secrets of World Climate #10
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Date: 2024-01-04
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• TED-Ed
Comments and reviews: 29
-JanFrilander
I grew up in subarctic Eastern Finland. We lived on the edge of a village and the endless taiga was our neighbor. We went to play in the forest in all seasons. Snow is great fun. As kids and youngsters we did explorations to the forest and hills to see the views to the lakes from the cliffs higher up. We went into the forest when we wanted to talk in privacy as teenagers. Skills to find your way and manage in the nearby wilderness even in the cold winter days and darkness were taught to all kids from a very young age. It was also part of the school curriculum. The Finnish taiga landscape felt a very idyllic and safe place to grow up. -
There is less agriculture in Finland than in southern parts of Europe but it-s an important source of livelihood also in the subarctic parts. There are farms even as north as Southern Lapland. You can find quite large subarctic farming areas following the rivers inland from the Gulf of Bothnia in Western Finland. Farms here and there patching the taiga are common also in Eastern Finland. -
I wouldn-t say the subarctic regions of Scandinavia and Finland are hostile places to live. They-re actually very pleasant. All the buildings are warm and the infrastructure is excellent. The societies are well adapted to the climate. The pleasantly warm summers with white nights are glorious and the darkness of the winters makes homes feel very cosy. The towns and smaller cities with quite many services are not that far in most parts of Finland (they are far in Lapland. It-s common that people commute from the villages to the nearby cities. There are some vibrant urban centers in the taiga like Tampere, a very charming old industrial city between two major lakes. Tampere region is growing steadily so it might become the largest urban area in the taiga soon. Forests are a walking distance from home also for most of the urban population in Finland and there are 500 000 summer houses typically near the wilderness. For many Finns, the forests are a place to go in everyday life. -
We lived normal modern life as citizens of a Nordic welfare state there in the rural village. Finland subsidizes the countryside heavily to maintain a good service level for everybody. Some of my classmates in the village school needed to travel over 20 km along the forest roads, go over many bridges and even take a ferry to get home on the islands in the inland archipelago of the Finnish Lakeland. The municipality paid a group of taxis to drive the forest roads deep in the taiga every morning and afternoon to take the kids to school and back home.
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I grew up in subarctic Eastern Finland. We lived on the edge of a village and the endless taiga was our neighbor. We went to play in the forest in all seasons. Snow is great fun. As kids and youngsters we did explorations to the forest and hills to see the views to the lakes from the cliffs higher up. We went into the forest when we wanted to talk in privacy as teenagers. Skills to find your way and manage in the nearby wilderness even in the cold winter days and darkness were taught to all kids from a very young age. It was also part of the school curriculum. The Finnish taiga landscape felt a very idyllic and safe place to grow up. -
There is less agriculture in Finland than in southern parts of Europe but it-s an important source of livelihood also in the subarctic parts. There are farms even as north as Southern Lapland. You can find quite large subarctic farming areas following the rivers inland from the Gulf of Bothnia in Western Finland. Farms here and there patching the taiga are common also in Eastern Finland. -
I wouldn-t say the subarctic regions of Scandinavia and Finland are hostile places to live. They-re actually very pleasant. All the buildings are warm and the infrastructure is excellent. The societies are well adapted to the climate. The pleasantly warm summers with white nights are glorious and the darkness of the winters makes homes feel very cosy. The towns and smaller cities with quite many services are not that far in most parts of Finland (they are far in Lapland. It-s common that people commute from the villages to the nearby cities. There are some vibrant urban centers in the taiga like Tampere, a very charming old industrial city between two major lakes. Tampere region is growing steadily so it might become the largest urban area in the taiga soon. Forests are a walking distance from home also for most of the urban population in Finland and there are 500 000 summer houses typically near the wilderness. For many Finns, the forests are a place to go in everyday life. -
We lived normal modern life as citizens of a Nordic welfare state there in the rural village. Finland subsidizes the countryside heavily to maintain a good service level for everybody. Some of my classmates in the village school needed to travel over 20 km along the forest roads, go over many bridges and even take a ferry to get home on the islands in the inland archipelago of the Finnish Lakeland. The municipality paid a group of taxis to drive the forest roads deep in the taiga every morning and afternoon to take the kids to school and back home.
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-kaisaheikkila
Greetings from 300 km north of the arctic circle. I liked the trees in your video, they where so big, we don't have those here. And when you go up in the hills, they are completely gone and all that remains is stones, lichen and reindeer. It in my opinion isn't all that bad with the temperatures, because the air is so dry when it is cold it doesn't really impact you a lot, as long as you put some clothes on. But when it gets to -30 C or below, it starts to be a bit of a nuisance. I get random nosebleeds for example and your eyelids freeze shut because the moisture in your breath immediately freezes, but otherwise it's not that bad. Below -40 C it gets really annoying, but again, just put on some clothes and keep moving and you'll be fine.
And as for your next holidays, you are all welcome to come visit us up here in Inari.
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Greetings from 300 km north of the arctic circle. I liked the trees in your video, they where so big, we don't have those here. And when you go up in the hills, they are completely gone and all that remains is stones, lichen and reindeer. It in my opinion isn't all that bad with the temperatures, because the air is so dry when it is cold it doesn't really impact you a lot, as long as you put some clothes on. But when it gets to -30 C or below, it starts to be a bit of a nuisance. I get random nosebleeds for example and your eyelids freeze shut because the moisture in your breath immediately freezes, but otherwise it's not that bad. Below -40 C it gets really annoying, but again, just put on some clothes and keep moving and you'll be fine.
And as for your next holidays, you are all welcome to come visit us up here in Inari.
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-FL_Outdoors
What is the music that begins at 1: 32? I love it! Amazing videos. I-ve watched the entire biome series. Being a big plant, Weather and climate nerd I love this stuff! You even mention Krummholz which almost know one knows what that is. There are disjunct subarctic areas along the Appalachians as far south as the Virginias. I have visited one many times in eastern West Virginia that sits on the high plateaux of the Eastern continental divide. Summers are cool to at times warm and winters are very long and brutal. Snow occurs as late as early mid June and as early as September. Frosts / freezes occur year round. It is mainly Spruce forest and there are areas more tundra / alpine meadow like with very broken spruce canopy with lots of stunted krumholz trees.
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What is the music that begins at 1: 32? I love it! Amazing videos. I-ve watched the entire biome series. Being a big plant, Weather and climate nerd I love this stuff! You even mention Krummholz which almost know one knows what that is. There are disjunct subarctic areas along the Appalachians as far south as the Virginias. I have visited one many times in eastern West Virginia that sits on the high plateaux of the Eastern continental divide. Summers are cool to at times warm and winters are very long and brutal. Snow occurs as late as early mid June and as early as September. Frosts / freezes occur year round. It is mainly Spruce forest and there are areas more tundra / alpine meadow like with very broken spruce canopy with lots of stunted krumholz trees.
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-st3llarmemer111
Having lived in subarctic northern Manitoba as a child, and all the major cities within 10 hours of driving being borderline subarctic Winnipeg, Saskatoon, or Edmonton, I thought that most of the world had maintained snowpacks in winter except for places in or near the tropics (like California or southern US. I was wrong to realize that temperate places like Vancouver and Britain actually had very little snowfall, and actually took up a lot of the world. And even cities I thought always had snow in winter like Toronto (where I live now) actually didn't (hey at least we got snow at the time of writing this comment)
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Having lived in subarctic northern Manitoba as a child, and all the major cities within 10 hours of driving being borderline subarctic Winnipeg, Saskatoon, or Edmonton, I thought that most of the world had maintained snowpacks in winter except for places in or near the tropics (like California or southern US. I was wrong to realize that temperate places like Vancouver and Britain actually had very little snowfall, and actually took up a lot of the world. And even cities I thought always had snow in winter like Toronto (where I live now) actually didn't (hey at least we got snow at the time of writing this comment)
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-ibbi30
Note that Iceland was not covered with Pine forests before human settlement, as that genus had not managed to spread there since the deglaciation 10 000 years ago (nor had any other conifer except for the juniper. Instead something like 15-40% of the country was covered in downy birch woodland with rowan and willow mixed in while some other parts of the country were pure willow shrub-lands. These birchlands had fallen to 1% cover by the 1900s. The European aspen may also be native to Iceland, but if so it did not manage to form large woodlands and is today a very rare species.
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Note that Iceland was not covered with Pine forests before human settlement, as that genus had not managed to spread there since the deglaciation 10 000 years ago (nor had any other conifer except for the juniper. Instead something like 15-40% of the country was covered in downy birch woodland with rowan and willow mixed in while some other parts of the country were pure willow shrub-lands. These birchlands had fallen to 1% cover by the 1900s. The European aspen may also be native to Iceland, but if so it did not manage to form large woodlands and is today a very rare species.
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fun-facts
Interesting note that Embarrass, Minnesota, USA has a humid continental climate bordering very closely on a subarctic climate.
The reason is that areas considered subarctic are located not too far away to the north in Ontario. So while humid continental climate is the best representation of the climate in Embarrass, Minnesota, USA it's on the cooler side of it such that it could be considered subarctic if temperatures were just a bit cooler and there was less precipitation.
nice video! (fall is here where I live Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)
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Interesting note that Embarrass, Minnesota, USA has a humid continental climate bordering very closely on a subarctic climate.
The reason is that areas considered subarctic are located not too far away to the north in Ontario. So while humid continental climate is the best representation of the climate in Embarrass, Minnesota, USA it's on the cooler side of it such that it could be considered subarctic if temperatures were just a bit cooler and there was less precipitation.
nice video! (fall is here where I live Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)
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-lukanoob
liked the video, I'm in Finland and would like to say that there is rarely permafrost here, and also that farming is very possible even closer to the north. Also major cities could have been mentioned better, for example Rovaniemi, that lies almost exactly on the arctic line, and is the biggest city by land area in Europe. I am almost sure some Scandinavian cities could've been also named.
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liked the video, I'm in Finland and would like to say that there is rarely permafrost here, and also that farming is very possible even closer to the north. Also major cities could have been mentioned better, for example Rovaniemi, that lies almost exactly on the arctic line, and is the biggest city by land area in Europe. I am almost sure some Scandinavian cities could've been also named.
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-taylorpearcy319
This is what I love about the Northern US Rockies. We have this climate at reasonable latitudes, so we still get 8-9 hours of daylight even on the winter solstice. The downside is that the high altitude and (relatively) low latitude lend themselves to high UV intensity. Sunburn happens so fast, especially in summer.
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This is what I love about the Northern US Rockies. We have this climate at reasonable latitudes, so we still get 8-9 hours of daylight even on the winter solstice. The downside is that the high altitude and (relatively) low latitude lend themselves to high UV intensity. Sunburn happens so fast, especially in summer.
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-InciniumVGC
I wonder why there are no tigers in North America considering there was once a land bridge connecting Asia with North America not too long ago, geologically speaking. I guess there probably were the saber toothed variety, but those went extinct, but you'd think the kind that are alive today would be here too.
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I wonder why there are no tigers in North America considering there was once a land bridge connecting Asia with North America not too long ago, geologically speaking. I guess there probably were the saber toothed variety, but those went extinct, but you'd think the kind that are alive today would be here too.
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-nordriket
38 degrees recently in Verkhoyansk!
As an inhabitant of a subarctic climate in Norway I must say this is a rather depressing one, especially from late September to late April. But you get used to it. It's only the few times I've visited warmer places that I realize how depressing this climate really is.
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38 degrees recently in Verkhoyansk!
As an inhabitant of a subarctic climate in Norway I must say this is a rather depressing one, especially from late September to late April. But you get used to it. It's only the few times I've visited warmer places that I realize how depressing this climate really is.
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-nordriket
38 degrees recently in Verkhoyansk!
As an inhabitant of a subarctic climate in Norway I must say this is a rather depressing one, especially from late September to late April. But you get used to it. It's only the few times I've visited warmer places that I realize how depressing this climate really is.
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38 degrees recently in Verkhoyansk!
As an inhabitant of a subarctic climate in Norway I must say this is a rather depressing one, especially from late September to late April. But you get used to it. It's only the few times I've visited warmer places that I realize how depressing this climate really is.
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-jockatim
Very nice video although I don't believe that most of the subarctic region has permafrost. In Sweden, where I live, permafrost only exists in the mountains in the far north. There is agriculture along the coast and in all river valleys of northern Sweden, although forests dominate.
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Very nice video although I don't believe that most of the subarctic region has permafrost. In Sweden, where I live, permafrost only exists in the mountains in the far north. There is agriculture along the coast and in all river valleys of northern Sweden, although forests dominate.
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-mooseears9849
Fun fact: In Iceland, although summer temperatures hardly ever go above 60- F, it-s coasts, where most people live, usually don-t go below freezing either. The limbo of year round cold, but not extreme cold, gives it a Cfc (subpolar oceanic) climate
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Fun fact: In Iceland, although summer temperatures hardly ever go above 60- F, it-s coasts, where most people live, usually don-t go below freezing either. The limbo of year round cold, but not extreme cold, gives it a Cfc (subpolar oceanic) climate
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-mikeygordon211
This climate have weakest sunlight on earth unlike humid subtropical climate that receive direct sunlight in summer that allow tree to grow high.
I favor humid subtropical monsoon climate that winter low temperature are above 10 celsius.
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This climate have weakest sunlight on earth unlike humid subtropical climate that receive direct sunlight in summer that allow tree to grow high.
I favor humid subtropical monsoon climate that winter low temperature are above 10 celsius.
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-boomboxxa
Awesome production! Watching your videos from Finland.
At 9: 40 you say farming in these bleek subartic regions is impossible, but in Finland all the major agriculture cities are in the middle/central part of the country
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Awesome production! Watching your videos from Finland.
At 9: 40 you say farming in these bleek subartic regions is impossible, but in Finland all the major agriculture cities are in the middle/central part of the country
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fun-facts
I love the Tiger bit it the begin! I thought it was funny.
Your series is so great. My science teacher is teaching this way, using your series (because of the corona virus. It's very helpful, thank you so much.
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I love the Tiger bit it the begin! I thought it was funny.
Your series is so great. My science teacher is teaching this way, using your series (because of the corona virus. It's very helpful, thank you so much.
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-Droxal
I almost screamed at 3: 21, that's Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park and one of the most beautiful and lesser known spots in the Canadian Rockies. Definitely a must visit if you ever visit the Rockies!
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I almost screamed at 3: 21, that's Lake O'Hara in Yoho National Park and one of the most beautiful and lesser known spots in the Canadian Rockies. Definitely a must visit if you ever visit the Rockies!
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-LLH961
Grew up in the subarctic climate of fort Mcmurray Alberta; which is probably up there for one of the coldest places In Canada. Reading these comments it-s makes a lot of sense why a lot of hs move away
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Grew up in the subarctic climate of fort Mcmurray Alberta; which is probably up there for one of the coldest places In Canada. Reading these comments it-s makes a lot of sense why a lot of hs move away
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-thesentry9838
European subartic climates are a lot warmer than north america and asia lol minnesota has colder winters than most of sweden, and is humid continental with warm summers, european climate sucks
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European subartic climates are a lot warmer than north america and asia lol minnesota has colder winters than most of sweden, and is humid continental with warm summers, european climate sucks
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-pritoranta8705
Terrific video! If you judge 'major cities' by size, you missed a couple Finnish ones: the university towns of Oulu and Tampere, with populations of 200k+ and 300k+, respectively.
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Terrific video! If you judge 'major cities' by size, you missed a couple Finnish ones: the university towns of Oulu and Tampere, with populations of 200k+ and 300k+, respectively.
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-JustNierninwa
Isn't the reason for all the lakes also partly that these were all under a thick layer of ice during the ice age and all the upper crust was swept away by the glaciers?
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Isn't the reason for all the lakes also partly that these were all under a thick layer of ice during the ice age and all the upper crust was swept away by the glaciers?
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fun-facts
Iqaluit is the coldest city on earth if you take wind, humidity, UV index etc. It average yearly lows of -13c and averages -51c to -55c with -feels like- temps in winter.
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Iqaluit is the coldest city on earth if you take wind, humidity, UV index etc. It average yearly lows of -13c and averages -51c to -55c with -feels like- temps in winter.
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-st3llarmemer111
If Edmonton was just a degree or two cooler in May and September,
it would be a subarctic city with 1 million people.
So close, yet so far.
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If Edmonton was just a degree or two cooler in May and September,
it would be a subarctic city with 1 million people.
So close, yet so far.
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-Basheez
You did not mention Oulu, Finland and Tampere, Finland. Both are bigger than Norilsk. Oulu has a population of almost 200, 000 and Tampere over 200, 000.
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You did not mention Oulu, Finland and Tampere, Finland. Both are bigger than Norilsk. Oulu has a population of almost 200, 000 and Tampere over 200, 000.
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-thorin5591
Dfc This is the climate type I live in here in Northern canada in Whitehorse Yukon. Short warm summers and Long cold winters.
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Dfc This is the climate type I live in here in Northern canada in Whitehorse Yukon. Short warm summers and Long cold winters.
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-blueflare726
I just checked weather forecast for Yakutsk and there is like 30-35 celsius for the whole month. Subarctic is just amazing
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I just checked weather forecast for Yakutsk and there is like 30-35 celsius for the whole month. Subarctic is just amazing
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-coltendavison9431
I kinda was born in taiga because I was born in south lake Tahoe in California and it has large pine forests.
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I kinda was born in taiga because I was born in south lake Tahoe in California and it has large pine forests.
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-matthewmann8969
First Nations or Amerindians for a alternative title need to form more of a barrier, shield, and force field
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First Nations or Amerindians for a alternative title need to form more of a barrier, shield, and force field
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-shaynewhite1
Well, in North America we don't pronounce -taiga- and -tiger- the same way but it's still a funny joke!
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Well, in North America we don't pronounce -taiga- and -tiger- the same way but it's still a funny joke!
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