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The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than 10 °C (50 °F). Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area.
Polar ecology is the relationship between plants and animals in a polar environment. Polar environments are in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Arctic regions are in the Northern Hemisphere , and it contains land and the islands that surrounds it.
The process of photosynthesis provides the main input of free energy into the biosphere, and is one of four main ways in which radiation is important for plant life. [114] The radiation climate within plant communities is extremely variable, in both time and space.
The two main processes that contribute to ecosystem respiration are photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Photosynthesis uses carbon-dioxide and water, in the presence of sunlight to produce glucose and oxygen whereas cellular respiration uses glucose and oxygen to produce carbon-dioxide, water, and energy.
On broad geographic scales, climate is the factor that "most strongly determines ecosystem processes and structure". [4]: 14 Climate determines the biome in which the ecosystem is embedded. Rainfall patterns and seasonal temperatures influence photosynthesis and thereby determine the amount of energy available to the ecosystem. [8]: 145
Visualization of the ice and snow covering Earth's northern and southern polar regions Northern Hemisphere permafrost (permanently frozen ground) in purple. The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles.
This represents the region where enough light can penetrate to support photosynthesis, and it corresponds to the epipelagic zone. From 200 to 1000 metres lies the dysphotic zone, or the twilight zone (corresponding with the mesopelagic zone). There is still some light at these depths, but not enough to support photosynthesis.
The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are A (tropical), B (arid), C (temperate), D (continental), and E (polar). Each group and subgroup is represented by a letter.