D – Cold Snow-Forest Climates

Cool Temperate Eastern Marine Climate (Dfb: D – cool temperate, f – no dry season, b – warm summer)

Basic Idea: What is this Climate?

Think of this as a “middle climate” — not as mild as Britain’s maritime climate, and not as harsh as the Siberian taiga climate.
👉 It is a mix of maritime and continental features.

So, if Britain has moderate conditions and Siberia has extreme cold, the Laurentian type falls somewhere in between.

Distribution: Where Do We Find It?

This climate is found only in the Northern Hemisphere. Why? Because the Southern Hemisphere doesn’t have the right landmass-ocean configuration.

• North America → Eastern Canada, North-East U.S.A., Newfoundland.
• Asia → Eastern Siberia, North China, Manchuria, Korea, North Japan.
• Europe → Eastern Europe, South-Western Russia (humid continental Hemi-boreal climate).

👉 Absent in the Southern Hemisphere because the landmasses are too narrow and mostly under strong oceanic influence. Patagonia, for example, is dry due to the Andes rain-shadow, not continentality.

Climate Features

Temperature

• Winter: Long, cold, and dry → temperatures often below freezing, with snowfall.
• Summer: Short but warm, even reaching 25 °C, almost tropical in feel.

Precipitation

• Annual rainfall: 75–150 cm.
• Distributed throughout the year but maximum in summer due to moist easterlies.
• Winters: Dry westerlies dominate → lesser rain.

Regional Variations

(A) North America (Laurentian Region)

• Summer: Hot spells with heat waves.
• Winter: Freezing cold with snow.
• Rainfall throughout the year because:
  1. Warm Gulf Stream → adds moisture to winds.
  2. Great Lakes → enhance precipitation in winter through temperate cyclones.
• Newfoundland: Famous for fog and drizzles due to clash of warm Gulf Stream and cold Labrador Current.

(B) Asia (Cool Temperate Monsoon Climate)

• Less uniform rainfall compared to N. America.
• Winter: Long, bitterly cold, very dry.
• Summer: Very warm, very wet → resembles Indian Monsoon pattern.
• Reason: Strong summer heating creates low pressure → moist Pacific and Sea of Japan winds blow in as South-East Monsoon.
• Northern China, Korea, Japan: Winter snow is common.

(C) Japan’s Special Case

• Kuroshio Current (warm) and Oyashio Current (cold) meet → fog, mist, abundant rainfall.
• Double rainfall sources:
  • Summer → South-East Monsoon.
  • Winter → North-West Monsoon (esp. west coast of Japan).
• Result → Fishing thrives more than agriculture due to limited arable land.

Natural Vegetation

• Cool temperate forests dominate.
• North of 50° N latitude → mostly conifers (fir, spruce, larch).
• South of 50° N → deciduous forests (oak, beech, maple, birch).
• In Asia (Manchuria, Korea, Japan), many forests cleared for agriculture.

Economic Activities

(A) Lumbering

• Both softwood (conifers) and hardwood (deciduous) obtained.
• Canada is a world leader in timber, pulp, and paper (helped by St. Lawrence River for transport).

(B) Agriculture

• Limited due to long winters.
• Where possible → dairy farming (North America) and fruit cultivation (Nova Scotia famous for apples).

(C) Fishing – The Star Industry

(i) Newfoundland (Grand Banks)

• Warm Gulf Stream + Cold Labrador Current → mixing creates nutrient-rich upwelling.
• Result: Plankton abundance → supports world’s richest fishing grounds.
• Entire population engaged in fishing → highly mechanised trawlers, processing ports (e.g., St. John’s).
• International fleets (Norway, Britain, Japan, Russia, etc.) also fish here.

(ii) Japan

• Similar to Newfoundland → Kuroshio + Oyashio meet → rich plankton grounds.
• Fishing dominates economy because:
  • Mountainous terrain limits agriculture.
  • Scarcity of meat → fish is staple protein.
  • Strong domestic & international demand.
  • Advanced technology, skilled workforce, supportive policies.
• Japan innovated with:
  • Seaweed farming (used for food, fertilizer, chemicals).
  • Pearl culture (cultured pearls harvested from oysters).

Why Fishing Dominates in Japan? (Exam Favourite)

1. Mountainous terrain (80% land is non-agricultural).
2. Poor in natural resources → fishing is one of the few viable options.
3. Fish = chief protein food for Japanese & Chinese.
4. Strong demand in nearby underdeveloped fishing nations.
5. Technological advancement + skilled manpower.
6. Geographical advantage → meeting of currents, indented coastline, safe harbours.

Summary Flow for Quick Recall

• Climate Type → Intermediate (between Britain & Taiga).
• Location → N. America, E. Asia, E. Europe (only in Northern Hemisphere).
• Climate → Cold snowy winters, warm wet summers, ~100 cm rainfall.
• Vegetation → Coniferous north, deciduous south.
• Economy → Lumbering + Dairy + Apple farming (small) but Fishing dominates.
• Hotspots → Grand Banks (Canada), North-West Pacific (Japan).

“This climate is like a bridge — it connects the mild climates of Britain with the severe cold of Siberia. On one side, you find forests that give us timber and paper, and on the other, seas that feed entire nations through fishing. The story of this climate is not just about temperature and rainfall — it is about how geography shapes the economy, diets, and even the culture of people in places like Newfoundland and Japan.”

Taiga Climate or Boreal Climate (Dfc: D – cool temperate, f – no dry season, c – cold summer)

What is the Taiga Climate?

• Also called Siberian Climate, Cool Temperate Continental Climate, or Continental Sub-Polar Climate.
• Found roughly between 50°–70° N, just below the Arctic Circle.
• It acts as a transition zone:
  • Northward → merges into the frozen Arctic Tundra.
  • Southward → blends into the Steppe grasslands.

👉 A key point: Only in the Northern Hemisphere. The Southern Hemisphere doesn’t have broad landmasses at high latitudes — only oceans — so this climate is absent there.

Distribution

• Canada & Alaska → continuous belt across central and eastern Canada.
• Europe → Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland).
• Russia → forms the world’s largest continuous Taiga belt across central & southern Russia and Siberia.
• Small pockets in Germany, Poland, Switzerland, etc.
• Outside the Taiga belt → coniferous forests also occur in mountainous uplands (e.g., Himalayas, Chile, New Zealand, Tasmania, SE Australia).

Climate Characteristics

Temperature

• Summers: Short & mild (20–25 °C).
• Winters: Very long, severe, 30–40 °C below freezing.
• In Siberia → temperature extremes are the greatest due to continentality.
  • Example: Verkhoyansk once recorded –67 °C.
  • Annual range can reach 50–60 °C.
• Rivers like Volga freeze for nearly 150 days a year.
• Permafrost is surprisingly absent in many places because snow insulates the ground (snow is a poor conductor of heat).
• Local icy winds: Blizzards (Canada), Buran (Eurasia).

Precipitation

• Low to moderate: 38–63 cm annually.
• Distributed all year with summer maxima (due to convection).
• Winter precipitation mainly snow (due to frontal cyclones).

Natural Vegetation

• Dominated by evergreen coniferous forests (Taiga = Russian word for coniferous forest).
• Main species: Pine, Spruce, Fir, Larch.
• Characteristics of conifers (nature’s survival kit):
  1. Conical shape with sloping branches → prevents snow accumulation.
  2. Evergreen → no seasonal leaf-shedding, same needle-leaves can last 4–5 years.
  3. Thick bark → protects from cold.
  4. Needle-shaped leaves → reduce transpiration.
  5. Food stored in trunks → sustains long winters.

Soil & Under-growth

• Soil: Thin, acidic, heavily leached, low humus (slow decomposition).
• Under-growth is minimal → poor soil + limited sunlight.
• Short summers → not enough photosynthesis for lush vegetation.

👉 Compare: Taiga forests are uniform, moderate density, and poor in biodiversity, unlike tropical rainforests.

Economic Activities

(A) Lumbering – The Backbone

• Most important occupation of the Taiga belt.
• Conifers are ideal for timber industry because:
  • Grow in pure stands (same species grouped → easy to exploit).
  • Softwood (light, easy to cut & transport).
  • Limited species → easier commercial use.
• Uses of softwood:
  • Construction, furniture, matches.
  • Paper & pulp industry (Canada = world leader in newsprint).
  • By-products → turpentine, varnish, paints, rayon, resins, disinfectants.
• Example: Sweden exports matches from Taiga timber.

Factors favouring lumbering:

1. Rich softwood reserves (Russia, Canada, USA, Fennoscandian countries).
2. Pure stands of species (pine, spruce, fir).
3. Snow-covered ground makes logging easier in winters.
4. Logs floated on rivers in spring thaw → cheap transport.
5. Abundant hydro-electricity in uplands → powers sawmills.
6. Demand from construction + global paper/newsprint industry.

(B) Trapping and Fur Industry

• Cold → better fur quality (thicker & shinier).
• Animals: Muskrat, Ermine, Mink, Silver Fox.
• Still an important traditional activity in Canada & Siberia.
• Fur farms also exist to meet demand.

(C) Agriculture

• Almost non-existent.
• Sub-Arctic cold → too short a growing season.

Regional Differences

• Russia (Siberia) → vast, remote, still under-exploited. Transportation limited because rivers flow northward into frozen Arctic. Development improving via Northern Sea Route (Murmansk to Vladivostok).
• Canada → rivers not frozen all year, so timber industry + newsprint production are well-developed.
• Scandinavia → Norway, Sweden, Finland major exporters of timber, matches, and pulp.

Quick Recall Framework for UPSC

• Latitude: 50°–70° N (Northern Hemisphere only).
• Temperature: Short warm summers (20–25 °C); long freezing winters (–30 to –40 °C).
• Precipitation: 38–63 cm, summer maximum, mostly snow in winter.
• Vegetation: Evergreen conifers → Pine, Spruce, Fir, Larch.
• Economy:
  • Lumbering → timber, paper, pulp, matches, chemicals.
  • Trapping → fur industry.
  • No agriculture.

“Taiga is the land of conifers — dark, cold, and uniform. The trees are soldiers of survival, standing tall with needle-leaves and conical shapes, defying the snow. Humans here don’t farm much, but they chop trees, trap animals, and send timber and furs across the world. It is a climate of endurance, both for nature and for man.”