Nature of Alaska: climate, relief, flora and fauna of the region

Alaska is the largest and "harsh" US state. The homeland of the Eskimos and the Land of the Midnight Sun captures incredible landscapes. What is remarkable about the wild nature of Alaska? Photo and description of the staff you will find further in the article.

The Last Frontier

Alaska is located on the peninsula of the same name in the northwestern part of the continent of North America. This is the northernmost state of the United States and, besides, the exclave (an dependent region surrounded by other states from the mainland). For these reasons, Alaska was named "The Last Frontier".

In addition to the continental part, the staff covers the island of Pribivalov, the Aleutian Islands, the Alexander Archipelago, Kodiaka Island, St. Lawrence, and other nearby islands. It borders on Canada, and across the Bering Strait - with Russia. In the south the state is washed by the Pacific Ocean, in the north it is surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, which in many respects influenced the formation of the nature of Alaska.

The region covers an area of 1.7 million square kilometers. If you place it on top of the US map, it will extend from Florida to California. Here live about 740 thousand people. The main and one of the largest cities of Alaska is Juneau. Other major cities are Anchorage, Sitka, Fairbanks, College.

Climate and Relief

Significant impact on the nature of Alaska had its relief. Alaska ridge stretches along the entire southern coast of the region, where McKinley Mountain is located - the highest peak in the United States. The mountain is also called Denali and extends to a height of 6,194 meters. In the eastern part of the ridge, next to the Canadian state of Yukon, is Mount Bona - a long-dead volcano covered with glaciers.

To the north of the ridge there is a plateau with a sweep of heights from 1200 to 600 meters, which gradually turns into a lowland. Behind the plateau is the Brooks Range with heights from 950 to 2000 meters. Behind him is the Arctic lowland. In Alaska there are "high-altitude record-holders of the USA", more than 20 peaks have an absolute height of 4 kilometers.

Because of the huge size of the staff, the climate and nature of Alaska are different in different parts of it. In the very north of the state the climate is arctic. Even in summer, the average temperature in this region is from -20 to -28 degrees. In other parts of the state the conditions are much softer.

In the south, the climate is humid with a lot of precipitation. The temperature in the summer is not as severe as in the north, but still low. On average, in July it reaches 13 degrees. The lowest temperature in Alaska, which was ever recorded, is -62 degrees.

Nature of Alaska

There are eight national parks on the territory of the state. The largest of these, Gates-of-the-Alaska, is completely located beyond the Arctic Circle in the permafrost region. Despite the cold and hard climate, the wild nature of Alaska is quite diverse.

There are many reservoirs in the region. Here there are about 3 million lakes and 12 thousand rivers. The largest river is the Yukon. To the north about 40 thousand square meters. Km occupy glaciers.

In the north-west of the country there are huge sand dunes. The inner part of the region includes woodlands and tundra. They serve as a shelter for moose, grizzly bears, reindeer, mink, marten, fox, wolverine.

In the southern part of Alaska there are meadows and coniferous forests. Here live wolves, coyotes, baribals, partridges, Alaskan geese, hazel grouses. Among the ungulates are caribou, elk, snow goats, sometimes musk oxs.

At the coast of the state is no less active life. Near Alaska, walruses, sea lions, various kinds of whales, seals live. On the coast of the Pacific Ocean there are many mollusks, shrimps and crabs.