Where Is the Tundra?
Alaska’s many miles of coastline contribute to the distribution of tundra. Tundra forms where average yearly air temperatures are low. Although Interior Alaska’s winter air temperatures are extremely low, its summers are quite warm-sometimes reaching 80 degrees F. Coastal areas, subject to the moderating influence of the ocean, have much cooler summers-rarely above 50 degrees F. Thus tundra forms along the coast. Along its interior margins, Alaska’s tundra ecosystem intergrades with boreal forest.
The tundra isn’t really a particular place on earth. It is a type of climatic region, just as a desert is. In fact, tundras are sort of “cold deserts” — vast, flat tracts of land near the Arctic region, the northernmost parts of Siberia, Scandinavia, Alaska, and Canada. A tundra is a cold, barren place, where the winters are lon
