Which climate has very cold winters, cold summers, and little rain or snow?

Which climate has very cold winters, cold summers, and little rain or snow?

• A. Ice Cap
• B. Arid
• C. Tundra
• D. Highlands

Answer: (C)

A climate with very cold winters, cold summers, and little precipitation describes a tundra climate. In tundra regions, temperatures stay low most of the year, with summers that are short and only mildly warm, just enough to allow a brief growing season. Precipitation is low, and what does fall is mostly in the form of snow, so the overall moisture is scarce. This combination supports only hardy, low-growing vegetation and often permafrost beneath the surface. The other options don’t fit as neatly: an ice cap climate stays below freezing all year with essentially no warm season for vegetation, arid climates can be dry but aren’t defined by such consistently cold temperatures, and highland climates vary with elevation and don’t share the single cold-winter, cold-summer, low-precipitation pattern. So tundra is the best match.

A climate with very cold winters, cold summers, and little precipitation describes a tundra climate. In tundra regions, temperatures stay low most of the year, with summers that are short and only mildly warm, just enough to allow a brief growing season. Precipitation is low, and what does fall is mostly in the form of snow, so the overall moisture is scarce. This combination supports only hardy, low-growing vegetation and often permafrost beneath the surface. The other options don’t fit as neatly: an ice cap climate stays below freezing all year with essentially no warm season for vegetation, arid climates can be dry but aren’t defined by such consistently cold temperatures, and highland climates vary with elevation and don’t share the single cold-winter, cold-summer, low-precipitation pattern. So tundra is the best match.