This climate is located in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Parts of Canada and Siberia fall into this category, and as you might guess, the temperature is often cold. There are both humid and arid areas in this climate zone, but the climate is characterized by very long winters and short periods of warmer weather.

The coldest climates on Earth are the polar climates in the polar regions. The north and south polar regions are really quite different from one another. The Arctic (in the north) is made of an ice cap sitting in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. In the summer months, as the temperature increases, the cap melts slightly around the edges. At the opposite end of the world sits Antarctica, and as you probably know, Antarctica is a not just an ice cap, but is instead a continent. The North Pole sits in the center of the Arctic, and the South Pole sits in the center of Antarctica. Which pole do you think gets colder? Remember that areas which are surrounded by water are more temperate than areas deep within a continent. This means that it is colder at the South Pole than it is at the North Pole. The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was at the South Pole where it was once –128.6° F. Now that is cold!