The climate and internal waters of the Far East

From the north to the south stretched the narrow eastern coast of the Pacific Ocean. This area in the geopolitical concept was called the Far East. This region is one of the constituent parts of the Asia-Pacific region. Unites South-East, North-East and East Asia into one subregion.

Description of the Far East

The region of the Far East includes 20 states. These are the island countries of the Pacific: Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor and Brunei. The states that have settled on the Malacca and Indochina peninsulas are: Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Countries belonging to the mainland of Asia: China, Mongolia, Hong Kong, North Korea, South Korea and partly Russia.

The Russian Far East includes 9 administrative units: the Amur, Magadan, Sakhalin and Jewish autonomous regions, the Sakha Republic, the Chukotka Autonomous District, and the Khabarovsk, Primorsky and Kamchatka Territories.

Geographically, the region is a seismically active zone. The relief is mostly mountainous. And the mountains here and underwater. A frequent phenomenon - earthquakes and tsunamis, causing catastrophic destruction to states. The internal waters of the Far East of the mainland are a separate topic, which is very interesting and long-lasting.

The climate of the Far East

The climatic features of this region are very contrasting. This diversity is observed here because the region stretches from the polar pole to the equator. All climatic zones change from north to south. In addition to these, five different types of climate are typical for the region . The most common here is the sea. This is facilitated by a close location to the ocean, as well as the constant circulation of monsoon air masses here. The climate and internal waters of the Far East are strongly interrelated.

In the southern part of the region, in addition to the humid maritime climate, there is also a large annual rainfall.

Mainland part

On the mainland, the climate is temperate continental. Here the air continental masses of the continent predominate, and the mountains protect the territory from the constant influence of oceanic air masses.

The northern regions of the Far East (part of Russia) are distinguished by a particularly severe arctic climate. Winter here lasts more than 9 months. It is little snowy, but frosty.

If you do not take into account the northern Arctic and subarctic climatic regions, then the rest of the Far East is characterized by a monsoon climate type. In winter, air masses come from the mainland (western winds). They bring frosty and snowy weather to the mainland and wet, cool to the islands, affecting the inland waters of the Far East, influencing them. In summer, the flow of air masses is replaced, and the regions are blown by monsoon winds blowing from the east. They bring a hot summer with a lot of precipitation to the islands and a moderate heat to the mainland.

Precipitation

The annual precipitation regime is also replaced regionally, from north to south. It is worth noting that they directly affect the internal waters. At extreme northern points precipitation falls within the limits of 100-200 mm / year. An exception can be considered the peninsula Kamchatka and Sakhalin. Due to the fact that this is the coastal area of the ocean, the amount of precipitation here is sharply increasing. The inland waters of the Far East of Russia suffer greatly from such events. The Aleutian minimum, encountering warm air masses, brings to these regions a large amount of snow deposits. In winter, the snow cover of the peninsulas reaches 6 meters.

In the temperate climatic zone of the Far East, precipitation varies between 800-1000 mm / year. For subtropics and tropics this quantity increases to 1300-1500 mm / year.

The territories of the Far East, related to the equatorial climatic zone, languish year round from heat and moisture. The average annual precipitation in the region is 2500 mm / year. There are areas where their number increases to 5000-6000 mm / year.

The temperature regime has its own peculiarity - in the cold season the temperature drops sharply into the interior of the continent. The average t ^o January in the Khabarovsk Territory is -32 ° C ... -35 ° C, when on the island territories the average January temperatures are rarely frosty. The climate, inland waters and the natural zones of the Far East - all this is strongly changing under the influence of precipitation.

Hydrology of the Far East

In view of the fact that the Far East region is mountainous in most of its territory, the rivers here are also short and mostly mountainous. The river system of the Far East is very developed. Mostly this is affected by the large amount of precipitation and the monsoon wind that brings them. During the rainy season that comes to these lands in the spring, rivers emerge from their shores. Sometimes the internal waters of the Far East are poured so much that they cause natural disasters to the territories.

Large rivers

The largest rivers of the continental part of the region are the Amur, Lena (Russia), Kolyma (Russia and China), the deep-water Yellow River and the Yangtze (China), the Mekong and the Salween (flow through the territories of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia). These long rivers - the Yellow River and the Yangtze - are considered one of the largest rivers in the world. Their economic value is invaluable. They are used for irrigation, and for hydropower, are rich in representatives of ichthyofauna. The internal waters of the Far East, which also belong to the territory of China, Vietnam, Laos, are used for rice cultivation. Lakes on the mainland are available, mostly of volcanic origin. The rivers of island and peninsular states of the Far East are short and mountainous. In Japan, the largest along the length of the river - Tone, Ishikari, Sinamo, Kitakami, in Malaysia - the Kinabatangan and Rajang rivers. All island inland waters of the Far East are full of water, rampant all year round. During floods have the property of leaving their shores. Used for economic use and irrigation.