Tibet_Climate_Environment

Done by:

Helen
Tibet is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the world's highest region. Most of the Himalaya mountain range, one of the youngest mountain ranges in the world at only 4 million years old, lies within Tibet. Its most famous peak, Mount Everest, is on Nepal's border with Tibet. The average altitude is about 3,000 m in the south and 4,500 m in the north. The atmosphere is severely dry nine months of the year, and average snowfall is only 18 inches, due to the rain shadow effect whereby mountain ranges prevent moisture from the ocean from reaching the plateaux. Western passes receive small amounts of fresh snow each year but remain traversable all year round. Low temperatures are prevalent throughout these western regions, where bleak desolation is unrelieved by any vegetation beyond the size of low bushes, and where wind sweeps unchecked across vast expanses of arid plain. The Indian monsoon exerts some influence on eastern Tibet. Northern Tibet is subject to high temperatures in the summer and intense cold in the winter.

Tibet Autonomous Region lies in the southwest of China and in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is bounded to the north by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province, to the east by Sichuan Province, to the southeast by Yunnan Province, to the south and west by these countries: Burma, India, Bhutan, Sikkim and Nepal. The region covers an area of around 1.22 million km2, which accounts for 12.8% of the total of China. With an average altitude of above 4,000 meters, Tibet Autonomous Region has very complex topography and falls into three geographic parts: the west, the south and the east. The west part, known as the North-Tibet Plateau, lies between Kunlun Mountain and Kangdese Mountain, and Tonglha Mountain and Nyainqentanglha Mountain. This part takes up 2/3 of the total area of Tibet. The south part of Tibet consists of valleys and lies between Kangdese Mountains and Himalayas. The east part is mainly made up of canyons and is marked by a gradual decline in altitude intercepted by small ranges called Henduan Ranges. Yamdrok tso lake

Tibet is located on the Tibetan Plateau, the world's highest region.The climate in highland Tibet belongs to the typical downy special climate. Climates are much different in different areas in Tibet and temperatures vary greatly within a single day. Climate in southeastern Tibet (e.g. Nyingchi) is gentle and temperate with the average temperature of eight degrees; In western Tibet (e.g. Nakqu), the average temperature is below zero degree; While in Lhasa and the central part of Tibet, the climate is normal and nice for traveling. Visitors would not feel cold in winter nor hot in summer, especially from March to October, the best seasons for traveling. Most annual rainfall comes in the rainy season that starts from May to September, when the precipitation covers 90 percent of the whole year. Usually it rains at night in Lhasa, Shigatse and Chamdo area. The precipitations gradually decrease from 5000 millimeters in the lower part of southeast to just 50 in the northwest.


 * Months |||| Lhasa |||| Shigatse |||| Tsedang |||| Nyingchi |||| Mount. Everest ||
 * || highest || lowest || highest || lowest || highest || lowest || highest || lowest || highest || lowest ||
 * Jan. || 6.8 || -10.2 || 5.7 || -13.1 || 7.6 || -9.0 || 7.9 || -5.3 || 4 || -17 ||
 * Feb. || 9.2 || -3.9 || 8.0 || -9.5 || 9.9 || -5.9 || 9.8 || -2.7 || -4 || -15 ||
 * Mar. || 12.0 || -3.2 || 11.0 || -5.4 || 12.9 || -2.4 || 13.0 || -0.1 || 7 || -12 ||
 * Apr. || 15.7 || 0.9 || 15.5 || -0.7 || 16.9 || 1.3 || 16.5 || 3.2 || 10 || -5 ||
 * May. || 19.7 || 5.1 || 19.5 || 3.4 || 20.4 || 5.2 || 18.8 || 6.8 || 15 || 0 ||
 * Jun. || 22.5 || 9.2 || 22.1 || 7.6 || 22.9 || 8.9 || 20.9 || 10.0 || 17 || 5 ||
 * Jul. || 21.7 || 9.9 || 21.0 || 8.7 || 22.5 || 10.1 || 22.1 || 11.2 || 16 || 8 ||
 * Aug. || 20.7 || 9.4 || 19.6 || 8.1 || 21.5 || 9.5 || 22.1 || 10.7 || 16 || 6 ||
 * Sep. || 19.6 || 7.6 || 18.7 || 5.8 || 20.5 || 7.6 || 20.3 || 9.2 || 17 || 2 ||
 * Oct. || 16.4 || 1.4 || 15.2 || -1.2 || 17.1 || 1.8 || 17.2 || 4.9 || 12 || -7 ||
 * Nov. || 11.6 || -5.0 || 10.7 || -8.0 || 12.4 || -4.1 || 12.9 || -0.7 || 7 || -12 ||
 * Dec. || 7.7 || -9.1 || 7.0 || -12.3 || 8.7 || -7.9 || 9.6 || -4.5 || 4 || -15 ||
 * Average temperature || 15.3 || 0.8 || 14.5 || -1.4 || 15.5 || 1.3 || 15.9 || 3.6 || 10 || -5 ||