Arctic Tundra
- The Arctic tundra is a cold, vast, treeless area of low, swampy plains in the far north around the Arctic Ocean.
- This is the earth's coldest biome.
- The sun does not rise over for nearly six months of the year, so winter temperatures can be below -30°F in winter.
- A permanently frozen subsoil, called permafrost, which makes it impossible for trees to grow.
- Frozen prehistoric animal remains have been found preserved in the permafrost.
Coniferous Forest
- The coniferous forest biome is south of the Arctic tundra. It stretches from Alaska straight across North America to the Atlantic Ocean and across Eurasia.
- The largest stretch of coniferous forest in the world, circling the earth in the Northern Hemisphere, is called the “taiga.”
- It supplies the bulk of the world's commercial softwood timber, which is used to make paper.