What distinguishes a subarctic climate from a tundra climate?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Subarctic climates occupy the northernmost extent of the severe midlatitude regions, with more than half of the area of Alaska and Canada having this type of climate. Summer temperatures are somewhat lower than those of the adjacent humid continental regions, but the major difference occurs in winter, when mean monthly temperatures can be extremely low. Tundra climates are named for the associated vegetation type that consists primarily of low-growing mosses, lichens, and flowering plants, with few woody shrubs and trees. Tundra climates have severe winters in which the Sun rises only briefly each day and never gets very high above the horizon. Under these conditions, radiational cooling at the surface leads to low temperatures and strong stability–both factors that inhibit precipitation. Thus, low winter precipitation is the rule. Surprisingly, perhaps, the winters in the tundra regions are often less severe than those of the adjacent and lower-latitude subarctic climates. This is because the tundra regions of North America, Greenland, and Asia are located nearer to major water bodies and thus have a lesser degree of continentality.