I'm interested in developing a world that has somewhat extreme seasonal changes (hot, but liveable summers and cold, but livable winter) with a very cold non-habitable polar regions. Would axial tilt alone solve this problem? So for instance, if I have it a tilt of 30° I could make the seasons more extreme, but how do I account for the non-habitable polar regions?
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$\begingroup$ This has a starting point worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/questions/55560/… $\endgroup$– MormacilCommented May 6, 2017 at 10:53
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3$\begingroup$ Please be aware that climate is very complex. Even today we cannot make any predictions that hold for more than 3 days. Such a question does not have a clear answer and depends on many things. Also, have you checked out how much temperatures vary already in various parts of the world? There is the Gobi desert for example which isn't exactly Florida $\endgroup$– Raditz_35Commented May 6, 2017 at 11:28
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$\begingroup$ For extra cold polar regions, look into how sea currents impact climate. $\endgroup$– MormacilCommented May 6, 2017 at 13:59
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1$\begingroup$ Regarding @Mormacil's comment, the reason why Antarctica is non-habitable (too cold and too dry) has to do with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. In general, for extreme weather, go for large, termically isolated continents. $\endgroup$– pablodf76Commented May 6, 2017 at 14:44
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$\begingroup$ Look up continental climates. Basically, water bodies (seas, oceans) stabilise temperature due to huge heat capacity of water. Areas far away from seas and oceans have much wider yearly temperature amplitudes than same latitudes but near oceans. Answer to your question is as simple as taking earth and reversing land-to-water ratio. $\endgroup$– M i echCommented May 6, 2017 at 15:39
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2 Answers
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How does Earth not meet your specifications?
First off, no one lives in Antarctica, barely anyone lives in Greenland, the Canadian Arctic, or Siberia, and even if there was land over the Arctic Sea, no one would live there. So the poles of our planet are pretty inhospitable.
Secondly, there are some pretty extreme climates about. Central Asia is a great place to look for them.
- Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan has an average summer high temp of 38.9 C and a winter low of -2.1 C. The record temps go from 48.1 C to -22.3 C
- Kyzylorda, Kazakhstan has an average summer high temp of 34.3 C and a winter low of -10.3 C; the records go from 46.0 C to -33 C.
- Urumqi, China has an average summer high temp of 30.1 C and a winter low of -16.6 C; records are 41.0 C to -41.5 C.
- Kyzyl, Russia has an average summer high of 27.6 C and a low of -22.6; records from 40.7 C to -54.0 C.
Kyzyl is pretty extreme and uncomfortable, especially in the winter, yet still has 100,000 residents. You can assume that there are even less comfortable places nearby that don't have cities of 100,000. How much more extreme do you want?
answered May 6, 2017 at 14:29
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Simple
Take earth and reverse land-to-water ratio
Water has huge heat capacity, this means that seas and oceans absorb energy in the summer, cooling nearby areas, and release energy in the winter, heating nearby areas. They stabilise temperature, both on yearly and daily scales.
Areas very far away from large water bodies experience larger amplitudes due to lack of stabilising heat reservoir.
That's it. If your planet is more land than water, then most of the area will be subject to dry continental climate with high temperature amplitudes and low precipitation. Be ready to have a lot of steppes, deserts and other arid biomes. Perhaps large parts are genuinely uninhabitable.
