Climate of the Himalayan Mountains

The average rainfall in the Himalayas is 60 inches in the western portion of the mountains and 120 in the eastern portion. The minimum rainfall is about 20 inches and the maximum rainfall is about 380 inches.

The average temperature in the Himalayas can be about 80 F at lower elevations during the summer and 14 F during the winter. The minimum temperature in May in the eastern part of the mountains is 52 F, and the minimum temperature in May near the base of Mount Everest is 17 F which drops to -8 F as you reach an elevation of 19,500 ft. The maximum temperature is eighties in the summer at lower elevations and it once reached 76 F in the alpine regions.

The reason for the broad ranging temperature and rainfall amounts is the fact that the Himalayas are a long mountain range that spreads through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, and Nepal with many different elevations. The highest point of the Himalayas is Mount Everest, topping in at 29,029 ft above sea level, and one of the passes is as low as 2,600 ft above sea level. Clouds can have trouble getting across the mountains and rain more on one side than another, and the changing height leads to a lot of different temperatures. With a length of 1,500 miles and this much variation in height, it is no wonder there are many variations in temperature and rainfall. There are two seasons mainly in the Himalayas, winter and summer. In the eastern Himalayas, the monsoon season starts in June and lasts until September. Then, it moves on to the western portion.

Net Primary Productivity

The Himalayas are a combination of many different ecosystems. At the top of the mountains, there is a tundra ecosystem where net primary productivity is about 600 and the growing season is none. At the base of the mountains, there are temperate grasslands where net primary productivity is about 2000 and the growing season is none. The approximate kilocalories per square meter per day is 2 for the tundra and 6 for the temperate grasslands. The average rainfall can be the same or vary by 20 inches in some places. The tundra takes up 33% of the Earth's surface and the temperate grasslands take up 21%. Compared to almost all of the other biomes, tundra and temperate grassland biomes are terrible for farming and are colder than others. They also have less net primary productivity and fewer kilocalories used per square meter than all the others. They receive less rainfall than forest biomes, but more than estuarys, swamps, savannas, and deserts. They also take up about half of the worlds land combined with desert and savanna biomes which they are relatively similar to.

Soil Quality

The soil quality at the top, sides, and base of the mountain is not very conducive to farming. It is cold for most of the year and the soil is relatively thin and is covered in snow much of the time. It has nutrients but the climate doesn't allow for much farming.

Endangered Species