CLIMATE OF UKRAINE

Climate is the weather a certain^[1] place has over a long period of time. Climate has a very important influence on plants, animals and people, and it varies in different parts of the world.

The climate of any country is determined^[2] by its geographical position. Ukraine's territory is in the temperate zone. In general the country's climate is moderate-continental, subtropical only in the southern part of the Crimea. The differences in climate are caused^[3] by many factors: landscape, distance to seas and oceans... The climate varies not only from the north to the south, but also from the northwest to the southwest as the warm air masses are moving from the northwestern part of Atlantic Ocean.

The average⁴ temperature in Ukraine varies between +5; +7 °C in the north and +11; +13 °C in the south.

The coldest month is January with a record low of -42 °C. The warmest month is July with a record high of +40 °C. Rain and snow ranges⁵ from about 76 cm a year in the north to about 23 cm in the south. The highest rainfall is in the Carpathian and Crimean mountains.

But recently the climate has changed a lot. Some scientists think the weather becomes hotter. Winters have become warmer. Sometimes there is little snow in January, and there were winters when it rained on the New Year's Eve in Ukraine.

Can these changes be dangerous for our country or even planet? Earth is

millions of years old. We know many of its secrets. Yet, there is still much to learn

1certain [’s3:tn] — певний                             4 average [aevridj] — середній

^[2]to determine [di’t3:min] — визначати         ⁵to range [reind3] — коливатися

^[3]to be caused (by) — бути спричиненим                                в межах