The Role of Climate in Shaping the Modern-Day Evolution of Insular Steppes of Southeastern Siberia

The results of a study of long-term climatic conditions in the “ground layer of the air–soil” system in the island steppes of southeastern Siberia are discussed. It is noted that against the background of increasing severity of winters and continental climate of the surface atmosphere in the direction from northwest to southeast, winter cooling of the soil intensifies in the same direction, and summer warming increases slightly. Significant differences in the annual amplitude of soil temperature at depths in territorially separated island steppes were recorded. Its highest values are in Southern Transbaikalia, which corresponds to a sharply continental soil climate. Based on long-term series of the average annual air and soil temperatures and the amount of atmospheric precipitation per year, the trends in their changes in recent decades have been determined. The linear trends in air and soil temperatures are positive almost everywhere, and their long-term series are characterized by good consistency. Atmospheric precipitation in Southern Transbaikalia tends to decrease; in the Cis-Baikal region, the insignificant linear trend has both positive and negative signs.