Turkey's climate is varied and generally temperate, with the regions bordering the Mediterranean and Black Sea heavily affected by the coasts, and the interior being drier and more continental.
Coastal areas in the southern half of the country, including Antalya, İzmir, Adana, feature a very typical Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Coastal areas in the north are cooler and are mild-temperate; cities around the Sea of Marmara, including İstanbul, Bursa, İzmit, have cool, frequently rainy and occasionally snowy winters, and warm to hot, moderately dry summers. Further east, near the Black Sea coast, the dry season completely disappears, leading to cool, rainy and occasionally snowy winters, and warm, showery summers.
Inland regions northwest of the Marmara Sea have a transitional, sub-humid climate (Köppen: Csa/Cfa, Trewartha: Cs/Cf/Do), with average temperatures matching those of the Marmara Sea, albeit with colder, snowier winters and hotter summers. The vegetation here is pre-steppic, mostly oak savanna.[1]
This area does have similarities to the pre-Mediterranean climate further south, but its lower sunshine, light winter precipitation and milder, wetter summers distinguish the two. The area's thunderstorm season peaks in May and early June, resulting in a slightly earlier season than that of the Marmara Sea.[7]
A mild, humid temperate climate (Köppen: Cfa/Cfb, Trewartha: Cf/Do) exists from the northern coast of Istanbul to İnebolu, at sea level around the coast of the Black Sea. Its vegetation is deciduous broadleaf, and resembles the supra-Mediterranean zone at sea level, although it is part of a different floristic zone, specifically the Euxinic one.[1]
Droughts and heatwaves are the main hazards due to the climate of Turkey getting hotter.[24][25] The temperature has risen by more than 1.5 C (2.7 F),[26][22] and there is more extreme weather.[27]
In the wake of these climate change-induced events, Turkey and the EU discussed areas where they could advance their climate cooperation, in the pursuit of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Executive Vice President Timmermans and Minister Kurum exchanged views on urgent and drastic actions required to close the gap between what is needed and what is being done in terms of cutting emissions down to net-zero by mid-century, and thereby keep the 1.5C goal within reach. They discussed carbon pricing policies as an area of common interest, considering the forthcoming establishment of an Emissions Trading System in Turkey and the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System. Adaptation to climate change also featured high on the agenda along with addressing and reaping the benefits of nature-based solutions to counter both climate change and biodiversity loss.
Turkey has a diversified climate, its regions contrast from each other due the diverse nature of the landscape, and particularly for the existence of mountains running parallel to the coasts. While coastal regions have milder climates, the inland Anatolia plateau has hot summers and cold winters with limited rainfall.
Western Anatolia as well as the southern coast of Anatolia has a mild Mediterranean climate with average temperatures of 9C in winter and 29C in summer. Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the interior of Turkey a continental climate with distinct seasons. In Istanbul and around the sea of Marmara, the climate is moderate in winter the temperature can drop below zero.
No nation in the Mediterranean region has been hit harder by climate change than Turkey. But as heat and drought increase, Turkey is doubling down on water-intensive agriculture and development and spurring a water-supply crisis that is expected to get much worse.
The findings suggest eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) could be vulnerable to shifts in climate, which could threaten the availability of their food sources, the amount of vegetation cover available to protect them from predators, and other factors.
After overhunting and habitat loss drove wild turkeys almost to extinction, the species is now common throughout North America. However, a recent survey reported wild turkey populations in the southeastern United States have been in decline since 2009. North Carolina has a stable population as estimated by hunting harvests, but some southern states have set hunting restrictions in an attempt to stop or reverse declines. Researchers acknowledge there are outstanding questions about the role of weather and climate change, emerging diseases, and other factors on turkeys.
When they looked at the relationship between climate change-related shifts in average precipitation and temperature changes, they found the timing of successful nests would change by less than three hours. The research team did not see any links between turkey nest timing and spring green-up.
This is the first in a series of studies designed to understand the effects of climate change on reproduction of the eastern wild turkey. Future studies will explore other measures of turkey reproductive success, including whether temperature and precipitation affect the survival of turkey nests and the recently hatch young, which are called poults. The findings have implications for long-term turkey conservation, including the timing of hunting seasons.
Abstract: Climate change may induce mismatches between wildlife reproductive phenology and temporal occurrence of resources necessary for reproductive success. Verifying and elucidating the causal mechanisms behind potential mismatches requires large-scale, longer-duration data. We used eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) nesting data collected across the southeastern U.S. over eight years to investigate potential climatic drivers of variation in nest initiation dates. We investigated climactic relationships with two datasets, one inclusive of successful and unsuccessful nests (full dataset) and another of just successful nests (successfully hatched dataset), to determine whether successfully hatched nests responded differently to weather changes than all nests did. In the full dataset, each 10 cm increase in January precipitation was associated with nesting occurring 0.46-0.66 days earlier, and each 10 cm increase in precipitation during the 30 days preceding nesting was associated with nesting occurring 0.17-0.21 days later. In the successfully hatched dataset, a 10 cm increase in March precipitation was associated with nesting occurring 0.67-0.74 days earlier, and an increase of one unit of variation in February maximum temperature was associated with nesting occurring 0.02 days later. We combined the results of these modeled relationships with multiple climate scenarios to understand potential implications of future climate change on wild turkey nesting phenology; results indicated that mean nest initiation date is projected to change by
Turkey's diverse regions have different climates, with the weather system on the coasts contrasting with that prevailing in the interior. The Aegean and Mediterranean coasts have cool, rainy winters and hot, moderately dry summers. Annual precipitation in those areas varies from 580 to 1,300 millimeters (22,8 - 51,2 inches), depending on location. Generally, rainfall is less to the east. The Black Sea coast receives the greatest amount of rainfall. The eastern part of that coast averages 1,400 millimeters (55,1 inches) annually and is the only region of Turkey that receives rainfall throughout the year.
Mountains close to the coast prevent Mediterranean influences from extending inland, giving the interior of Turkey a continental climate with distinct seasons. The Anatolian Plateau is much more subject to extremes than are the coastal areas. Winters on the plateau are especially severe. Temperatures of -30C to -40C (-22 to -40 Fahrenheit) can occur in the mountainous areas in the east, and snow may lie on the ground 120 days of the year. In the west, winter temperatures average below 1C. Summers are hot and dry, with temperatures above 30C. Annual precipitation averages about 400 millimeters (15,7 inches), with actual amounts determined by elevation. The driest regions are the Konya Plateu and the Malatya Plateu, where annual rainfall frequently is less than 300 millimeters (11,8 inches). May is generally the wettest month and July and August the driest.
The climate of the Anti-Taurus Mountain region of eastern Turkey can be inhospitable. Summers tend to be hot and extremely dry. Winters are bitterly cold with frequent, heavy snowfall. Villages can be isolated for several days during winter storms. Spring and autumn are generally mild, but during both seasons sudden hot and cold spells frequently occur.
Because of Turkey's geographical conditions, one can not speak about a general overall climate. In Istanbul and around the sea of Marmara the climate is moderate like winters 4 deg.C and summers 27 deg.C (39-80 Fahrenheit); in winter the temperature can drop below Zero. In Western Anatolia there is a mild Mediterranean climate with average temperatures of 9 deg.C in winter and 29 deg.C in summer (48-84 Fahrenheit). On the southern coast of Anatolia the same climate can be found. The climate of the Anatolian Plateau is a steppe climate (there is a great temperature difference between day and night). Rainfall is low and there is more snow. The average temperature is 23 deg.C in summer and -2 deg.C in winter (73-28 Fahrenheit). The climate in the Black Sea area is wet, warm and humid like in summers 23 deg.C and winters 7 deg.C (73-44 Fahrenheit). In Eastern Anatolia and South-Eastern Anatolia regions there is a long hard winter, where year after year snow lies on the ground from November until the end of April; the average temperature in winters is -13 deg.C and in summers 17 deg.C (8-62 Fahrenheit).
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