Agroclimatic Zoning of Russia and Kazakhstan under Current Climate Change

Abstract—This article considers the problem of updating the maps of the agroclimatic zones of Russia and Kazakhstan, taking current climate warming into account. Agroclimatic zoning of a territory is one of the most important parameters of agroclimatic support of the economy; however, the problem of creating modern specialized maps on this topic and updating climate standards in Russia and Kazakhstan remains. Regional studies of the last few years on climatology and adaptation of agriculture to climate warming directly or indirectly indicate the need for updating climate standards and reference material (maps, diagrams, textbooks, etc.). In the course of this study, the sum of active temperatures (ΣT₁₀) was calculated for 270 meteorological stations in Russia, Kazakhstan, and adjacent territories for the 2001–2018 period. The results recorded a noticeable shift in the boundaries of agroclimatic zones and an increase in ΣT₁₀ by 200–600°C depending on the specific territory compared with data from the 1950s–1960s. The agroclimatic zones shifted to the greatest extent to 1600–2200 and 2200–2800°C, but Kamchatka, the Aral Sea region, and the Syr Darya basin are dominant in absolute value. The subtropical zone also expanded significantly beyond the Black Sea coast of Krasnodar krai, the southern coast of the Crimea and the extreme south of the Turkistan Region. The above information partially confirmed the forecast of Roshydromet in 2005, although in many regions of Russia the trend for ΣT₁₀ to increase was slightly weaker than expected.