ESTIMATION OF THE DEGREE OF CLIMATE CONTINENTALITY IN SARATOV REGION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY

A quantitative assessment of climate change is given in the territory of the Saratov region at the beginning of the 21st century. As a result of the research, an increase in annual air temperature was noted everywhere - its average value for the region was 7,1°С, the largest increase in average monthly temperatures was observed in winter. An analysis of the annual amount of precipitation showed their increase in the west of the region and in its central part, a decrease in precipitation was observed in the north of the region and in the Trans-Volga region. The conditions of the degree of climate continentality are estimated in different natural and climatic zones: forest-steppe, arid steppe and semi-desert for the period from 2005 to 2020. The calculated indices of climate continentality using the methods of G. Zenker, I. Schrepfer, L.A. Gorchinsky, S.P. Khromov, N.N. Ivanov showed a synchronous trend towards a decrease in the degree of continentality, which is associated with regional warming, which is most pronounced in the cold period.