Severnaya Zemlya north from Siberia. The climate data below, taken from the Golomyanniy Meteorological Station gives an indication of the weather experienced in the archipelago. Severnaya Zemlya is a polar desert with sparse vegetation and permafrost at less than . Rare vascular plants include species of "Cerastium" and "Saxifraga". Non-vascular plants include the moss genera "Detrichum", "Dicranum", "Pogonatum", "Sanionia", "Bryum", "Orthothecium" and "Tortula", as well as the lichen genera "Cetraria", "Thamnolia", "Cornicularia", "Lecidea", "Ochrolechia" and "Parmelia". Common flowering plants of the high Arctic such as the purple saxifrage ("Saxifraga oppositifolia") and the Arctic poppy ("Papaver radicatum") also occur on Severnaya Zemlya. According
Belushya Guba as an anchorage by Russian convoys between the Barents Sea and Archangelsk. A Soviet naval base was established in Belushya Guba in 1944. The settlement started to flourish in 1954, when Novaya Zemlya became established as a nuclear test site. In 1956, the whole indigenous population of Novaya Zemlya, mostly Nenets, were resettled from the islands. Belushya Guba is located in a deep bay with the same name, within a geographical area that is influenced by warm ocean currents. The natural conditions allow year-round sailing of all types and classes of vessels with minimal cost for icebreaking support. The bay