The Arctic Ocean is the ocean around the North Pole. The most northern parts of Eurasia and North America are around the Arctic Ocean. Thick pack ice and snow cover almost all of this ocean in winter, and most of it in summer. An icebreaker or a nuclear-powered submarine can use the Northwest Passage through the Arctic Ocean to go between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The ocean's area is about 14.056 million km2, which is the smallest of the world's 5 oceans, and it has 45,389 kilometres (28,203 miles) of coastline. The central surface covered by ice about 3 metres (9.8 feet) thick. The biology there is quite special. Endangered species there include walruses, whales and polar bears. Year by year the Arctic ocean is becoming less icy, as a result of global warming.
The average depth of the Arctic Ocean is 1,038
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Climate[change | change source]
The Arctic Ocean is in a polar climate. Winters are characterized by the polar night, cold and stable weather conditions, and clear skies.
The temperature of the surface of the Arctic Ocean is fairly constant, near the freezing point of seawater. Arctic Ocean consists of saltwater but its salinity is less than other oceans. The temperature must reach −1.8 °C (28.8 °F) before freezing occurs.
Ice covers most of the Arctic Ocean. It covers almost the whole ocean in late winter and the majority of the ocean in late summer. Much of the Arctic ice pack is covered in snow for about 10 months of the year. The maximum snow cover is in March or April — about 20 to 50 cm (7.9 to 19.7 in).
The climate of the Arctic region has varied significantly in the past. As recently as 55 million years ago, during the eocene epoch, the region reached an average annual temperature of 10–20 °C (50–68 °F). The surface waters of the Arctic ocean warmed enough to support tropical lifeforms.
Animal and plant life[change | change
The Inuit. New York: Children 's Press, 2001. Print . “Wikipedia.” Wikipedia.
First off the weather is so cold there that they have igloos as houses. That means that they can use their surrounding ice and snow to build a home that can stay there even through the summer. The Inuit can also build houses out of wood but it is very rare to see in a village because there are not a lot of trees in the arctic for them to cut down and build as houses, plus it takes more effort and work when they could just have an igloo and get other more important things done. Next thing that is different between the other two tribes is that the Inuit think that they are the most important barometer in the world because what happens in the world, like global changes, always happen there first. Therefore we can figure out what’s gonna happen to us in the next few years from the information based off of the arctic.
The tundra is defined as a large, treeless, and almost flat open space. They are located at the uppermost parts of North America, Europe, and Asia, where it is near the North Pole (Morris 741). In the tundra, most of the months’ average temperature is below the freezing point. The winters are dark, long and harsh in contrast, the summers there are short and somewhat warm. There is extremely little precipitation there.
Animals of the Arctic face having to adapt to the treacherous environment and weather, doing all in their power to stay alive. Melting icecaps of the North, politics and the environment are rapidly changing. Currently, Arctic sovereignty is in dispute between the Arctic countries over resources, trade, and territory. The message presented in the source confidently exemplifies the opinion that in the 21st century, the Canadian government is obligated to pursue the sovereignty claim over the Arctic, regardless of the international opposition from America and the Arctic countries. These countries are Russia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.
In Nunavut there is prevailing and widespread belief among hunters that climate changes are already well under way. Here, they now see an alarming melting of sea ice earlier in the spring and a later freeze –up in the fall, all due to global warming. There is now also the appearance of flora and fauna, never before seen in the region. There is widespread general agreement among the population that there are climate changes occurring here now and these changes are becoming a source of growing local concern. Nunavut’s capital Iqaluit, population about 4300, the old Frobisher Bay, is now the largest town in Canada’s entire arctic.
The amount of arctic sea ice is declining more than ever. Polar bears are being greatly affected by the decreases in sea ice. (Doc A) This is affecting their diet because without enough sea ice it has been very difficult for them to catch seals to eat. Also, their population is decreasing due to the longer periods between hunts.
According to the Alaska Dispatch News article. Glaciers are melting drastically and loosing 75 billion tons of ice a year. If all the glaciers melt in Alaska then a foot of water will be on top of the land from the melted glaciers. From the recent climate changes of the weather getting warmer, the glaciers are melting faster. Sea level is also rising from the melting of glaciers.
Clearly, this conclusion rely on the assumption that global warming has such a great influence on the sea ice that the sea ice connecting individual island completely disappears. However, it is not often the case. The ice in Arctic has been frozen for thousands of years and accumulate an amazing high thickness. Even though it melts a little, it is still strong enough that deer can travel over it.
In fact, the indigenous people face devastating cultural and economic impacts. Seeking the resources cause malting ice and the lives of Arctic people disrupt. The idea of Smith supports my thesis because I agree that Canada should tackle climate change activity in order to protect indigenous people. The balance between potential resources and humanity is important in Arctic area, so I chose this book from this reason.
More ice forming will result in greater albedo effect. As a result, there is cooler temperatures during the winter time in Moscow, Russia. The reason why climate in Moscow is continental is because of the high mountain ranges that block moderating temperatures from the Indian and Pacific oceans causing very cold temperatures. Toronto and Moscow have very different climates from each other. They have two distinctly differently geographical location; one being under the influence of Lakes and the other in a mountainous region with high elevation.
Emily Keyes' article "Arctic Policy: Assets and Opportunities" uses several rhetorical strategies to argue that the United States should prioritize the Arctic region. One strategy she employs is the use of statistics and data to support her arguments. For example, she cites the US Geological Survey's estimate that the Arctic contains 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and 30% of its undiscovered natural gas. She also cites the Arctic Economic Council's report on
I have chosen earth’s coldest biome, the arctic tundra for this week’s discussion post. The arctic tundra is one of the most fascinating biomes to me specifically for its exponential impact on this planet and delicate ecosystem. The Arctic tundra is located in the far northern hemisphere along with several isolated islands off of the coast of Antarctica in the southern hemisphere. In the arctic tundra you can expect a lifeless and extreme environment with only two seasons that being winter and summer.
This implies that they cannot survive without the ice. The dependence of the large mammals on the frozen floating homes, especially for the rapid access of ringed seals, indicates their survival and breeding probabilities are based on the sea ice conditions. Due to their remarkable degree of specific adaptations to life on the frozen Arctic ocean, the bears are very successful. As a result of this, the polar bears are more vulnerable to the effect of climate change.(Fitzgerald, Kevin T (2013).
Arctic ice reflects 80 percent of the sunlight back into space. As sea ice melts there will be more sunlight hit the ocean which increase the temperature of the ocean and cause raise of sea level. Satellite observations show that Arctic sea ice concentrations have significantly decreased over the last 25 years. Submarine observations also suggest that the Arctic ice pack has thinned dramatically in the last 20 to 30 years. As the sea ice melts the sea level increase.
Warmer temperatures are rapidly melting seasonal ice cover in shallow continental shelf, which walruses need in order for them and their pups to rest. Additionally, mothers take advantage of the time their calves are resting to dive and feed off of bottom-dwelling animals such as crabs; inability to adapt to shallow waters with no ice cover could result in a significant population decline (“Walrus Calves Stranded”,