The New Childrens Encyclopedia

Polar regions

Imagine living in a place where for six months of the year, there is no day, and

the other six months, there is no night. Add to this freezing cold temperatures

and you have two of the most inhospitable places on Earth—the North and

South poles. Surprisingly, they are teeming with life.

THE ARCTIC

The Arctic is a huge raft of floating ice

surrounded by land. At the North Pole the

ice remains frozen all year, but farther

south the ice breaks up and melts in the

summer. There are concerns that climate

change may melt the sea ice permanently.

 ICE looks blue because

it absorbs red light and

reflects back the blue.

O
 The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and

shallowest of the five major oceans.

O
 Antarctica is covered by 90 percent

of the world’s ice to an average depth of

1 mile (1.6 km).

O
 There are more than 70 lakes under the

Antarctic ice sheet.

O
 The coldest recorded polar temperatures

are −90°F (−68°C) in the Arctic and −129°F

(−89°C) in the Antarctic.

FAST FACTS

NORTH

POLE

Walking on top of the world

More animals live in the Arctic than Antarctica.

This is because the winter ice provides a bridge

to Russia and North America and more varied

food sources. Land predators, including polar

bears and humans, also take advantage of the

seals and fish that live beneath the ice.

ENVIRONMENTAND ECOLOGY