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Earth's Polar Regions

Do you wonder what Earth's Polar Regions are like? Where do polar bears live? Where do penguins swim? Why does the Sun never shine in winter in the Arctic? Why does aurora occur near the Earth’s Poles? How big are the Earth’s ice caps, and are they changing? The Earth’s Polar Regions are hosts to unique phenomena and ecosystems – both fascinating and beautiful. Explore the Earth’s Arctic and Antarctic through the links in this section.
A group of Emperor penguins wait their turn to dive into the ocean near <a href="/people/postcards/jean_pennycook_11_29_0.html&edu=elem">Ross Island, Antarctica</a> on November 3, 2004. Emperor penguins routinely dive to 500 meters in search of food.  Scientists are interested in understanding how they can endure the stress of these dives in such an <a href="/earth/extreme_environments.html&edu=elem">extreme environment</a>.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of Emily Stone, National Science Foundation</em></small></p>A sinuous glowing band of <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora.html&edu=elem">aurora</a> (the Aurora Australis or Southern Lights) loops around the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_south.html&edu=elem">southern polar</a> region in the distance as viewed by astronauts onboard the space shuttle on <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/archives/sts-39.html">STS-039</a>.     <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/aurora/aurora_colors.html&edu=elem">Aurora are produced</a> when <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/particle_radiation.html&edu=elem">energetic particles</a> entering the Earth's atmosphere from space interact with <a href="/physical_science/physics/atom_particle/atom.html&edu=elem">atoms</a> and <a href="/earth/geology/molecule.html&edu=elem">molecules</a> in the atmosphere and release energy, emitted as light. <p><small><em>Courtesy of NASA, Astronaut Overmeyer and Dr. Hallinan</em></small></p>Roaming across Arctic <a href="/earth/polar/sea_ice.html&edu=elem">sea ice</a>, <a href="/earth/polar/polar_bears_jan07.html&edu=elem">polar bears</a> peer through cracks in the ice to look for ringed seals, their favorite food, in the water below. Almost all of a polar bear's food comes from the sea. The <a href="/earth/polar/sea_ice.html&edu=elem">floating sea ice</a> is a perfect vantage point for the bears as they hunt for food. Unfortunately, the amount of sea ice floating in the <a href="/earth/polar/polar_north.html&edu=elem">Arctic region</a> is shrinking each year, and getting farther apart.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Ansgar Walk. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.</em></small></p><a href="/earth/polar/inuit_culture.html&edu=elem">The Inuit</a> are the native cultures that continue to live on coastal areas of <a href="/earth/polar/arctic_tundra.html&edu=elem">Arctic tundra</a> in Canada, Alaska (USA), Siberia (Russia), and Greenland. This picture shows several Inuit constructing an igloo with blocks of <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_snow1.html&edu=elem">snow</a> in November, 1924. Traditionally, Inuit lived in igloos during the coldest months and tent-like huts during the warmer months.<p><small><em> Library of Congress Prints and Photographs, Photograph by Frank E. Kleinschmidt</em></small></p>Did you know that the Earth’s <a href="/earth/polar/polar_geog.html&edu=elem">geographic North pole</a> is not in the same place as the Earth’s <a href="/earth/Magnetosphere/earth_north_magnetic_pole.html&edu=elem">North magnetic pole</a>?  They are actually several hundred kilometers apart, making navigation with a compass impossible near the poles.  This picture illustrates where they were in 2005.  Right at the geographic poles, the <a href="/sun/sun.html&edu=elem">Sun</a> shines for half the year and it is dark for the other half of the year. This makes a year like one long day.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>Greenland’s <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/polar/cryosphere_glacier1.html">ice sheet</a> saw a record <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/headline_universe/olpa/greenland_10dec07.html">melt</a> in July 2012. Scientists studying this event have found that this melting event was triggered by an influx of unusually warm air and amplified by the presence of a blanket of thin low-level <a href="http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Atmosphere/cloud.html">clouds</a> which pushed temperatures up above freezing. For more information see the <a href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/21638">press release</a> from the University of Wisconsin Madison.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Madison</em></small></p>

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Explore Earth's Polar Regions

Geography and Geology at the Poles

Location The polar regions are the areas that surround Earth’s geographic North and South Poles. ...Read more

Magnetic Field at the Poles

Earth has a magnetic field. If you imagine a gigantic bar magnet inside of Earth, you'll have ...Read more

Polar Atmosphere

Phenomena in the Polar Atmosphere There are some unique phenomena that happen in the atmosphere ...Read more

Polar Oceans

There are two oceans in Earth’s polar regions: the Arctic Ocean, which occupies most of the ...Read more

Ice (The Cryosphere!)

The cryosphere includes the parts of the Earth system where water is in its frozen (solid) ...Read more

Polar Life

All sorts of living things call Earth’s polar regions home – from tiny lichens encrusting the ...Read more

Climate Change in Polar Regions

The effects of climate change are not felt with the same intensity in all parts of the world. ...Read more

Our Changing Planet

When we look around us, we can see that our planet's climate is changing rapidly. The National ...Read more

Arctic Cultures

There are people of different cultures and backgrounds who live in the Arctic region. Read ...Read more

Exploration at the Poles

Polar exploration includes the physical exploration of the Arctic and the Antarctica. The Arctic ...Read more

Postcards from the Poles

Antarctica is unique. It's cold. It's remote. And for the most part it is covered with ice. ...Read more

More about Earth's Polar Regions

Historical Events

2/28 Linus Pauling, a Nobel prize-winning American chemist, was born on this date in 1901 Details
3/1 Yellowstone National Park was founded as first National Park in 1872
3/3 F5 "Candlestick Park" tornado hits Jackson, Mississippi in 1966

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Did you know?

Did you know that it can get as cold as -70 degrees Celsius in the Arctic tundra during the winter?

Did you know that the Earth’s magnetic field protects us from radiation from space?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Holocene
xHolocene : The past 10,000 years, including most of the time since the end of the most recent ice age.

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Research Highlights

Geologists Uncover Major Ancient Human Ancestor in South Africa

Researchers working in South Africa have discovered two remarkably well-preserved fossil skeletons of an ancient human ancestor dating to almost two million years ago. The discovery is described in two...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA