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><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>Icebergs floating near Cape York, Greenland in September 2005. Icebergs are large pieces of ice floating in the <a href="/earth/Water/ocean.html&edu=elem">ocean</a> that have broken off of <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_glacier1.html&edu=elem">ice shelves or glaciers</a> in <a href="/earth/polar/polar.html&edu=elem">Earth's polar regions</a>. They are a part of the <a href="/earth/polar/cryosphere_intro.html&edu=elem">cryosphere</a>. Approximately 90% of an iceberg's <a href="/glossary/mass.html&edu=elem">mass</a> is below the surface of the seawater. Because ice is less dense than water, a small portion of the iceberg stays above the seawater.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Mila Zinkova, Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license</em></small></p>

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

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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


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