Arctic Essay

The tundra is by far the coldest type of biome, as it is known for its low temperatures, little precipitation, poor nutrients, and short growing seasons. Occurring primarily near the Arctic within the Northern Hemisphere, the soil may be frozen all year up to a few feet, which allows no tree growth. However, a few animals have adapted to these conditions. These animals include lemmings, hares, oxen, foxes, wolves, and more. Within the tundra biome there are two different types of tundra biomes, arctic tundra and alpine tundra.

What is the federal government’s strategy to support its claims to sovereignty in the high Arctic?

In the podcast “Alone Across the Arctic,” Pam Flowers talked about her dream of crossing the Arctic border by dog sled and after 40 years, it came true. No one sponsored Flowers, and on top of that, when she told her neighbor Dave about her money problems, he bluntly said, “Will what did ya’ expect? You’re five feet nothing, what are ya’ one hundred pounds soaking wet, and those eight dog of yours are nothing but a bunch of clunkers. No body believed in you and you’re gonna fail.” Flowers didn’t listen to a word he said and set out on her journey. She found wonder in the scenery but encountered problems like storms. Furthermore, the one time she put her dog Robert, with her lead dog, Robert got the whole team running towards a bear. Everything

In the Northeastern part of Russia, summers are cold and winters are colder. The Siberian Tundra is home to many abiotic factors such as strong winds, little precipitation, and short summers days. With poor soil and permafrost, the tundra could soon be gone, or at least cause dramatic changes to the earth. According to Evans (2002), the grounds of the Siberian Tundra are misty during the summer. The average temperature in the Tundra is 37 to 54 degrees yet, in these short months of summer, the Siberian tundra has a permafrost layer that is starts to disappear. This loss of permafrost is resulting in the rise of carbon emissions, which contributes to global climate change. Through research, we can better understand the disappearance of the permafrost layer in the Siberian tundra. How and why is it disappearing, and what impact this disappearance is having on the tundra, and on a much larger scale, the Earth?

As important as it is, Arctic coastal sea ice plays a vital role in dynamics of the coastline, covers stretches of open water which serve as important biological habitats, and serves as a platform for a broad range of activities by residents and industries (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Sea ice is also important because it is used as a platform for harvesting seals and whales in spring, transport of personnel and supplies to camps, and as a network of trails (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Dangerous effects of climate change include “ice breakouts” which are when large chunks of ice that whalers are using as working areas break off of the main ice blocks and take whaling camps out to sea (Druckenmiller et al.,

One man's trash is another man's treasure as the old adage goes, but what about when one man's trash is another species pandemic. Pollution has been plaguing humans for centuries, and as a result, the accumulation of this garbage has begun to significantly affect populations other than human beings. A striking example of this is found in Arctic Polar bear populations which as of recently are beginning to display some eerie side effects. Most individuals tend not to think about where their trash goes the second it leaves their hands, but it has to go somewhere. This somewhere is often times the ocean where the trash congregates and migrates around the world where it is consumed by the various species which dwell in its depths. The concentration of these toxins builds slowly within the various species that are exposed to it. Consequently, these concentrations increase as one moves up the food web, and at the top of the Arctic food web sits the beloved polar bear which bears the brunt of these ever increasing concentrations expressed through various health complications.

In recent months, scientists have been taking notice to record cool temperatures observed in the North Atlantic Ocean, while the rest of the world is experiencing record warmth. They believe this cooling of the water to be due to the accelerated melting of the Greenland ice

Economic growth is vital to sustain human life; however, the unsustainable consumption of natural resources to attain this demand is leading to self-destruction. The Earth is facing environmental changes, including climate changes, which are altering the Earth system. Significantly higher thermal expansion is inescapable if the increasing pollution by carbon dioxide emission continues relentlessly. One evidence of this change is global warming and its impact in the Arctic Ice. The critical role of the Arctic in the global climate system implies that Arctic Ice changes will have far-reaching connotations for, and feedbacks to, the entire Earth. Currently, the warning signs include: rapid diminishing of sea ice, increased mass

The increasing global temperatures have caused many problems in Arctic ecosystems. The increasing warmth has caused ice caps to melt, and permafrost to thaw, causing shifts in the ecosystems around them. 1According to Harris (2005) “Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".” (p. 17). While the melting of ice may not seem like a big issue at first glance, its effects are truly catastrophic. Many professionals in this field, such as Houghton (2009) have said 2“Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of

While our team was composed of completely different preference types (as classified by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), we believe that such varying opinions led to our group’s success in the Subarctic Survival Simulation. In fact, our group boasted the highest team percentage change in the activity—43 percent. The team percentage change represents the improvements made in the ranking of survival tools through our team’s discussion from our individual assessments. The change shows how the group’s gain score (24.4) relates to the average individual score (56.4). Additionally, our gain score was the highest in the class, further showing the strengths of our teamwork during the survival simulation.

The first argument examined on the man-made global warning side is that increasing greenhouse gases caused by human activities is causing directly observed climate changes. The first resulting climate change discussed is warming global surface temperature. There has been an increase in global surface temperature of 0.74 degrees C since the late 19th century. In the last 50 years alone the temperature has increased by 0.13 degrees C per decade. North America and Eurasia have seen the largest increase in warmth. However, some areas of the earth have actually cooled some this past century (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para6). After the mid 20th century 70% of the global land mass saw reduced diurnal temperatures. From 1979 to 2005 the maximum and minimum temperatures have shown no change; both indicate warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para10). Furthermore, borehole temperatures, snow cover, and glacier recession data all seem to agree with recent warming (Easterling & Karl, 2011, para11).

The Arctic Circle runs through the far north of Canada. This is considered the Canadian Arctic. The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. “The Arctic Circle, incidentally, is an imaginary line located at 66º, 30'N latitude, and as a guide defines the southernmost part of the Arctic. The climate within the Circle is very cold and much of the area is always covered with ice. (World Atlas) Although this is the case, the position of the Arctic Circle is not fixed. It directly depends on the Earth's axial tilt.

The change the Artic will have an impact on the earth. Temperatures in the Arctic are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the world on average, and melting glaciers and land-based ice sheets are contributing to rising sea levels. Rising ocean temperatures are affecting ocean ecosystems. In turn having an affect on the communities and economies that depend on them. The changing Arctic could lead to global changes in ocean-based food security that will place additional burdens on economies, societies, and institutions around the world.

It has been observed through various researches that in the last century, average temperatures across the globe increased by over 1.3°F with an increase of more than two times in the Arctic. (Bates, Kundzewicz, Wu, & Palutikof, June 2008). The results of climate change can also be seen in changing precipitation patterns, increases in ocean temperatures, changes in the sea level, and acidity and melting of glaciers and sea ice (USEPA, 2014).

The second main “driver” of global temperature change is reflectivity. Changes in reflectivity affect how much energy enter Earth’s system. When the sunlight reaches Earth, it can be reflected or absorbed, and that depends on the Earth’s surface and atmosphere; light colors reflect the most sunlight, while dark colors absorb more sunlight. Albedo, the amount of solar radiation reflected from an object or surface, indicates the amount of sunlight reflected as a percentage. Earth has an albedo of about 30%, which means that 70% of the sunlight is absorbed (NRC, 2010). This is important because the sunlight absorbed warms the land, water and atmosphere. In the past, this can be seen in the melting of sea ice or increases in cloud cover.