Essay About Arctic Ice

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.

The tundra, which comes from the Finnish word, tunturi, which means treeless, is the coldest terrestrial biome known to biologists (University of California Museum of Paleontology). Located in the northern hemisphere, between 55° and 70° North, the Tundra covers about 20% of Earth’s surface (S). Although tundras can be found in many of the continents, most notably, the Northern Alaska, Canada and Greenland Tundra and the Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands stand out the most (Gardella). They are all large tourists attractions disply nature’s ability to thrive in the harshest environments. Winters in the tundra have an average temperature of -30° F, due to its high altitude. However, the average temperatures in the tundra during

The Earth's rise in temperature is melting ice in its colder regions. Many animals who live in the Arctic Circle, the lands surrounding

Biomes are appropriate conditions for organizing the natural world because the organisms that live in them common constellations of adaptations, particularly the climate of each of the areas and the characteristic vegetation types that develops in these divisions. It should be understood that the climate is perhaps the most important in determining classes of individuals who may live in an area and the ways they should be amended to live under different conditions of temperature and precipitation and seasonal distribution of these factors element. Every place on Earth has its own climate, influenced by both macroclimate regions as the particular microclimate. The soils are very important because they are essential to determine the types of plants that will grow into a bioclimatic zone in partical, in addition, also as substrates for animals serve. In turn, the soils are heavily influenced by regional climate, as well as the geology of the bedrock. At the same time we have to keep in mind the diversity of plants like the flora just like the diversity of the fauna as well as the adaptation of both.

Her awards include; US Department of the Navy and the National Science Foundation. Antarctic Service Medal (1992) Nominated, YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards, Technology Category (1999 and 2001). Winner of the 2002 Science in Society Children’s Book Award for “Under the Ice”. R. W. Brock Award for best Canadian Museum of Nature research paper of 2003 (co-authored with Ed Hendrycks).Kathy Conlan began working with marine biologist Steve Blasco in the Eastern Arctic looking at the effects of ice scours. When icebergs float around, they are so large that they often scrape and gouge the sea floor disturbing everything in its wake. Conlan and Blasco sampled the species in areas that had been recently disturbed, and compared them to undisturbed sea floor. They discovered that the iceberg’s effects were positive. The icebergs had created spaces for weedy species. They found a greater increase of diversity of marine life, as long as the ice scouring was not so repetitive that animals couldn’t get settled in to live. In the 1970’s, oil companies drilled for oil and gas in the

In the northern part of the earth and the upper slopes of all mountains all over the world, a unique biome called tundra exists. Tundra is one of the coldest and harshest biomes of the world. The winters are long and cold, and the summers are short and cool. Tundra is far from the equator; therefore, Tundra soil is generally poor in nutrients. Since the biome is covered in snow throughout the year, the arctic tundra doesn’t seem like a place where plants and animals can survive. Yet, plants and animals are able to survive, thanks to their special adaptations. In fact, it isn’t the freezing temperature that they fear; it is us, human. Today, tundra faces lots of threats and problems because of human. One of the major problem is Global

The tundra is a frosty biome, which makes it difficult for plants and animals similar to survive. This biome is classified as terrestrial (living mainly on land, such as continental land masses or islands). The Tundra is positioned throughout

Humans have been interacting with the Arctic tundra for centuries now. They have used the land to explore and race, for example, the infamous race between Admunsen and Scott to the South pole. However, the human civilisation on the Arctic tundra have had their implications, both severe and light. Humans have slaughtered whales and seals since very early days, for food as well as commercial and self-profiting purposes. The most recent and paramount problem is global warming and pollution, which is harming the Arctic Tundra far more than the sealing and whaling ever did.

The Siberian tundra is basically melting away overtime, even though it has been frozen for tens of thousands of years. At such a fast rate it is speculated that it is influencing global warming. The landscape is changing fast. In the last three to four years, the underlying

It contains an expanse of tundra with many marshes and lagoons with rivers situated between foothills of the Brooks Range and the wide, icy waters of the Beaufort Sea. Environmentalists said that this area “is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center if wildlife activity.” The importance of these resources is not measurable. The Arctic is home to such animals as caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, musk oxen, whales, wolves and snow geese. This area is full of wildflowers and contains water of excellent, unpolluted quality and quantity. The Arctic Ocean costal plain is an area critical to the survival of many birds and mammals (‘Alaska Wild’).

Glaciers are one of the most fundamental phenomenon on the planet, and much of their purpose and impact on earth has been well documented and published. Ice sheets, Ice Caps and Glaciers trap nearly 90% of the world's fresh water, and are replenished by snowfall each year. Their existence on this planet dates back 650,000,000 years and yet they are always moving, always shifting and always melting. Before, human existence and even during the brief era of humans, ice dominated all of the earth's landmass and have regulated, created and altered many of the landscapes around the world.

A biome, also known as life zones, consists of all plants, animals, and other organisms, as well the physical environment in a particular area. A biome is characterized by its’ plant life, climate, and location. The climate and physical features determine the boundaries of a biome. A biome is made up of many different ecosystems. The ecosystems tend to have the same pants and animals as neighboring biomes around the boundaries. The major biomes are the tundra, taiga, tropical rain forest, temperate forests, desert, grassland, savanna, chaparral, and marine. Each biome has it’s own characteristics such as the tundra.

Although the Arctic Ocean is by far the smallest of the Earth’s oceans, having only a little more than one-sixth the area of the next largest, the Indian Ocean, its area of 5,440,000 square miles (14,090,000 square km) is five times larger than that of the largest sea, the Mediterranean. The deepest sounding obtained in Arctic waters is 18,050 feet (5,502 metres), but the average depth is only 3,240 feet (987 metres).(Ostenso 2016) Great polar bears roam the Arctic ice and swim the Arctic seas. Supporting these top predators is a complex ecosystem that includes plankton, fish, birds, seals, walruses, and even whales. At the center of this food web, supporting all of this life, are phytoplankton and algae that produce organic material using energy from the sun (Ashjian

Kolbert provides compelling evidence of Global Warming in the Arctic from her hands-on experience accompanying scientists in the field. From the storm surges that threaten the Alaskan village of Sarichef to the warming (and even melting!) permafrost, the evidence all point to the irrefutable fact that the planet is warming up extraordinarily fast. In fact, the Keeling Curve gives us a rather explicit visualization of how greenhouse gases levels (CO2, in particular) are rising at unprecedented rates.

The Arctic is global warming’s canary in the coal mine. It is a highly sensitive area which is profoundly affected by the changing climate. The average temperature in the Arctic is rising twice as fast as elsewhere in the world (nrdc.org). Because of this, the ice cap is getting thinner, melting away, and rupturing. Here is an example of this; the largest ice block in the Arctic, the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf, had been around for 3000 years before it started cracking in 2000 (nrdc.org) By 2002, the Ward Hunt has cracked completely through and had started breaking into smaller pieces. The melting ice caps are affecting the earth and its inhabitants in many ways. In this paper, the following concepts and subjects will be