The Arctic is
very cold –
you can’t swim
in the water
because you
will freeze in
two minutes!
Which biome does
the Arctic belong to?
Where is it?
The Arctic is all of the area
north of the Arctic Circle (an
imaginary circle around planet
Earth, parallel to the Equator
and 23 degrees from the
North Pole; i.e., everything
above about 76 degrees
North). There is a lot of land
within the Arctic Circle,
including northern parts of
Asia, Europe and North
America.
The Arctic Ocean is almost
completely enclosed and is
the smallest of the world's five
oceans (after the Pacific
Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian
Ocean and the recently
delimited Southern Ocean). It
is 14 million square kilometres
in surface area.
The North Pole, at 90°N 0°E,
is in the middle of the Arctic
Ocean, which is 4,000 metres
deep here. There are 2-3
metre-thick ice floes floating
on the water. There is no land
beneath the ice of the North
Pole. In the summer, half of the
ice disappears.
The Arctic belongs to the
tundra biome, which is the
coldest of all the biomes. The
word tundra comes from the
Finnish
word
tunturia,
meaning 'treeless plain.'
Land within the Arctic Circle
is known as the Arctic tundra,
and it supports less life than
most other biomes because
of the cold temperatures,
strong, dry winds, and
permafrost (permanentlyfrozen soil). Long periods of
darkness (in the winter) and
light (in the summer) also
affect Arctic life.
Biomes
Biomes are the world's
major communities, sorted
according to their main
vegetation and characterised by
adaptations of creatures to
that particular environment
– Aquatic, Grasslands,
Deserts, Forests and
Tundra.
What is the weather like?
The sun shines only from March to September (summer) when the
temperatures are near 0°C, and there is light. July is the North Pole’s
warmest month. In winter, the temperature is about -30°C and it is
dark.
Interesting Arctic facts
Robert E Peary was the first person to reach the North Pole, in 1909.
Who lives there?
Despite the cold, harsh climate, the Arctic is an ecosystem that
teems with life, where many species have adapted successfully to
the Arctic seas and ice edge, including organisms living in the ice
– fish (Arctic cod, capelin, Greenland shark), marine mammals
such as walrus and seals (including bearded, ringed, harp and
northern fur seals), whales (beluga, narwhal), dolphins (killer
whale), birds (Arctic tern, kittiwake, glaucous gull, fulmar, black
guillemot, little auk) and land animals such as wolves, caribou and
polar bear. You will also find several kinds of invertebrates including
phytoplankton, krill, amphipods, polychaetes, crustaceans,
mussels and snails.
Some 170,000 indigenous people live in the Arctic
neighbourhood of Russia, Alaska and Canada, including Aleuts,
Indians, Eskimos and Métis.
Animals face many challenges in order to survive in the Arctic, and
so have special adaptations. Marine mammals store considerable
amounts of fat (e.g. seals, whales, polar bears) and have large
body-volume-to-surface ratios, minimising heat loss. Many of the
mammals have long lives and reproduce often, but have only a few
young at a time, increasing their chances of successful
reproduction.
Interesting facts about
some Arctic animals
The narwhal (Monodon monocerus) is a small whale that
lives most of its life north of the Arctic Circle. One of the male
narwhal’s two teeth grows into a distinctive tusk, which can reach three
metres in length – earning the animal the name “unicorn of the sea.”
Arctic Tern
(Sterna paradisea)
This bird undertakes one of
the world's longest migrations
– travelling nearly from pole to
pole every year. The bird breeds
in the Arctic Circle, but migrates
during the Northern Hemisphere
winter to the edges of the
Antarctic ice-pack. The annual
journey is some 35,000
kilometres – nearly equal to
flying all the way around
the world!
The famous northern lights appear as bands, clouds and rays of green,
red and blue light in the night sky. The aurora borealis (Latin for
‘northern dawn’) occurs in an oval around the magnetic pole.
Norilsk in Russia is the farthest city north and the coldest, with an
average temperature of twenty degrees below zero. Yes, average!
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The Arctic is extremely
vulnerable to Climate Change.
Arctic indigenous communities
are already noticing some of
these changes: warmer winters,
earlier break-up of ice in the
spring, and thinner ice year
round. While Arctic ice is always
dynamic (increasing during
winter and shrinking during
summer), during recent decades
the ice cap has been shrinking in
both area and thickness.
are two of the biggest threats to
Arctic marine ecosystems. Fish
stocks in some Arctic waters are
being fished to extinction, while
seabirds and even polar bears
suffer from overhunting in parts
of the Arctic.
Another threat is the increase in
ship container traffic in
Arctic seas.
Many pollutants found in the
Arctic were not produced or
ever used in the Arctic. The
Arctic acts as a final 'sink' where
pollutants become trapped after
travelling great distances via air
and water currents, finally
ending up in the remote Arctic.
Oil and gas development,
and the ever-increasing pressure
on fish stocks (overfishing),
Is the Polar Bear in trouble?
Polar bears
could become
extinct by the
end of this
century if there
is an almost
complete loss of
summer sea ice
cover.
The main sources for concern
are due to our modern western
ways.
The bears have a tendency to
bioaccumulate (build up)
toxins in their fat, such as
PCBs and heavy metals which
have travelled to the Arctic via
air and water currents.
But by far the biggest threat
to the very survival of the
species is global climate
change. The bears depend on
the sea ice for food, and if the
They may also be affected by
changes to their habitat or
den sites due to oil and gas
exploration and tourism.
sea ice disappears then so will
their food. Recent studies have
shown changes in bear habits,
with bears spending more time
on shore eating whale
carcasses than out on the
dwindling ice-packs hunting
their favourite prey. More
bears than ever are also being
found far out to sea or
drowned during storms due to
the shortage of ice-floes and
seals.
A simple Arctic foodchain:-
Phytoplankton
Polar Cod
Hooded Seal
Polar Bear
(Ceratium Arcticum)
(Boreogadus saida)
(Cystophora cristata)
(Ursus maritimus)
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What does the Polar Bear’s Latin name (Ursus maritimus) mean?
Sea Bear
Where does the polar bear
live?
The polar bear lives on the
shifting ice-sheets and floes
that surround the Arctic land
masses. The ice provides a base
from which the polar bear can
hunt.
Why are polar bears white?
The bear's white colour is an
adaptation, helping to
camouflage the bear as it hunts
for prey in snow and ice. The fur
has no pigment (colour).
Large males sometimes exceed
800kg in weight (an average
man weighs 75kg).
Males are almost twice the size
of females, weighing between
400-600kg (female: 200400kg), and considerably
longer – males measure 240260cm, females 190-210cm.
How big are polar bears?
Polar bears are the largest bear.
They live for an average of 25-
Are Polar Bears hunters?
Polar bears are carnivorous
(meat eaters). They have a very
good sense of smell but their
eyesight isn’t very good for a
carnivore. In water, the large,
rounded forepaws help the bear
to swim strongly.
How many cubs can a
female polar bear have?
Four. The female polar bear’s
milk is the richest bear milk,
having up to 35.8% fat content
(human milk only contains 4.6%
fat). This ensures that the cubs
The height at the shoulder
ranges between 130-160cm
(the average European man
stands 170cm tall).
How long do polar bears
live?
For its great size, the polar bear
is remarkably agile, both in and
out of the water. A strong
swimmer, it can swim for up to
100km without resting.
30 years, though in captivity
some have lived beyond 40.
On land, the paws spread the
bear’s weight like snow-shoes.
They have five toes on each paw,
with non-retractable 5-7cmlong claws. The polar bear has
42 teeth, including long, sharp
canines for piercing flesh.
put on an insulating fat layer
very quickly, so can stay warm.
Mothers with cubs stay on land
during the long winter. With this
exception, polar bears are
solitary (live on their own).
noses to the surface for air.
Lunging forward, the bear clubs
the seal, or strikes with open
jaws. Delivering more crushing
bites, the polar bear drags the
carcass onto the ice to feed on
the meat and the thick,
blubbery fat.
A favoured hunting method
involves the bear waiting by a
seal’s breathing hole in the ice.
The bear remains silent and still,
sometimes for hours, until a seal
Total world
population is
estimated to be
20,000-25,000
individuals spread
among 20
populations. They
are currently the
only bear species to
inhabit almost all
of their original
range.
How have Polar Bears
adapted to life in the Arctic?
Predators and Enemies
Apart from human hunters, polar
bears are hunted by no animal
and are the Arctic’s top predator.
The only natural enemies of the
polar bear are Inuit hunters,
starvation, parasites such as
Trichinella spiralis and other,
larger, adult male polar bears.
The Arctic
The polar bear’s immense size
and thick, fluffy coat with a
5cm-thick layer of underfur
helps to keep it warm. Under
this coat is a thick layer of
blubber (fat) which is 5-10cm
thick. Also,
they have
translucent
hair shafts
that transfer
solar energy
(from the sun)
down to be absorbed by their
black skin. The polar bear’s coat
is waterproof. It has small, furlined ears and a short head.
Polar bears can store a great
deal of energy as
fat, using it during
lean times when
there is no food.
Unlike other bears,
if they do not eat
for 10-14 days
their body goes into
hibernation, even in summer!
Dressed in insulating fur and fat,
the polar bear is able to sleep
through biting blizzards and
does not need a shelter, or
plunge into the Arctic’s nearfreezing waters.
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