Polar Regions By: Maggie, Lionel, Alice What is a Polar Region? The polar region is everything surrounding the Earth’s geographical poles. The polar region is also called the Earth’s frigid zones. These regions are cold, with the coldest temperature known on Earth. The average winter temperature in the Arctic is about -30°C. The lowest temperature ever recorded in these regions is -130°C! This region also controls the sea level of the world, because if all the ice melts in this ecosystem, then the sea level will rise by 60 meters, or 200 feet! Imagine that in one second you are still on land, and the next second you are swimming with the sharks and fishes!
Where are Polar Regions located? The polar regions are located around the north pole and the south pole. The north polar region is the outer edge of the Arctic, which includes Alaska, Canada, and Russian. Polar regions also include Antarctica. They are all made up of glaciers. Antarctica is the southernmost continent on Earth and Antarctica is surrounded by the southern ocean. The size of Antarctica is bigger than Europe and almost double the size of Australia. Most of Antarctica is covered in ice over 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) thick!
What lives in a Polar Region? There are many animals that live in the polar regions. Some include: beluga whales, walrus, narwhals, arctic cod, polar bears, orcas, penguins, seals, wandering albatross, blue whale, arctic wolves, foxes, leopard seals, ptarmigans and many more. The main producer is a plant called algae. This is the only plant that can survive the cold and live on the surface of the ice (submerged in the sea). Some smaller consumers, such as crustaceans, eat this to survive. Then, a variety of fish
and mammals, such as seals or some whales, will eat the crustaceans. Then, the top predator could be polar bears, and sometimes the arctic wolf or killer whales. While these animals might seem cute to you, when you see one, RUN! Animals in this ecosystem have adapted to the cold weather. Seals, whales, and walruses have a thick layer of fat (blubber) to keep them warm. Wouldn’t you be glad if you had those kinds of abilities depending on the temperature?
What are some interesting facts about Polar Regions? You may not know many things about this cold place. Here are some interesting facts: 70% of the world’s freshwater are in the ice on and around Antarctica! When the snow piles high enough, the bottom layers are compressed into ice. When the snow piles high, the pressure causes the bottom layers to melt partially becoming soft like putty. The slippery layer starts to move, carries the ice pile with it. This slippery layer is called a glacier. The word Arctic comes from the Greek word Arktos, while Antarctica comes from Antarktos. Do you know how they got the name Arktos? They actually got it from the constellations in the skies! The word Arktos means near the bear, while the word Antarktos means opposite the North. Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott were the first two humans to reach the North Pole. The two were racing, with Amundsen leaving three weeks later than Scott. However, he arrived there first. Scott died on the way back. This race later on became known as “The Race to Death.”
Why are Polar Regions important? The polar regions are important because this huge ICELAND is the key of the water level. If all this ice melts, many islands, including Taiwan, will be covered with salt water! Sea ice is white, so it reflects most sunlight back to space. This reflectivity is known as albedo. These regions are also important, as they support life on, in, around, and even UNDER the ice! Coral, anemones, fishes, polar bears and many other fascinating creatures can be found in this place, and all are supported by what we call “The Polar Regions” - Arctic and Antarctica. Finally, scientists are still learning new information about these regions, so we need to preserve them because we might discover something important in the future.
What is threatening the Polar Region? Humans are destroying the polar region by making global warming a big problem. Humans use too many fossil fuels for things like their cars, air conditioning, electricity, factories, etc. Burning fossil fuels adds more CO2 in the atmosphere which traps more heat, and thus, increased temperatures are melting our glaciers. Glaciers are controlling the water level of oceans, so if we we keep destroying the polar region ecosystems, the
whole Earth would be covered with water. Global warming is a problem because the polar ice melts. Another threat to the polar regions is fishing. Fishermen and fishing companies are beginning to fish at the polar regions because we have been depleting our fish resources in other ocean ecosystems. Now there are fewer fish on the Earth. Some fishing companies think the polar regions are the only place to fish now. If we destroy the polar regions, we will have no fish to eat after a few decades. Last, many companies want to start drilling for oil in the polar region. This is becoming a big controversial issue. We know that if companies drill for oil on land or under the sea, there is a big chance that accidents can happen and this will harm the environment. Plus, the machinery that they use can melt the icebergs, as well.
How can we help the Polar Region? What can humans do to reduce the effects of climate change? We can reduce carbon emissions by walking instead of driving a car. You can also install an inverter air conditioner to use energy more efficiently. We can help the polar ecosystems by not using too much AC, stop cutting off trees. We need to stop cutting off trees because trees can help us to have more oxygen to breath, and extract the carbon dioxide to prevent global warming to increase. However, the most helpful thing humans could do is convert to using REUSABLE energy instead of burning fossil fuels. We can drive electric cars or we can use solar energy, hydroelectricity or wind energy to power our cities. In this case we need to write to our local politicians and change our world.
The fishing problem in the world is causing the polar ecosystem to collapse. Polar animals are not finding enough fish to eat. One thing we can do to help this situation is to eat fewer fish. If a person eats two fish per day and cut down to one, imagine half of our fish, and even more, to regenerate inside the ocean! Another way is to eat fish from where you’re from, like eat fish from the United States if you’re living in the US. Try not to eat fish that comes from the polar regions. For example, stop eating salmon or Alaskan King Crab. By this we can make the fishes’ population come back to what it was a decade or two back.
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