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How do the Arctic and the Antarctic environments differ?
The primary difference between the Arctic and Antarctica is geographical. The Arctic is an ocean, covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. Antarctica, on the other hand, is a continent, covered by a very thick ice cap and surrounded by a rim of sea ice and the Southern Ocean.
What is different about the Arctic ecosystem?
The Arctic ecosystem has a unique, complex food web that is fashioned by its distinctive plankton, animal species, and environmental factors. Carbon also cycles through the web from atmosphere to seawater and back. The polar bear is the world’s largest land predator, and is found throughout the Arctic.
What kind of ecosystem does Antarctica have?
Antarctica is a polar desert. Terrestrial life is limited to the very small. There are no trees or shrubs, so vegetation is mainly mosses, lichens and algae.
What makes the Arctic different?
The Arctic is mostly an ocean surrounded by land. The Antarctic is mostly land surrounded by water. Because the Arctic ocean absorbs so much more solar radiation than the Antarctic ice sheet, the Arctic is much, much, much warmer than the Antarctic.
What is the main ecosystem in the arctic?
The Arctic consists of taiga (or boreal forest) and tundra biomes, which also dominate very high elevations, even in the tropics. Sensitive ecosystems exist throughout the Arctic region, which are being impacted dramatically by global warming.
Why is the arctic ecosystem important?
The Arctic is crucial for lots of reasons. Not just because it’s home to the iconic polar bear, and four million people, but also because it helps keep our world’s climate in balance. The Arctic also helps circulate the world’s ocean currents, moving cold and warm water around the globe.
Where is the Antarctic ecosystem found?
The Antarctic region comprises the continent and surrounding sea south of the Antarctic Convergence, where cold Antarctic upper water sinks and mixes with warmer sub-Antarctic water. The continent, nearly centered on the South Geographic Pole, is isolated by the Southern Ocean from other land masses.
What is the difference between the Arctic and the North Pole?
The geographic North Pole is positioned at the northernmost point in the Arctic; the geographic South Pole is the southernmost point of the Antarctic. The Arctic region includes the Arctic Ocean, parts of Greenland, Alaska, Canada, Norway and Russia, and covers about 5.5 million square miles.