PERPETUAL ICE: CHARACTERISTICS, CLIMATE, FLORA, FAUNA - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The perpetual ice is those places that have temperatures below -30 degrees and -10 degrees, where they also incur precipitation in the form of hail. They are found at the poles; in the Arctic and Antarctica.

They are called perpetual ice, because its geological formation composed of mountain ranges, soils, plateaus, is permanently covered with ice with polar or high mountain climates.

Emperor penguin, endemic to Antarctica

The known areas of planet Earth that are characterized by having these conditions are the Arctic and Antarctica.

The perpetual ice of the world

- The Artic

The Arctic is located in the northernmost part of our planet. Scientists often define it as the area above the Arctic Circle, an imaginary line that circles the top of the globe.

The Arctic Circle marks the latitude above which the sun does not set on the summer solstice and does not rise on the winter solstice. At the North Pole, the sun rises and sets once a year: there are six months of continuous light and six months of night.

At lower latitudes, but north of the Arctic Circle, the duration of continuous day and night is shorter.

The size and shape of the Arctic Ocean basin is similar to that of the Antarctic continent, reaching more than 4,000 meters deep in some areas. It is covered for the most part by ice ice (frozen seawater) averaging 2-3 meters thick. The Arctic Ocean is seen on the following map:

Ice drifts around the polar basin under the influence of winds and currents, breaking up during blizzards and then refreezing.

It covers the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, the United States, Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Iceland. Temperatures as low as -70 ° C have been recorded in northern Greenland.

Other researchers often define it based on temperature. Under this premise, the Arctic includes any location in high latitudes where the average daily summer temperature does not rise above 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

Arctic ice contains about 10 percent of the world's fresh water. This giant, white, frozen deposit reflects sunlight, helping to keep the region cool. It plays a very important role in keeping our global climate stable.

Climate in the Arctic can have a strong effect on atmospheric conditions in the rest of the Northern Hemisphere, both in the short term and in the long term.

Arctic fauna

Many Arctic animals have developed special adaptations and behaviors to cope with the cold environment. These include thick, multi-layered coats, skin that changes color with the seasons, fat for insulation, seasonal migration, and hibernation during winter.

Some of the land parts of the Arctic, such as Greenland, are covered with ice sheets. Others do not have lush tundra, allowing large mammals such as caribou, bears, wolves, and foxes to live. In summer, migratory birds and other wildlife come to the Arctic for the purpose of caring for their young.

Walrus

Odobenus rosmarus is a huge mammal that can weigh up to 1700 kg in the case of males. It has three subspecies that are divided by the seas of Siberia, the Canadian Arctic or the North Pacific. His thick skin and huge incisors are his hallmark.

Arctic flora

The treeless and windless plains of the Arctic tundra sometimes appear barren, but are inhabited by a multitude of plants and animals.

The vast majority of the lands that include the northern strata of Canada, Alaska, Russia and Greenland are covered with ice, which does not allow perfect plant growth, but in the southern part of the tundra, where temperatures are somewhat less frigid, it is likely to find vast coniferous forests.

Potentilla chamissonis

This herbaceous plant can be found in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, and Norway. It measures between 10 and 25 cm and has flowers with five yellow petals.

- The antartida

Antarctica is located over the South Pole in what is called the Antarctic Circle. It is a very rough circular shape with the long arm of the peninsula extending towards South America. There are two great crevasses, the Ross and Weddell Seas and their ice shelves.

Its total area is 14.2 million square kilometers in summer, but in winter it doubles in size due to the sea ice that forms around the coasts. The true frontier of Antarctica is not the coast of the mainland or the outlying islands, but the Antarctic Convergence. On this map you can see Antarctica:

There is little evaporation from Antarctica, so the little snow that falls does not disappear again. Instead, it accumulates over hundreds and thousands of years in enormously thick ice sheets.

More than 98 percent of Antarctica is covered in ice and contains about 70 percent of the world's fresh water. The thick ice cover makes it the highest of all the continents, with an average elevation of about 2,300 meters above sea level.

Flora of Antarctica

Antarctica has no trees or shrubs at all. The vegetation is limited to about 350 species of lichens, mosses and algae. In some parts of the Antarctic Peninsula there are lush massifs of vegetation. Lichens have been discovered growing in isolated mountains 475 km from the South Pole.

Where rock is exposed by ice for large parts of the summer, green lichens growing a few inches tall can give the impression of a distance from a field of dark grass. Three species of flowering plants are also found on the Antarctic Peninsula.

In some places on the Antarctic continent, such as dry valleys, instead of growing on the rocks, some algae actually grow on the rock.

Conditions are so harsh, particularly from strong, dry winds and blown sand and dust, that porous rock is easier to live in despite low light levels than it is exposed on the surface.

Lichens

This organic compound grows in the earth's layer where flowers do not grow. Curiously, the melting of the Antarctic areas is causing lichens to populate this ecosystem.

Fauna of Antarctica

Most vertebrates depend on the sea for food, or are migratory and leave the continent when winter arrives.

Therefore, the largest Antarctic animals are invertebrates only a few millimeters in size. These animals, mites, ticks, and nematode worms tolerate low temperatures in the winter by freezing to ice under rocks and stones.

They have antifreeze in their bodies, and they stop their bodily functions while frozen, becoming active when the ice gets hot enough to melt.

Moreover, the oceans surrounding the continent are teeming with vast amounts of life. Large numbers of whales feed on the rich marine life, especially krill.

Six species of seals and 12 species of birds live and breed in Antarctica. Crabeater seals are the second largest mammal on the planet after humans.

The most famous inhabitant of Antarctica is the penguin. A flightless bird, but an excellent swimmer. They breed on land or ice surfaces along the coast and on islands. Emperor penguins are the best known and most typical.

Emperor penguin

Most popular endemic bird of Antarctica. They are characterized by their large size and adaptation to cold, withstanding very low temperatures. It feeds on krill, crustaceans, and other cephalopods.

References

1. Antarctica Fact File. Recovered from coolantarctica.com.
2. Artic animal list. Recovered from activewild.com.
3. Life in Polar Regions. Recovered from windows2universe.ort.
4. Dive and Discover. Recovered from divediscover.whoi.edu.
5. What is Arctic? Recovered from nsidc.org.
6. 10 facts about Artics. Recovered from natgeokids.com.
7. Recovered from merriam-webster.com.