Located above 66 degrees, 33 minutes latitude north, is the region that we call the Arctic. The Arctic is unlike any other environment on Earth, even the Antarctic. It's sparsely populated and has unique wildlife, as well as a biome that can't be found anywhere else. It's completely dark in the winter, and the sun never sets in the summer, and of course it's really cold. Learn more about the Arctic and what makes it so special. On this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
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The Arctic is defined by the Arctic Circle, which lies at 66 degrees 33 minutes in 50.1 seconds latitude north. Everything above that imaginary line is considered to be the Arctic. So what is so special about that exact latitude? That latitude corresponds to the axial tilt of the Earth. The Arctic Circle is the point where the Sun doesn't set above that line on the summer solstice, and the Sun doesn't rise above that line on the winter solstice.
The axial tilt of the Earth also defines the Antarctic Circle in the South as well as the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. The Arctic Circle is not a fixed point. It changes over time, but very, very slowly. Every year, the Arctic Circle moves 14.5 meters or 48 feet to the North. And this will continue for approximately another 10,000 years, at which the point of procession of the Earth's axial tilt will go the other way, and the Arctic Circle will begin moving back south.
At the center of the Arctic Circle is the North Pole. The North Pole is the point on the surface of the Earth that meets the planet's axis of rotation. It is also defined as the point at 90 degrees latitude where all points of longitude meet in the North. The star which is often used to define the Earth's axis, Polaris, is not perfectly aligned with the North Pole. It's off by 0.7 degrees, which is good enough for basic navigation, but not for calibrating instruments.
In addition to the geographic North Pole, the Arctic contains the magnetic North Pole. Unlike the geographic North Pole, magnetic North Pole wanders around constantly depending on the Earth's magnetic field. Since the 17th century, the magnetic North Pole has been in Canadian territory for most of that time. However, it's recently moved out into the Arctic Ocean.
The Arctic Ocean is the heart of the Arctic, and it is also the smallest and shallowest of the Earth's oceans. The Arctic Ocean makes the Arctic, and in many ways it's the opposite of the Antarctic. The Antarctic continent is surrounded by oceans, whereas the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. The Arctic Ocean is approximately 5.4 million square miles, or 13.9 million square kilometers, and during the winter almost all of the ocean is covered with sea ice.
The average thickness of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean varies depending on the location, the time of year, and the specific measurement methods. There are roughly two types of sea ice. First year ice is ice that forms and melts within a single year. The thickness of first year ice typically ranges from about 1 to 2 meters or 3 to 6 feet.
Multi-year ice is ice that survives through multiple summer melt seasons and is generally thicker than first year ice. Multi-year ice averages between 2 to 4 meters or 6.5 to 13 feet in thickness, but it can be thicker in some areas. The overall average thickness of Arctic sea ice, combining both first and multi-year ice, is generally estimated to be around 2 to 3 meters or 6 to 10 feet. The Arctic Ocean is also home to a wide variety of sea life.
Narwhals, often called the unicorns of the sea, are unique to the Arctic. These marine mammals have a long spiral tusk, which is actually an elongated tooth. Other sea mammals include species such as walruses, seals, and beluga whales. Arctic char, Atlantic woolfish, Arctic cod, and polar cod are all native to the Arctic Ocean, as is the Greenland shark, which has a life expectancy of over 400 years.
Almost all of the land surrounding the Arctic Ocean is permafrost. Permafrost is a layer of soil, rock, or sediment that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years, typically found in polar regions like the Arctic. It can extend from just a few meters below the surface to hundreds of meters deep. While permafrost lies below the surface, the soil on top of it can and does thaw during the summer, which can cause huge problems for anything built above it.
As the ground thaws, it can become unstable, leading to problems like sinkholes, landslides, and the collapse of buildings and roads. Overcoming this is a huge engineering challenge, and one of the best examples of this is the Demster Highway. The Demster Highway connects Dawson City, Yukon, and Inuvik Northwest Territories, well above the Arctic Circle.
The ground that it's built on is largely permafrost. In order to avoid the buckling of thawing soil that would otherwise destroy a road, the Demster Highway is built on a gravel berm. The berm actually insulates the permafrost so it doesn't melt, and the road doesn't buckle. I actually drove on the Demster Highway up to the Arctic Circle once, and I was amazed at the quality of the road given its location and the conditions. It's perhaps the world's most high-tech and expensive gravel road.
Just as an aside, the Canadian government has recently extended the Demster Highway with the Inuvik Tukti Yachta Highway, this highway is an all-weather road that reaches the shore of the Arctic Ocean. That means it's literally possible if you live in North America to now drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean, if you're so inclined.
Permafrost can also preserve fossils exceptionally well due to its ability to keep organic material frozen and protect any decay for thousands or possibly even millions of years. When plants, animals, or other organisms die in regions where permafrost is present, they can become quickly buried by soil or sediment which then will freeze. The cold temperature slows down the decomposition process, preventing bacteria and other decomposers from breaking down the organic material.
As a result, the remains of these organisms, including bone, tissue, and sometimes even DNA, can remain intact for long periods. If you remember back to my episode on the woolly mammoth, fully intact mammoths have been found in the permafrost, and they were found so commonly that there were actually recipes developed for eating frozen mammoth. On this permafrost lies an ecosystem that's unlike any other on Earth. This is perhaps the biggest difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic.
There is really no ecosystem to speak of in Antarctica because almost all of the land is covered in ice, and the bits that aren't are some of the driest places on the planet. There are no native plants in Antarctica beyond some basic liken. While the land in the Arctic is mostly frozen year-round below the surface, most of it is ice-free in the summers, and that makes all the difference in the world.
The land which is furthest north is called tundra. The word tundra actually means treeless uplands. And here you'll find some ground shrubs, grasses, mosses, and lichens, but you will not see any trees. On the Dalton Highway in Alaska, which goes all the way up to Prudobae on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, there is a spot on the road where you can actually see the last tree. While this isn't a lot of plant life, it is plant life enough to sustain an ecosystem.
Musk, Oxen, and Caribou, both of which are large mammals, can live in this environment. Of course, the king of the Arctic is the polar bear. Polar bears are actually very closely related to grizzly bears, and the two can actually interbreed with each other. Polar bears feed almost exclusively on seals, particularly seal blubber. They hunt for seals on sea ice in the winter and live off the stored fat during the summer months.
They are the largest land carnivores in the world, and are capable of swimming up to 60 miles or 100 kilometers in search of prey. And they can reach weights of 1600 pounds, or 725 kilograms. South of the tundra, you'll find a type of forest known as tiger. Tiger is defined by its small, coniferous trees, which comprise much of the landscape. The size of the trees will usually depend on the latitude and the elevation.
The trees in this region will vary from scrawny to small. Due to the conditions, they can't grow very tall, and it takes a long time for them to reach the heights that they do. Many of the animals found in the tundra can be found in the tiger as well, in addition to animals such as Arctic foxes. The tiger extends beyond the Arctic Circle into a region known as the sub-Arctic. The sub-Arctic is basically the tiger that exists south of the Arctic Circle.
Tiger makes up almost 12% of the Earth's land, and the vast majority of the land in both Canada and Russia. One of the most prolific animals found in the Arctic is, of course, human beings. The largest native group in the Arctic is the Inuit, who live in Canada, the United States, in Greenland. The term Inuit covers many different groups of people who are all culturally related to each other and live in roughly the same geographic area.
In Russia, there are many different indigenous groups, including the UPIT, the Chuck Chi, and the Koryak people. In Western Europe, the Sami people inhabit parts of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. There are also a few proper cities north of the Arctic Circle. The largest city is Merman, Squrusha, which has a population of about 250,000 people. However, that's down from a peak of about 450,000 people at the end of the Cold War.
Noreal Squrusha also has a population of over 100,000 people. Other notable communities outside of Russia are Tromso-Norway, E-Colowit Canada, and Udkiaudvik, formerly Barrow, Alaska. The Arctic has become more and more important economically over time. In 1977, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Open, which took crude oil 800 miles or 1200 kilometers from the high Arctic down to the Pacific Ocean.
The United States Geological Survey has estimated that as much as 22 percent of the world's natural gas and petroleum reserves might be in the Arctic. In addition to oil, there are known deposits of phosphate, boxite, iron ore, copper, nickel, and diamond. Tourism to the Arctic has been increasing as well. Expedition ships can take you to Baffin Island in Canada or through the Northwest Passage.
If you have the money, it's even possible to take a Russian nuclear-powered icebreaker all the way to the North Pole. The borders and resources in the Arctic have become more contentious now that the Arctic Ocean is often free of sea ice during the summer. Not only would this make accessing resources such as oil and minerals much easier, but it would also offer a much more direct route for shipping between Asia and Europe.
Many geopolitical thinkers are concerned that the Arctic might become a conflict zone in the future because of its increasing importance. I've covered a lot in this episode, and some of the topics will be explored more fully in future shows. But what we should take away is that the Arctic is not a cold-bearing wasteland. Well, okay, it is cold, but it's a fascinating place in its own right. I visited the Arctic several times, and I've enjoyed each trip.
The Arctic is, in many ways, the Earth's last frontier. It's a place where a few people live, few people visit, but it has one of the most interesting geographies and ecosystems in the world. The executive producer of everything everywhere daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Benji Long and Cameron Keever. I want to give a big shout out to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon, including the show's producers. Your support helps me put out a show every single day.
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