The Climate Arctic Winds and Wind Chill

The sun’s rays are weakest at the Poles so they
are the coldest parts of the Earth. The region
around the North Pole is called the Arctic and
it is an expanse of frozen ocean (about three
metres of ice floating on four kilometres of water)
which is surrounded by land. The Arctic Circle at
66.5o north is the outer limit of the region.
For some of the winter in the Arctic, the sun
never appears above the horizon and it can be
dark for most of the day. It is the opposite in
summer, when the sun never disappears and it
can be daylight for the full 24 hours (nicknamed
‘the Land of the Midnight Sun’).
Powerful, icy-cold polar winds blow across the
Arctic region throughout the year. Often the
wind sweeps up powdery snow from the
ground and swirls it around, causing cold
blizzards. Very little new snow or rain falls as it
is too cold for moisture to evaporate.
People in the Arctic are more aware of the
wind chill than the temperature. They can
dress for temperatures of -30oC and work easily
until the wind blows. The wind appears to suck
heat from the body and have the effect on the
skin’s surface of temperatures much colder than
the thermometer reading.

Actual
0oC -6oC -12oC -30oC
Temperature

Windchill
-20oC -34oC -42oC -60oC
Temperature

exposed flesh
travel
Effect very cold bitterly cold freezes in
dangerous
seconds
The Tundra Regions

The tundra lands around the edge of the Arctic stay

frozen for nine months of the year. In the summer months
(May, June, July), only the surface thaws. Deeper ground
stays frozen. This frozen layer is called permafrost. Melted
snow cannot seep through the permafrost so, in the
summer, the surface of the tundra lands becomes boggy.
The tundra is therefore a cold, almost treeless plain
covered with moss and some grass-like plants.

When ice crystals in the land melt, the ground shrinks.

When the land freezes again, it expands. Thawing and
freezing over and over again cause the surface of the
Tundra to form angular patterns called polygons.
 Tundra People

Only a few thousands people live in the tundra regions. The

Inuit live in northern Canada, Greenland and Alaska. The
Lapps (or Sami) herd reindeer in northern Scandinavia in an
area nicknamed Lapland.

Traditionally, the Inuit were hunters and fishermen. Their lives

were ruled by the two Arctic seasons of winter and summer. In
winter they hunted seals on the ice and in summer they
hunted caribou on the land. They used animal: furs, skins and
bones to make: clothing, tents, sleds and tools. They ate the
meat and the blubber (fat) of the animals they caught,
generally without cooking them. They travelled by sledge and
built temporary ice shelters called igloos on their travels. For
warmth, the Inuit wore well-insulated clothing with a double
layer of fur. They wore the inner layer with the furry side
towards their skin to trap body heat.

Today, hunters may still wear traditional furs but many Inuit
dress in modern clothes. Some have motor-powered
snowmobiles and live in small settlements in homes made
of modern materials. Some homes have: electricity, double-
glazed windows and telephones. Heated houses have to be
built on stilts so that the permafrost does not thaw. If it did,
the ground would give way. Water pipes are insulated and run
above ground to stop them freezing.

Building houses on stilts stops people getting trapped in heavy

snowfalls and the permafrost from thawing.

Western foods and other goods are flown into the settlements
daily or brought in by sea during the brief summer, so living
costs are now high. Imported food has created health problems
for the Inuit as it is rich in carbohydrates and sugar not found in
their traditional diet.

Environmental Issues in the Arctic

The Arctic region has many minerals that are important to

people like: iron, gold and oil. People live and work in the
Arctic to remove these valuable minerals and sell them but this
has its advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages Disadvantages

 The oil and gas bring  Forests which have taken

money to the region.
 Jobs are provided for
local people and migrant
workers from different
countries.
 It provides power for the
local people.
a long time to grow are
destroyed by the building
of roads and pipelines.
 More pollution is released
into the atmosphere,
increasing the acidity of
rain. Acid rain can
damage soils and kill
trees.
 There is a danger of a big
oil spill or gas explosion.
 Arctic Animals

Over thousands of years, land animals have spread north and adapted to living in the Arctic:

Polar bears: are white to help them camouflage (hide)

easily in the snow from hungry predators, have thick
fur to help them keep warm and wide, large paws to
help them grip the ice.

Reindeer, also called caribou, feed on grasses and

plants in the tundra in the summer and then travel
(migrate) south in winter to warmer places. The
underside of each hoof is hollowed out like a big scoop
and allows the caribou to dig through snow in search of
food. Caribou also use their hooves to paddle through
chilly northern rivers and lakes.

Musk oxen have a fine layer of wool under a thick

outer coat. They crowd together so water vapour in
their breather forms a cloud to trap heat.

Lemmings are small rodents which live in snow

tunnels.

The ermine have thick, white fur for warmth and

camouflage in the snow in the winter. This fur moults
(falls off) and grows back thinner and darker in the
summer.