Arctic

The Arctic is a region of extremes--extreme cold, extreme seasonal changes in daylight, and high winds. It sits at the top of world, covered in sea ice--a seemingly unwelcome place for life. Yet the Arctic is actually teeming with wildlife--from large mammals like walruses and polar bears to birds, fish, small plants and even tiny ocean organisms called plankton. Living alongside the diverse Arctic wildlife are indigenous peoples who have adapted to the Arctic's extreme conditions and call the region home.

What is the Arctic?

The Arctic is landscape is a combination of:

Glaciers
Oceans of Sea Ice
Tundra - treeless plain with frozen ground called permafrost. Permafrost occurs from several inches below the surface to depths of more than 1000 feet.

The outer edge of the Arctic, which includes areas of Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia, is tundra and glaciers with large areas sea ice around the pole.

Because of its polar location and the tilt of the earth, the Arctic does not have the normal seasons that we are used to in the continental United States. An Arctic winter has days without sunlight and the summer has days where the sun never sets (which is why it is called the land of the "Midnight Sun").

Throughout the year, the temperature can widely range. A short growing season, permafrost and long, dark winters of extreme cold and strong winds mean that the Arctic is nearly treeless and only small plants can grow.

Why is Sea Ice Important to Arctic Wildlife?

The majority of the Arctic near the North Pole is covered in sea ice. It is essentially an ocean covered by a relatively thin layer of floating ice. The ice pack is in constant motion, drifting with ocean currents and prevailing winds. Ice is present year round in the Arctic, expanding during the winter and retreating during the summer.

Sea ice is a special feature of the Arctic and most wildlife there depend on it in some way. Polar bears use the ice as platforms from which to feed on seals. Walruses use the ice as a place to rest. There is even a kind of algae that actually lives in the ice!

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The part of the Arctic that is in the United States includes the 19.6 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge--the largest refuge in the United States. Located in the northeast corner of Alaska, this protected area is home to a recorded 180 bird species, which migrate to the refuge to breed in the summers. As many as 300,000 snow geese visit the coastal plain each fall to feed on the tundra.

Other wildlife travelers on the Refuge include the 130,000 member porcupine caribou herd. The herd migrates more than 400 miles across Canada and Alaska to calve in the Refuge's coastal plain.

People and the Arctic

Although the Arctic is gaining in popularity worldwide as a tourism and wildlife watching destination, the region has always been vital to the identity, culture and survival of its indigenous people. Tribes, such as the Alaskan Gwich'in Nation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, depend on the migratory caribou herds and the Arctic fisheries for food.

Wildlife in the Arctic

The Arctic is a unique ecosystem with a complex food web made up of organisms adapted to its extreme conditions. It is one of the most biologically productive ecosystems in the world, supporting many large fisheries and huge populations of migratory birds that come to the Arctic for the summer to breed.

Arctic wildlife have special adaptations that enable them to survive in their icy and changeable environment.

Arctic foxes, polar bears and caribou have hollow hair that traps air, providing them with insulation.
Polar bears have black skin to soak up as much of the sun's rays as possible. Their fur is almost transparent and appears white due to the reflection of sunlight.
Arctic foxes and ptarmigans change color with the season to blend in with the changing tundra ground cover (brown in summer, white in winter).
Some fishes that live in or under the ice have antifreeze compounds in their blood.
Seals, whales and walruses have a thick layer of fat called blubber that helps to insulate them from the cold.

Threats to the Arctic

Global Warming

Average temperatures in the Arctic are rising almost twice as fast as the rest of the world and are changing the Arctic ecosystem in profound ways. Sea ice is melting much faster than previously predicted. The region is on track to become essentially ice-free environment in the summer, with a much-reduced ice freeze-up occurring in winter. Already, much of the "fast ice," or ice shelves attached to land, have broken up, including the 300-mile Ellesmere Ice Shelf along Ellesmere Island in northern Canada. One NASA scientist projected a possible loss of summer sea ice by as early as 2012.

There is concern that melting Arctic glaciers and sea ice may raise sea levels around the globe, and that if enough freshwater is introduced to the North Atlantic, there could be a shift in ocean currents. Arctic permafrost is also melting, changing tundra to wetlands and shrub lands. All of these changes have profound effects on wildlife, and the human communities that depend on wildlife for their survival.

The National Wildlife Federation is working hard to fight global warming and stop the loss of tundra and sea ice in the Arctic.