The Arctic Circle is 14.5 million square km (5.5 million square miles)
It consists of the ice-covered Arctic Ocean and surrounding land, including all of Greenland and Spitsbergen, and the northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Norway, and Russia.
The Arctic Circle, an imaginary line of latitude located at 66° 33 minutes North. North of this line, the sun never sets on the summer solstice (June 21st).Very deep, reaching more than 4,000 meters in some areas. It is mostly covered by pack ice averaging 2-3 meters thick.
Arctic climate
Climate graph of the Artic
The climate of the Arctic, classified as polar, is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers.
all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter
the climate of much of the Arctic is moderated by the ocean water, which can never have a temperature below −2 °C (28 °F)
Arctic days lengthen rapidly in April, and the sun rises higher in the sky during this time as well.
In spring, most of the Arctic is still experiencing winter conditions, but with the addition of sunlight.
The low springtime cloud frequency there and the high elevation, which reduces the amount of solar radiation absorbed or scattered by the atmosphere, combine to give this region the highest surface flux of solar radiation anywhere in the Arctic. However, the high elevation, and corresponding lower temperatures, help keep the bright snow from melting, limiting the warming effect of all this solar radiation.
Polar climate may be further subdivided into tundra climate (the warmest month of which has an average temperature below 50°F/10°C but above 32°F/0°C) and ice cap climate (all months average below 32°F/0°C, and there is a permanent snow cover). Precipitation, is extremely low, with the annual average precipitation for the regions less than 20 in. (51 cm). Persistent winds whip up fallen snow to create the illusion of constant snowfall. The climate is moderated by oceanic influences, with regions abutting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans having generally warmer temperatures and heavier snowfalls than the colder and drier interior areas. Much of the Arctic Ocean remains covered by ice throughout the year, although the extent and thickness of the summer ice has shrunk considerably since the early 1980s; in 2012 the volume of ocean ice at its smallest was less than one third what it is estimated to have been in the early 1980s.
Animals
The polar bear is a well-known animal in North Pole. It's a predator that hunt for marine life from the ice. There are artic sea birds called Puffins and the moose is the largest member of the deer family in North Pole. There is also the Alaskan malamute is a powerful sled dog from Alaska.
only 48 species of land mammals can be found, although millions of birds migrate there each year for the marshes.
Svartknausflya, on Nordaustlandet is a barren polar desert almost devoid of vegetation. This area gets so little precipitation that hardly any plant life can grow and survive.
There are 11 red-listed vascular plants in Nordaust-Svalbard and Southeast-Svalbard nature reserves. Within the former reserve there is recorded 102 species of vascular plants.
In the Arctic, the low tundra vegetation clothes a landscape of wide vistas.
Arctic tundra usually occurs only to the areas where the subsoil is permafrost, or permanently frozen soil. The polar tundra is home to several peoples who are mostly nomadic reindeer herders
The soil there is frozen from 25–90 cm (10–35 in) down, and it is impossible for trees to grow. Instead, bare and sometimes rocky land can only support low growing plants such as moss and lichen.
The tundra is covered in marshes, lakes, bogs and streams during the warm months.
Tundra tends to be in windy places (with winds often blowing upwards of 50–100 km/h (30–60 mph))
During the summer, the permafrost thaws just enough to let plants grow and reproduce, but because the ground below this is frozen, the water cannot sink any lower, and so the water
forms the lakes and marshes found during the summer months.
The biodiversity of tundra is low: 1,700 species of vascular plants
Tundra is largely devoid of poikilotherms such as frogs or lizards.