DK - DKFindout! Arctic and Antarctic

Author: Anita Ganeri Consultant: Simon Morley

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Pola r regi ons L and a nd sea ice G laciers and icebergs Auroras P ola r bears P eng uins L and mammals S ea giants P ola r birds U nusual animals F lora and fauna Food web S urv ival tactics M igrating animals A n t a r c t i c k r i l l Senior editors Carrie Lo ve, R oohi Sehgal US editors Shannon Beatty , M indy Fichter Proj ect editors Robin Moul, Radhika Haswani Editorial support Madhurima Chatterjee Proj ect art editors Eleanor Bates, Roohi Rais Art editors Bhagyashr ee Nayak, Mohd Zishan Publ ishing coordinato r Issy Wa lsh Jacket designer Rashika Kachr oo DTP designers Sachin Gupta, Syed Md F arh an, V ikram Singh Proje ct picture re searcher Sakshi Saluja Produ ction editor Abi Maxwell Produ ction controller Isabell Schart Managing editors P enny Smith, Monica Saigal Managing art editor Ivy Sengupta Delhi team heads Glenda Fe rnandes, Malavika T al ukder Deputy art dire ctor Mabel Chan Publ ishing director Sarah Larter Educational consultant Jacqueline Harris DIGITA L OPERA TI ONS, DELHI Senior Manager Lakshmi Rao Senior Pr oducer Suruchi Kakkar Produ ction Manager Nain Singh Rawat Produ ction co-ordinator Manish Bhatt DK CREAT IVE, DELHI Proje ct editor Radhika Haswani Senior art editor Roohi Rais Managing editor Monica Saigal Managing art editor Ivy Sengupta First A merican Edition, 2022 Pub lished in the United States by DK Pu blishing 1745 Broadway , 20 th Floor, New Yo rk, NY 10019 Copyright 2022 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Div ision of P en guin Random House LLC All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this p ublication may be re produced, stor ed in or introduced into a r etrieval system, or t ransmitted, in a ny form, or by any means (electronic, mecha nical, photocopying, record ing, o r otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner . Pub lished in Grea t Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited A catalog r ecord for this book is available from the Libr ary of Co ngress. eISBN: 9780744070347 DK books are available at special discounts when purc hased in bulk for sales promotions, pre miums, fundraising, or educational use. For details, contact: DK P ub lishing Special Markets, 1745 Broadway , 20 th Floor, New Yo rk, NY 10019 SpecialSales@dk.com www.dk.com The scale box es on pages 1617, 1819, and 2021 of this book sho w you how big an animal is compar ed t o a person who is 6 f t (1 .8 m) tall . Scale

D o people live here ? Food M yth busters Pola r explorers R esearch stations U nusual places Pola r escapade N atural re sources P ol es in peril E ndangered animals M eet the expert S hrinking ice P rotecting the po les P ola r facts and figure s Exploring the poles C areers at the poles G lossary Index Acknowledgments Q uiz Q uiz answers A r c t i c p o p p y Litter cleanup South polar skua B o b t a i l s q u i d W a l r u s

Located at the very ends of the Eart h, the polar regi onsthe A rctic and Antarc ticare among the coldest and windiest places on the planet. Th ey are so cold par tly becaus e the sun s rays hit them a t an angle and sprea d out over a wide area. A dditionally , the white color of ice refl ects the sun s heat back into space. The Arct ic The Arc tic includes the Arctic Ocean, the nort hern part s of Nort h America, Europe, and Asia , as well as the isl and of Greenland. A huge ic e sheet covers much of Gree nland. In the Antarctic , average winter temperatures fall below 77F ( 60C) ! W O W ! ! The Arctic Oc ean is partly frozen fo r most of the year . Where on Earth? The Arc tic is the regi on around the Nort h Po le, at the Earth s norther nmost point. The Antarc tic is the regi on around the South P ole , at the southernmost point . I can blend in with the snow anytime!

The Antarc tic This re gion includ es the vast ice-co vered continent of Antarct ica, and the sea around it (the Southern Ocean). Bu ried under the ice are mountains, valleys, and volcanoes. Antarctica co unts as a desert because it gets so little rain. Flowering plants of the Arctic L ichen in the Antarctic Veg etation Despite the ice and cold, many types of plants gr ow at the poles. In the Arct ic, there are gra sses, mosses, and flowering plants . In the Antarctic, there are mainly lichens, mosses, and liverwo rts. It's freezing out here! Let's h urry for a huddle to stay warm. Hello there ! Albatross soar ove r the Southern Ocean.

More than 70 percen t of Greenland is covered in a n ice sheet. Land ice Large areas of the Arc tic and Antarctic ar e covered with differe nt types of ice, both on land and out at sea. Some of t his polar ice melts in summer, while some stays fro zen all year r ound. Ross Ice Shelf , A ntarctica Ice caps in Antarct ica Greenland ice sheet The Ross Ice Shelf is around the same size as Fr ance. The tops of mountains can be seen sticking above the ice. Ice caps An ice cap is a thick layer of ice that covers a large area of land. It can even bur y l arge natural fe atures, such as mountains. Ice shelves An ice shelf is a huge slab of ice that stay s fixed to an ice sheet or gl acier, but fl oats on the sea. Ice sheets Ice sheets ar e vast are as of ice on land. Th ey are so big that there ar e only two in the world: one covering Antarc tica, and one co vering most of Greenland. Land ice

Arctic brash ice What is permafrost? In the land around the Arct ic Ocean, the ground beneath the surfa ce is froze n all year long. Even in summer , only the top few inches thaw . Frozen grou nd in Norway Sea birds on an ice floe Pancake ic e Ice floes can make the water very dang erous for ships. Panca ke ice Some pieces of sea ice are fl at and round, like pancakes. They hav e raised edges because their ri ms turn up when they bash into each other at sea . Ice f lo es An ice f lo e is a large, f la t piece of sea ice. Giant f lo es can measure 6.5 miles (10 km) across. Th e smallest f lo es are called ice cakes. Pack ic e forms when salt water freezes. It drifts on the surf ace in pieces. Brash ice Brash ice is a jumble of broken pieces of sea ice. It often f orms when ice fl oes smash into each other. Sea ice