Strategic significance Of

Antarctica and Arctic

Abdul Lateef
Bs.IR (4th semester)
Roll No. 53
Group k
Antarctica –
Coldest and Least
Friendly Place on Earth
Antarctica (introduction)

 Antarctica is Earth's southernmost continent, encapsulating the

South Pole. It is situated in the Antarcticregion of the Southern
Hemisphere, almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle, and is
surrounded by the Southern Ocean. it is the fifth-largest continent
in area after Asia, Africa, North America, and South America
Geography - Antarctica
 • Icy continent at the South Pole.
 • Covered by permafrost (permanently frozen groundd)
 • Surrounded by water
 • About 1 ½ times larger than the United States
 • Has the world’s largest desert is on Antarctica
 • 98% of the land is covered with ice
 • Has about 87% of the world’s ice.ole.
 • Covered by permafrost (permanently frozen Ground)
 • Surrounded by water
 • About 1 1/2 times larger than the United States
 • Has the world's largest desert is on Antarctica
 • 98% of the land is covered with ice
 • Has about 87% of the world's ice.
Climate – Antarctica

 Coldest, windiest, and driest place on Earth.

 The coldest temperature ever recorded on
 Earth was at the South Pole; it reached -128.6°F On
average, most of Antarctica gets less than 2 inches of
snow fall each year.
 Why do you think that Antarctica is so much
colder than the Arctic?
Antarctica is a continent surrounded by an ocean which
means that interior areas do not benefit from the
moderating influence of water.
• With 98% of its area covered with snow and ice, the
Antarctic continent reflects most of the sun's light
rather than absorbing it.
• During the winter, the size of Antarctica doubles as the
surrounding sea water freezes, effectively blocking heat
transfer from the warmer surrounding ocean.
• Antarctica has a higher average elevation than any
other continent on Earth which results in even colder
temperatures.
Ice- Antarctica

• Thickest ice is 15,000 feet thick. That’s

• About 5,000 feet in a mile
• Estimate how many miles thick the ice can be in
Antarctica.
• How thick was the ice at your house a few weeks
ago?
People - Antarctica

 • No permanent human residents (because of

 the extreme weather, which includes freezing
 temperatures, strong winds, and blizzards).
 • There are about 4,000 seasonal visitors to
 Antarctica (mainly scientific expeditions).
ICE WORLDS – THE ARCTIC
Location

 The Arctic is the polar region located at the North Pole of the
Earth.
 The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Alaska
(United
 States), Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway,
 Russia, and Sweden.
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

 The Arctic region consists of a vast ocean with a seasonally varying ice
 cover. The area can be defined as north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33'N),
 the approximate limit of the midnight sun and the polar night.
 Alternatively, it can be defined as the region where the average
temperature for
 the warmest month (July) is below 10 °C.
Temperature

 Average winter temperatures can be as low as −40 °C, and the

coldest recorded temperature is −68 °C.
Plants
 Arctic vegetation is composed of plants such as dwarf shrubs, herbs, lichens
and mosses which all grow and form tundra.
 Trees cannot grow in the Arctic, but in its warmest parts, shrubs are common
and can reach 2 m in height.
 In the coldest parts of the Arctic, much of the ground is bare with a few
scattered grasses and forbs (like the Arctic poppy).
ANIMALS

Herbivores
 on the tundra include the Arctic hare,
lemming, muskox,
and caribou. They are preyed on by the snowy owl,
Arctic fox and
wolff. The polar bear is also a predator, though it
prefers to hunt for marinee life from the ice.
There are also many birds and marine species endemic
to the colder regions.
Animals

 Other land animals include wolverines, ermines, and

Arctic ground squirrels.
 Marine mammals include seals, walrus, and several
species of cetacean—
 baleen whales and also narwhals, killer whales and
belugas. An excellent and famouss example of a ring
species exists and has been described around the arctic
circle in the form of the Larus gull
NATURAL RESOURCES

 The Arctic includes natural resources like oil, gas, minerals, fresh
water, fish and forest. The interest of the tourism industry is also
on the increase.
ARCTIC WATERS

 are: Arctic Ocean, Barents Sea, Bering Sea, Denmark Strait,

Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay and Norwegian Sea.