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The Arctic vs. the Antarctic - Camille Seaman

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    On our planet,
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    we have two polar regions:
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    the Arctic, whose name comes from
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    the Greek Arktikos, of the North,
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    and the Antarctic
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    from Antarktikos,
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    opposite of the North.
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    But there's an easier way to remember them
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    if you just remember what surrounds them.
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    The Arctic, situated in the Northern hemisphere of our planet,
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    is an ocean entirely surrounded by land.
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    On the other side of the world,
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    the Antarctic is a continent
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    entirely surrounded by ocean.
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    So, the Arctic has polar bears but no penguins,
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    and the Antarctic has penguins but no polar bears.
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    Let's talk about the Arctic first.
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    The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean
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    surrounded by treeless permafrost.
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    The area can be defined
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    as the region between the Arctic Circle
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    and the North Pole.
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    If you were to stand at the North Pole,
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    everywhere you looked, in all directions,
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    would be south.
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    But standing at the North Pole
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    is difficult to do for very long
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    because it's in the middle of an ocean,
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    covered by constantly shifting, frozen sea ice.
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    If you were to fall into the water at the North Pole,
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    you'd fall into water that's 13,980 feet deep.
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    Above the water, average winter temperatures
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    can be as low as -40 degrees Celsius,
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    and the coldest recorded temperature
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    is approximately -68 degrees Celsius.
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    Despite these incredibly harsh conditions,
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    humans have populated areas in the Arctic
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    for thousands of years.
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    Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice,
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    zooplankton and phytoplankton,
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    fish and marine mammals,
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    birds,
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    land animals,
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    plants,
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    and human societies.
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    Okay, what about Antarctica?
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    Antarctica is Earth's southern most continent,
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    and it contains the geographic South Pole.
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    It's the fifth largest continent on the planet
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    at nearly twice the size of Australia.
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    Almost 98% of Anarctica is covered by ice
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    at least one mile in thickness.
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    Conditions in Antarctica are some of the most extreme
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    in the entire world.
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    On average, it's the coldest,
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    windiest,
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    driest continent
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    and has the highest average elevation
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    of all the continents.
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    You might think that it snows all the time at the Poles,
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    but Antarctica is so dry,
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    it's considered a desert
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    with annual precipitation
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    of only 200 millimeters along the coast
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    and far less inland.
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    The temperature in Antarctica
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    has reached -89 degrees Celsius.
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    Because it's so harsh and hard to get to,
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    there are no permanent human residents on Antarctica,
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    but anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people
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    reside throughout the year
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    at the research stations scattered across the continent.
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    Even the most extreme animals fight for survival,
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    and only cold-adapted organisms survive there,
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    including many types of algae,
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    animals,
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    bacteria,
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    fungi,
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    plants,
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    and protista.
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    But why is Antarctica colder than its northern cousin?
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    Well, first, much of the continent
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    is more than three kilometers above sea level,
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    and temperature decreases with elevation.
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    That's why mountain tops have snow on them.
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    Second, remember that the Arctic
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    is really a frozen ocean.
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    The water in the ocean beneath it
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    is warmer than the frozen ground in the Antarctic,
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    and that warmth is transferred through the ice pack.
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    This prevents temperatures in the Arctic region
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    from reaching the extremes
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    typical of the land surface of Antarctica.
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    Third, the seasons are conspiring against the Antarctic.
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    During the aphelion in July,
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    when the Earth is the farthest away from the Sun,
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    it also happens to be winter in the Antarctic,
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    which creates a double-whammy of cold
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    for the southern pole.
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    But despite being inhospitable,
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    the North and South Poles are a big reason
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    why our planet is the way it is.
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    Both of our polar regions
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    are very important climate controllers.
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    They help moderate the temperature
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    in our temperate zones
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    and give us stable weather.
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    As sea ice in the Arctic declines
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    due to climate change and global warming,
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    weather around the globe
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    becomes increasing more unstable.
Title:
The Arctic vs. the Antarctic - Camille Seaman
Speaker:
Camille Seaman
Description:

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-arctic-vs-the-antarctic-camille-seaman

How can you tell the two poles apart? Where are the penguins? What about the bears? The Arctic pole is located in the Northern Hemisphere within the deep Arctic Ocean, while the Antarctic pole is smack in the middle of the ice-covered Antarctica. Camille Seaman describes how enterprising people and organisms have found ways to reside around both poles despite the frigid temperatures.

Lesson by Camille Seaman, animation by Provincia Studio.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TED-Ed
Duration:
04:25
Jessica Ruby approved English subtitles for The Arctic vs. the Antarctic
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The Arctic vs. the Antarctic
Jessica Ruby edited English subtitles for The Arctic vs. the Antarctic
Jessica Ruby accepted English subtitles for The Arctic vs. the Antarctic
Andrea McDonough edited English subtitles for The Arctic vs. the Antarctic

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