Arctic vs. Antarctica: Which Is Right For Your Next Expedition? Both poles carry some similarities but they are not at all the same. The Antarctic region has no trees too. Read their blog ... Icelights: Answers to your burning questions about ice and climate. Polar Animal Sort: Arctic vs Antarctic By Devany | Labels: For our final lesson in our polar animal unit, we sorted polar animals from the arctic and antarctic. Scientists blog from Antarctica and provide a glimpse of what it's like to do research in the field. Under the ice and snow is land, not ocean. This cold, fresh water layer typically allows more ice growth in the Arctic than the Antarctic. The Antarctic is characterized by the blowing of strong winds. The above images reveal another notable difference in sea ice. Read more ... Because the Arctic and Antarctic are cold, dark, and remote, we often think these two places are nearly the same. • Antarctica is a continent surrounded by the world’s stormiest seas. • Arctic area has trees while Antarctic does not. When scientists talk about the cryosphere, they mean the places on Earth where water is in its solid form, frozen into ice or snow. an ocean, covered by a thin layer of perennial sea ice and surrounded by land. They keep Antarctica far colder than the Arctic. The open ocean allows the forming sea ice to move more freely, resulting in higher drift speeds. Compared to the Antarctic, mammals abound in the Arctic on seasonal sea ice. One notable difference is that polar bears live only in the Arctic, and penguins live only in the Antarctic. Looking for facts and information? Arctic and Antarctic differ a lot when it comes to the human activity and animal and plant life existent on them. This is helped by the fact that Arctic territories are connected to continents like North America, Europe or Asia; while Antarctic is a harsh and isolated continent. Nowadays, scientists have impermanent camps in Antarctic. The Arctic is ocean surrounded by land. Filed Under: Earth Tagged With: Antarctic, Arctic, arctic and antarctic, Continent, Eskimos, Igloos, Penguins, Polar bears, seals, Koshal is a graduate in Language Studies with a Master's Degree in Linguistics. This is consistent with observations of a warming Arctic. For example, sea ice off the eastern coast of Canada extends south of Newfoundland to 50 degrees north latitude, and ice off the eastern coast of Russian extends to Bohai Bay, China, at about 38 degrees north latitude. The Arctic is largely sea, with the north pole over 400 miles away from the nearest land mass. So the Arctic Ocean has a layer of cold, fresh water near the surface with warmer, saltier water below. This year’s state of the climate report confirms that signs of a warming climate are everywhere in the Arctic: rising temperatures, retreating and thinning sea ice, reduced snow cover, warming permafrost, shrinking glaciers, and thinning ice sheets. Antarctica is quite a small continent that nobody can visit. Arctic is the region on the top-most corner of the globe while Antarctic at the bottom most corner. Humans cannot live in the Arctic. The Arctic region is also characterized by the presence of trees such as Tundra and flowering plants. Floes are more prone to converge, or bump into each other, and pile up into thick ridges. But what about the differences in sea ice between the two regions? It is interesting to note the difference in the behavior of animals of the Arctic and the Antarctic regions. Arctic vs. Antarctic. Not only Polar bears, other terrestrial animals or land animals such as wolves, foxes, hares, reindeer, lemmings and oxen can also be seen in the Arctic region. Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms. Antarctic sea ice does not reach the South Pole, extending only to about 75 degrees south latitude (in the Ross and Weddell Seas), because of the Antarctic continent. If it’… The Arctic and the Antarctic show differences in their environment, weather, animal and plant life, human activity, and the like. In contrast, the Arctic region north of the Atlantic Ocean is open to the warmer waters from the south, because of the way the ocean currents flow. If you can get past those icy temperatures, however, the Arctic and Antarctic regions are completely unique. Before Antarctica officially acquired its name, the phrase was used to describe places that contrasted the north. During the winter, up to 18 million square kilometers (6.9 million square miles) of ocean is covered by sea ice, but by the end of summer, only about 3 million square kilometers (1.1 million square miles) of sea ice remain. Great description; It is a good idea to put images to complement the description. It is important to note that Antarctica is a continent surrounded by the world’s stormiest seas whereas the Arctic is an ocean with the masses of other lands in the circle. The Arctic is a region of shared resources and ecosystems with a complex institutional system and actors. Camille Seaman describes how enterprising people and organisms have found ways to reside … A belt of floating mass of ice debris called the ice pack surrounds the continent of Antarctica. Penguins live in the Antarctic. In the Antarctic, on the other hand, signs of change due to global-scale warming are absent or inconclusive. Typical animals in Arctic vs Antarctic: Polar bears. The Arctic and parts of Antarctica are among the fastest-warming places on Earth. Antarctica is a continent surrounded by water. However, Arctic sea ice can extend all the way to the North Pole. 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. It is almost impossible to verify how many people visit the Arctic but during the 2009-2010 tourist season, over 37,000 people visited Antarctica – twice the estimated 14,000 that visited in the 1999-2000 season 10 years before. Antarctica, however, is entirely surrounded by ocean, so moisture is more readily available. But, masses of algae can be found in the Antarctic region. Secondly, Antarctica is the highest of all the continents at an average height of 2,300m (7,546 feet or 1.4 miles) more than twice the average height of Asia, the next in line and 3-6 times as high as the other continents. However, nowadays, scientists have impermanent camps in Antarctic. In sum, comparing the Arctic and Antarctic when analyzing political and institutional issues leads to the all-to-common apple-and-pear comparison. • The Arctic has indigenous people such as Inuits, Indians and Siberians, but Antarctic remains unpopulated. In the Antarctic, the currents and winds tend to flow without interruption around the continent in a west-to-east direction, acting like a barricade to warmer air and water to the north. (See Trends in the Environment section). • Arctic has a large range of marine and terrestrial animals such as whales, polar bears, wolves, etc., but Antarctic does not have any large land animals. Although sea ice moves around the Arctic basin, it tends to stay in the cold Arctic waters. Antarctica means 'no bears are all mythical'. Polar oceans are too cold for most life. Here, the Arctic sea ice receives less solar energy at the surface because the sun's rays strike at a more oblique angle, compared to lower latitudes. Share Tweet. And it’s got mountains. All rights reserved. The Arctic refers to the area around the … The Arctic gets an average of less than 20 inches of annual precipitation, and the Antarctic is functionally a desert—the area around the South Pole gets six inches of precipitation in an average year. To read NSIDC press releases on recent Arctic sea ice minima, see the Arctic Sea Ice Press Announcements Archive on the Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis Web page. However, Antarctic sea ice forms ridges much less often than sea ice in the Arctic. When it comes to animal behavior, you would find fierce animals in the Arctic region. The Arctic region has towns and other living places. The Arctic is characterized by the blowing of mild winds. Expedition to a Crumbling Ice Shelf. Flora: Mainly tundra and flowering plants. Polar travel like most forms of travel is on the rise. One of the most accessible and ready-to-use lesson plans for this topic was created by the Alaska SeaLife Center. Conversely, in western Europe, the northern coast of Norway at 70 degrees north latitude (2,000 kilometers, or 1,243 miles, farther north than Newfoundland or Japan) generally remains ice-free. The world contains a virtually limitless supply of things to compare, contrast, juxtapose, differentiate. You find penguins in the Antarctic but not in the arctic. Simply tell us if you think the answer is the Arctic, Antarctica, or perhaps even both… Difference Between Longitude and Latitude, Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms, Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza, Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19, Difference Between HTC Droid DNA and Google Nexus 4, Difference Between Pacific Time and Eastern Time, Difference Between Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Difference Between Nitronium Nitrosonium and Nitrosyl, Difference Between Trichloroacetic Acid and Trifluoroacetic Acid, Difference Between Group I and Group II Introns, Difference Between Ion Channel and Ion Pump, Difference Between Dielectric Constant and Dielectric Strength, Difference Between Endocytosis and Endoreduplication. The eastern Canadian coast is also fed by southward-flowing cold water currents that make it easier for sea ice to grow. The Arctic is a semi-enclosed ocean, almost completely surrounded by land. Also, while the Antarctic region is covered with snow all thorough the year, the Arctic lands generally have a summer, free from ice and snow. The Arctic and Antarctica have many things in common, and one is their size. This quiz couldn’t be more straightforward. On Thin Ice: The waters off the eastern coasts of Canada and Russia are affected by cold air moving off the land from the west. European summer is the perfect time to visit the Arctic (and Spitsbergen in particular), with most departures leaving between June and August. The primary difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic is a geological one. When you look at the globe, Arctic is the region on the top-most corner of the world. When you look at the globe, Antarctic is the region on the bottom-most corner of the world. For instance, in the 16th century, the colony that was built … (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. Quiz: Arctic vs Antarctic: Can you tell which is which? Polar bears live in the Arctic. Antarctica is dry—and high. As a result, almost all of the sea ice that forms during the Antarctic winter melts during the summer. As a whole, the Arctic is home to far more animals than the Antarctic. No land animals live in Antarctica but the surrounding seas have seal species such as Weddell, leopard, ross, crabeater, elephant and the Antarctic fur sea, penguin species like adelie, emperor and chinstrap and orcas (killer whales) and blue whales. In other words, Arctic and Antarctic can be defined as regions related to North and South poles. Some Arctic regions are covered with ice that is 4 to 5 meters (12 to 15 feet) thick. Camille Seaman describes how enterprising people and organisms have found ways to reside … Because sea ice does not stay in the Antarctic as long as it does in the Arctic, it does not have the opportunity to grow as thick as sea ice in the Arctic. For more information on current sea ice conditions see the Arctic Sea Ice News & Analysis Web page. These converging floes makes Arctic ice thicker. Antarctic and … Characteristics of Antarctica and the Arctic Antarctica is a continent surrounded by ocean, while the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. It is interesting to note that the Arctic region was found long before the Antarctic region was found. As a result, the sea ice that forms in the Arctic is not as mobile as sea ice in the Antarctic. Also, because there is no land boundary to the north, the sea ice is free to float northward into warmer waters where it eventually melts. Antarctic has remained an unpopulated area throughout the history. Thus, Antarctica means opposite of Arctic land, “Anti-” plus the Arctic which forms a compound word. Some Arctic regions are covered with ice that is 4 to 5 meters (12 to 15 feet) thick. Key Difference: The most obvious difference between Antarctic and Arctic is that Antarctic is located in the southern hemisphere and encompasses the South Pole region, whereas Arctic is located in the northern hemisphere and encompasses the North Pole region. The main difference between Arctic and Antarctic is that the Arctic is a polar region on the Earth's northern hemisphere and Antarctic is a region around the Earth's South Pole. The Arctic is a sea of ice surrounded by land and located at the highest latitudes of the northern hemisphere. It, and the winds that drive it, isolate Antarctica from the rest of the world. The pattern of Antarctic maximum sea ice is roughly symmetric around the pole, forming a circle around Antarctica. At a glance, the two extremes of planet earth seem almost identical – cold, snowy and untamed. However, they are quite different. So some Arctic sea ice remains through the summer and continues to grow the following autumn. The Arctic vs Antarctic: which should you visit? The Arctic. Antarctica is mostly an ice sheet, with the south pole located some 800 miles from the sea. While thickness varies significantly within both regions, Antarctic ice is typically 1 to 2 meters (3 to 6 feet) thick, while most of the Arctic is covered by sea ice 2 to 3 meters (6 to 9 feet) thick. Though both are snow filled areas, there is a difference between Arctic and Antarctic. It has indigenous people such as Inuits, Indians and Siberians. One thing worth keeping in mind is that global average surface temperature is rising, but not all regions are warmi… Arctic is characterized by the presence of the Eskimos and the Igloos. But few things so perfectly express the polarities of our planet as its literal magnetic poles – or more generally, the Arctic (north) vs. Antarctica (south). The Arctic is a circle of land masses intermingled by the Arctic Ocean, while Antarctica is a solid island of ice. The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the most powerful ocean current on the planet. See About the Cryosphere. It is true that there are no bears in Antarctica, but the name comes from a Roman version of the Greek word that is antarktike. But, the Antarctic region is qualified by the presence of marine mammals such as penguins, whales and seals. Ocean currents and winds explain these differences. What's hot in the news around climate and sea ice and what are scientists talking about now? Other than polar bears, there are other marine mammals such as whales, seals and walrus in the artic. It does not have indigenous people nor have any large land animals. Summer temperatures in the Arctic usually range between -3°C (26.6°F) and 10°C (50° … Both the Arctic and Antarctic are solid ice, with snow on top. Polar bears are seen in plenty in the arctic region. The Arctic: Cruising season is determined largely by the sea ice. Antarctica is covered by ice throughout the year, less than 5% of Antarctica is free of ice. “Anti-” is commonly a synonym for the opposite in English as well as in Greek. Why are the Arctic and Antarctic so different? The ocean under the Arctic ice is cold, but still warmer than the ice! The Antarctic is land surrounded by ocean. Unlike the north, it is a continent entirely surrounded by the ocean. The presence of ridge ice and its longer life cycle leads to ice that stays frozen longer during the summer melt. Of the 15 million square kilometers (5.8 million square miles) of sea ice that exist during winter, on average, 7 million square kilometers (2.7 million square miles) remain at the end of the summer melt season. They might be at opposite ends of the planet but, for many, the magnetic polar regions of Antarctica and the Arctic remain side by side on many a once-in-a-lifetime travel wish list. Snowfall tends to be low, except near the ice edge. 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