Arctic

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Arctic

The Arctic (; from Ancient Greek ἄρκτος (árktos) 'bear') is the polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying north of the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway (Nordland, Troms, Finnmark, Svalbard and Jan Mayen), northernmost Sweden (Västerbotten, Norrbotten and Lappland), northern Finland (North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and Lappi), Russia (Murmansk, Siberia, Nenets Okrug, Novaya Zemlya), the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), and northern Iceland (Grímsey and Kolbeinsey), along with the Arctic Ocean and adjacent seas. Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover, with predominantly treeless permafrost under the tundra. Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places. The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth's ecosystems. The cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold and extreme conditions. Life in the Arctic includes zooplankton and phytoplankton, fish and marine mammals, birds, land animals, plants, and human societies. Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic.

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• Arctic | Definition, Climate, People, & Facts - Britannica

  Arctic, northernmost region of Earth, centred on the North Pole and characterized by distinctively polar conditions of climate, plant and animal life, and other physical features. The term is derived from the Greek arktos (“bear”), referring to the northern constellation of the Bear. It has sometimes been used to designate the area within the Arctic Circle—a mathematical line that is drawn at latitude 66°30′ N, marking the southern limit of the zone in which there is at least one annual period of 24 hours during which the sun does not set and one during which it does not rise. This line, however, is without value as a geographic boundary, since it is not keyed to the nature of the terrain. [...] Last updated •History Top Questions What is the Arctic? Where is the Arctic located on Earth? What kind of climate does the Arctic have? What plants and animals are found in the Arctic? How do people live and survive in the Arctic? How is climate change affecting the Arctic region? ## News • Arctic blast brings snow and wind to the Great Lakes and Northeast • Dec. 30, 2025, 12:20 PM ET (AP) Trump's appointment of envoy to Greenland sparks new tension with Denmark • Dec. 22, 2025, 7:23 PM ET (AP) Trump announces he's appointing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to serve as US special envoy to Greenland • Dec. 21, 2025, 11:47 PM ET (AP) Arctic air mass pushes to the U.S. South; Midwest also bracing for dangerous wind chills • Dec. 14, 2025, 7:28 AM ET (AP) [...] Conditions typical of Arctic lands are extreme fluctuations between summer and winter temperatures; permanent snow and ice in the high country and grasses, sedges, and low shrubs in the lowlands; and permanently frozen ground (permafrost), the surface layer of which is subject to summer thawing. Three-fifths of the Arctic terrain is outside the zones of permanent ice. The brevity of the Arctic summer is partly compensated by the long daily duration of summer sunshine.

• Arctic

  The Arctic region is especially vulnerable to the effects of any climate change, as has become apparent with the reduction of sea ice in recent years. Climate models predict much greater climate change in the Arctic than the global average, resulting in significant international attention to the region. In particular, there are concerns that Arctic shrinkage, a consequence of melting glaciers and other ice in Greenland, could soon contribute to a substantial rise in sea levels worldwide. [...] | Regions | Arctic Alaska British Arctic Territories Canadian Arctic Archipelago Finnmark Greenland Iceland Inuvialuit Karelia Komi Northern Canada Northwest Territories Nunavik Nunavut Nunatsiavut Russian Arctic "Far North (Russia)") + North Sakha Sápmi Yukon North American Arctic | | Climate | Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Arctic dipole anomaly Arctic haze Arctic oscillation Arctic sea ice + decline + ecology and history Arctic methane emissions Climate change in the Arctic Climate of Alaska Effects of global warming on marine mammals Polar climate Polar amplification Polar vortex | [...] 1. ^ a b "arctic". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). HarperCollins. Retrieved 4 January 2019. "The American Heritage Dictionary entry: Arctic". Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2016.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). 2. ^ Harper, Douglas. "arctic". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 16 November 2011. "Arctic - Etymology, Origin & Meaning". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2015.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). 3. ^ Krembs, Christopher; Deming, Jody (18 November 2006). "Organisms that thrive in Arctic sea ice". NOAA. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010.

• Arctic FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions about the Arctic

  The Arctic has been changing in the last 30 years. Some of the clearest indicators of this change are warming of spring temperatures in Alaska, the warming of winter temperaturess in N Europe, the loss of sea ice area in the central Arctic, and the conversion of tundra to wetlands and shrub lands in E. Siberia and NW Canada and Alaska. These changes in physical conditions also have impacted marine and terrestrial ecosystems. An overview of the current status of the Arctic from 1970 to the present can be seen in this table of Arctic Change Indicators. Changes in the last decade are continuing, major and unprecedented. [...] 1. Where is the Arctic? In the strictest sense, the Arctic is all of the Earth north of the Arctic Circle, located at approximately 66 degrees, 34 minutes North Latitude.\ However, there are other definitions of the Arctic to suit specific scientific or political interests. For instance, the U.S. Congress has decreed that all of the Bering Sea, which extends southward to about 53 degrees North Latitude, is part of the Arctic for internal U.S. planning and budgeting purposes. Others make use of such markers as the southernmost extent of winter sea ice for oceanic boundaries of the Arctic, or the treeline for terrestrial boundaries. [...] The size of the Arctic: The Arctic region, defined as the Arctic Ocean and surrounding land, including all of Greenland and Spitsbergen, and the northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Norway, and Russia, is 14.5 million square kilometers (5.5 million square miles), as indicated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute educational website , which also offers a map showing this and other boundaries of the Arctic. The size of the Arctic Ocean: The National Geophysical Data Center states that the Arctic Ocean covers an area of 15,558,000 square kilometers, and the total surface area of the earth is 510,082,000 square kilometers. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory | Arctic Zone oar.pmel.arctic.webmaster@noaa.gov

• Arctic Region - Arctic Centre

  ## What is Life Like in the Arctic? The Arctic is a vast and varied region, whose annual cycle is influenced by the strong variation in the amount of light. The further north you are, the more there are daylight hours in winter and nightless nights in summer. In the Arctic, winters are long, and the growing season is short. The Arctic land area comprises only about 5% of the land surface of Earth (Arctic Biodiversity Assessment 2013). [...] The Arctic has a sea in the middle (Arctic Ocean), but the Antarctic has a continent (Antarctica). Arctic lands are much more diverse in nature than the Antarctica. The Antarctica separated from other lands 23 million years ago and has been almost completely covered by ice for 15 million years. There are no land-based predators in Antarctica, which has allowed the flightless penguins to survive. When there is summer in the Arctic, there is winter in the Antarctica and vice versa. The polar areas are bathed in the sun during the summer, and in the winter, you will not see the sun at all. The Arctic has been inhabited for thousands of years and still has dozens of indigenous peoples. There are no permanent residents in Antarctica and there are no states. [...] ## What Does the Word Arctic Mean? The Arctic is named after the Greek word for bear. The bear is in Greek άρκτος, or kktos, which is also a word in the constellations of the Big Bear (in Greek Μεγάλη Άρκτος) and the Little Bear (in Greek Μικρή Άρκτος), which appear in the northern starry sky. Black bear (Ursus americanus) wanders in Alaska. Photo: Paula Kankaanpää. ## What is the Difference Between the Arctic and the Antarctic? The northern polar region of the Earth is called the Arctic and the southern polar region is known as the Antarctic.

• 2024 Arctic Report Card documents rapid, dramatic change - Climate

  In September 2024, the extent of Arctic sea ice, which has a profound influence on the polar environment, was the sixth-lowest in the 45-year satellite record. All 18 of the lowest September minimum ice extents have occurred in the last 18 years. Arctic Ocean regions that were ice-free in August have been warming at a rate of 0.5 degrees F (0.3 degrees C) per decade since 1982. In most of the shallow seas that ring the Arctic Ocean, August mean sea surface temperatures were 3.6–7.2 degrees F (2–4 degrees C) warmer than 1991-2020 averages, while the Chukchi Sea were 1.8–7.2 degrees F (1–4 degrees C) cooler than average.

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