Cold Weather In The Arctic Region example essay topic

The Arctic Region There are probably many people who wonder what is the Arctic Region? What animals or people live there? Well for those who may not know, the Arctic Region is made up of oceans surrounded by continental land masses and islands. The Central Arctic Ocean is covered with ice all year-round, and snow and ice are on the land for most of the year.

The southern limit of the Arctic Region is place at the Arctic Circle (latitude 66 degrees, 32 minutes north). The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line that marks the latitude above where the sun doesn't set on the day of summer, which is usually June 21st and doesn't rise on the day of winter usually December 21st. North of this latitude, periods of on-going daylight or night last up to six months at the North Pole. The warmest month is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit/ 10 degrees Celsius. The coldest month is about minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Besides the Arctic Region and its climate, there are animals that live in and adapt to the Arctic Region.

Some of the animals that live in this climate are the Walrus, Arctic Fox, and the Musk ox. The way these animals adapt to their surroundings is very smart. Let's take the walrus for example. According to the article Life in a Deep Freeze, the walrus keeps warm even while digging for clams on the bottom of cold ocean waters. The walrus has a 6-inch layer of blubber to block out the cold. During deep-sea dives, warm blood moves away from the top of the skin to the inside of the body.

This helps the walrus keep its body heat stable at about 99 degrees Fahrenheit. When the walrus moves to shore, blood flows back to the skin. On the other hand, the Arctic Fox adapts to the Arctic region differently. As the winter comes, the fox changes its brown summer fur for a longer, heavier snow-white coat. The new coat keeps the fox warm and -2- hidden from predators, like the wolf. A special blood flow system helps the fox hang onto its normal body temperature.

Warm blood going through the fox's legs heat up the cool blood coming back from its feet. This means that the Arctic has a warm body and cold feet, but having cold feet is good for the fox because ice doesn't stick to cold toes. Moreover, the Musk ox also has a different way to adapt to the Arctic Region. It has lots of hair to keep it warm. The Musk ox's hairy outer coat covers everything but its feet. Underneath the outside layer of the long, thick hair is even more hair-a soft woolly coat.

The Musk ox sheds this hair when the weather gets warmer. Muskoxen also have curved hooves with sharp rims. That gives them good footing on icy slopes. Apart from animals living in the Arctic Region and adapting to their surroundings, there are people who are called indigenous people who are people originally living in a certain area or region. Indigenous people who live in the Arctic have adapted to the environment using different kinds of strategies. Depending on the location where they live, indigenous people depend on marine animals as a type of food to eat.

Hunted animals involve caribous, reindeer's, muskoxen, seals, walruses, whales, birds like ducks and geese, and fish. Gathering plants and berries for sources of food and medicinal purposes is also important. The indigenous people of the Arctic are also very smart in navigating and understanding the Arctic environment. The people of the Arctic depend on the rivers and oceans as another type of food and as a way to move around. They are very good at reading the conditions of the weather, land, snow, ice etc... to help them navigate well.

-3- As you can see, despite the cold weather in the Arctic Region, there are people and animals that actually live and adapt to this type of weather. It's kind of neat how different people and animals around the United States adapt to their cold weather surroundings versus people and animals that live in the Arctic Region. I know it's a big difference in both locations because what's cold for humans and animals in the United States might be warm for humans and animals in the Arctic Region. Either way, it would be interesting for anyone to one day visit the Arctic Region and compare it to their home climate or vise-versus.