Exploiting the Artic

Plants and animals of the arctic desert. Like the arctic tundra, the desert is considered a harsh place to live. Nevertheless, in the first case, it is very easy for animals to survive, since they can feed on the gifts of the tundra. In the desert, conditions are much more difficult and it is very difficult to get food. Nevertheless, the area is covered with open vegetation, which occupies half of the entire desert. There are no trees and bushes, but small areas with lichen, moss, and algae can be found in rocky areas. Herbaceous plants are represented by thickets and grasses. In the Arctic wilderness, you can also find broken, polar poppy, starfish, kakayu, butterfly, mint, alpine foxtail, saxophone and other species.

Seeing the island of greenery gives the impression of an oasis under endless ice and snow. The soil is frozen and thin (it stays that way almost all year round). Permafrost goes to a depth of 600-1000 m and makes it difficult to drain water. In the hot season, melt water lakes appear in the desert area. The soil has almost no nutrients, it contains a lot of sand. In general, there are no more than 350 species of plants. In the south of the desert, you can find thickets of polar willow and dry trees.

Due to the lack of phytomass, there is very little animal life in the ice zone. Only 16 species of birds live here, including luriks, guillemots, fulmars, glaucous gulls, kittiwakes, guillemots, snowy owls and others. Terrestrial fauna includes arctic wolves, New Zealand deer, musk oxen, lemmings and arctic foxes. Pinnipeds are represented by walruses and seals. Despite the harsh living conditions, the Arctic desert is attractive enough for mining. The main natural resources are oil and gas. In addition, in the snow-covered areas, you can find fresh water, catch valuable fish and other minerals. Unique, intact, awe-inspiring glaciers attract thousands of tourists with added economic benefits.

Arctic regions contain deposits of copper, nickel, mercury, tin, tungsten, platinoids and rare earth elements. In the desert you can find reserves of precious metals (silver and gold).

The biodiversity of this region is highly dependent on humans. Disruption of the natural habitat of animals or a slight change in soil cover can have serious consequences. Today, the Arctic is one of the main sources of fresh water, as it contains up to 20% of the world's reserves.

3. 
   The land surface of the Eurasian mainland mainly consists of the Russian plain, the northern edge of the West Siberian lowland, and others. At the same time, some mountains entered here, among them the mountains of Northeast Asia, the Birranga on the Taimyr Peninsula, and the northern part of the Ural Mountains, which are large Arctic mountains. In the continental part of North America, lower (mainly 200-400 m) plains occupy a large area. All of the Arctic islands are continental in origin, and all but Greenland are located on the continental shelf. The surface of the islands consists mostly of mountains. The highest mountains are in the east of Greenland (Mount Gunbjörn 3700 m - the highest peak of the Arctic), Baffin Land and Elsmere Island. The width of the continental shelf near the coast of Eurasia is 1200-1300 km. From the continental shelf to the central part of the ocean there are a series of ridges and heights. The largest of them is the Lomonosov Ridge, which separates the Canadian Siberian Trench and the Greenland European Trench. The Arctic region is a natural region of the Earth. It includes a large part of the Arctic. On land, the Arctic region includes the zone of arctic ice deserts. The seas are covered with thick ice. The boundary of the Arctic region corresponds to the 5° isotherm of the warmest month (July or August). Arctic air masses dominate. Arctic cold desert landscapes are scattered, the climate is cold, covered by permafrost, the soils are not well developed, biological and geochemical processes are very slow. According to the researchers, climate change in this region was faster than anywhere else between 1979 and 2021.
   

Although there is a consensus among scientists that the Arctic climate is rapidly changing, there are different views on this. For example, the Arctic Council, based in Norway, reported in 2021 that the temperature in this regionhas increased by 3.1 degrees Celsius on average over the last 40 years.Thisis 3 times more than the global indicator.
"Scientific literature notes that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other places. Therefore, the result of our research surprised me a little," said Antti Lipponen, an employee of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
In general, it has been found that climate change is progressing differently in different parts of the Arctic. For example, the temperature in the areas near the Spitsbergen archipelago and Novaya Zemlya island increased by an average of 1.25 degrees.
The warming of the Arctic affects the whole world. For example, the melting of the Greenland ice sheet will cause the ocean level to rise by 6 meters.

“Climate change is caused by humans. As the Arctic warms, its ice melts and sea levels rise. The changes here will affect all of us," said Lipponen. Luca Belelli Marchesi, an Italian scientist from the Far Eastern Federal University, shared the results of research conducted in the Arctic at an international symposium. According to him, the climate of the Arctic region is changing 3-4 times faster than the average global climate change, the press service of the University reports.

The scientist presented the results of his research on determining the amount of carbon dioxide in the Arctic region at the 9th International Symposium held in Yakutsk. More than 120 climatologists, ecologists and biologists from 16 countries gathered at the conference.
In the conclusion of several years of research conducted in cooperation with Russian and European scientists in Greenland, the North Atlantic, the North of Russia and Siberia, the scientist stated that the Arctic is one of the important regions, and the amount of greenhouse gases on the planet is strongly dependent on the climate of this region.
"Permafrost in the Arctic stores a huge amount of carbon, if the glaciers continue to melt, these gases can be added to the Earth's atmosphere," the Italian scientist was quoted as saying by the OO'U press service.

According to him, in the last 50 years, the average air temperature in Yakutia increased by 2.1 ± 0.6 degrees, but in some cases this number was 3 degrees.

4. 
   The main characteristic of arctic climate is low temperature throughout the year. Even in summer, the sun heats the earth less than when it is below. In winter, the air becomes extremely cold (the polar night lasts longer). 50 - 80 kcal of heat falls on 1 cm2 per year. The average temperature in January is 3° in the south of the Atlantic sector, and it reaches 40° in the central part, and in July it ranges from 10° (at the southern border) to 0° (in the central part). Near the North Pole, the lowest temperature is -55°, -60° and the highest temperature is 6°. Winter in the Arctic.In the central part of the Arctic, the wind is not so strong, in the southern part there are frequent strong (15 m/s and more) winds. Since the temperature is low and there is little evaporation, there is not much absolute humidity in the air. 75-100 mm of rain falls in the central part, and 300-400 mm in the southern part. In the Arctic, there are blizzards and fog in winter. Cabbage is covered with sprouts. It rains often in summer. because the temperature is low, there are many glaciers. In some regions (Alaska, Eastern Siberia) there are fossil ices. The weather and climate conditions in the Arctic are among the harshest on the planet. Apart from the very low temperature here, the weather can change drastically by 7-10 degrees Celsius.
   

In the Arctic region, the polar night begins, which lasts from 50 to 150 days, depending on the geographical location. At this time, the sun is not visible on the horizon, so the earth does not receive enough heat and light. The incoming heat is dissipated by clouds, snow cover, and glaciers.
Winter begins here in late September - early October. The average temperature in January is -22 degrees Celsius. In some places it is relatively acceptable, ranging from -1 to -9 degrees, in the coldest places it drops below -40 degrees. The water in the water is different: in the Barents Sea -25 degrees, on the Canadian coast -50 degrees, in some places even -60 degrees.
Local residents are waiting for spring in the Arctic, but it is short-lived. At this time, the heat does not come yet, but the sun illuminates the earth more. In mid-May, the temperature is above 0 degrees Celsius. Sometimes it rains. As the ice melts, it begins to move.

Summer in the Arctic is short, lasting only a few days. In the south of the region, the number of days with temperatures above zero is about 20, and in the north - 6-10 days. In July, the air temperature is 0-5 degrees, and on the mainland, the temperature can sometimes rise to + 5- + 10 degrees. At this time, northern fruits and flowers bloom, and mushrooms grow. And even in summer, frosts appear in some places.

Autumn comes at the end of August, and it does not last long, because at the end of September, winter comes again. At this time, the temperature varies from 0 to -10 degrees. The polar night will come again, it will be cold and dark.