Help the development of the site, sharing the article with friends!
Currently, there are many articles and research about the perpetual ice of the planet, because each year, it is more frequent that its extensive ice sheets are melting, as a direct effect of global warming on Earth. However, it was not all bad news about perpetual ice, because during the discovery of these incredible habitats (more than a century ago), the great news of having discovered the last frontiers of the world that allowed humans to reach the poles , filled everyone who heard about perpetual ice with admiration.
Do not miss this interesting article by Green Ecologist in which you will discover the main characteristics of the perpetual ice: climate, flora, fauna and images.
Characteristic climate of perpetual ice
The permafrost they are also known as polar ice, since we can find them only and exclusively in the poles of the earth. They are made up of marine waters that freeze along the coasts of these polar regions, both to the north (Arctic) and south of the planet (Antarctica). There are permanent ice that occupy an area of a few meters, as well as several hundred kilometers. They are always fixed, they do not move either due to the action of possible water currents or due to strong winds (sometimes even higher than 300 km / h).
The climate of polar or perpetual ice It is characterized, mainly, by temperatures that vary between -30 ºC and -50 ºC throughout the year, which is why the average for the warmest month is always below 0 ºC. The thickness of the ice as well as the relief that it acquires depends directly on the environmental conditions and the seasons of the year that are happening, so that the permanent ice extensions can acquire both flat and smooth forms and more irregular profiles. In addition, the depth that permanent ice reaches is variable, from 10 meters in sub-arctic areas to more than 20 meters deep in the Arctic Ocean.
In the following sections we will learn about the flora and fauna that inhabit these perpetual cold ice on the planet. In addition, to expand the information on the current state of this part of the planet, we advise you to read this other post with Facts about the melting of the poles.
Flora of perpetual ice
This is the vegetation of perpetual ice, both in the North Pole area and in the South Pole area:
Arctic Flora (North Pole)
In the Arctic region, permanent ice has three types of vegetation, whose species are adapted either to polar deserts, boreal forests or, on the contrary, to the habitat of the Arctic tundra. You can better know these regions of planet Earth by entering these other Green Ecologist articles about:
- Polar ecosystem: characteristics, flora and fauna.
- Boreal forests: characteristics, flora and fauna.
- Tundra: characteristics, flora and fauna.
In this way, the vegetation of the perpetual ice of the North Pole has abundant lichens, snow algae, arctic grasses and even vast coniferous forests. Learn more about coniferous forests: characteristics, flora and fauna in this other post.
Flora of Antarctica (South Pole)
The vegetation of the perpetual ice of Antarctica is devoid of trees and shrubs. Instead it houses about 350 species of lichens, mosses, abundant non-marine microalgae and grasses, among which the Antarctic grass stands out (Deschampsia antarctica) and the Antarctic pearl (Colobanthus quitensis). Each and every one of these perpetual ice plants find their natural habitat preferably in coastal areas of the South Pole.
Fauna of the perpetual ice
Regarding the perpetual or polar ice animals, this is much more varied than vegetation, as we detail below:
Arctic fauna (North Pole)
Among the wonderful fauna biodiversity of the North Pole, different species of birds, fish and mammals stand out, all of them acclimatized to the habitat of the perpetual ice of the Arctic. Among the different adaptations and special behaviors that these species have developed to survive in such a cold and inhospitable environment, the thick layers of fat under the skin and multilayers of hair and feathers that they use as thermal insulation stand out, as well as seasonal migrations and hibernation during the coldest winter.
Thus, on the coasts of the Arctic we find:
- Marine fish: salmon (genus Salmo) and trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
- Herbivores: the curious dark lemings (Myopus schisticolor) and the majestic caribou (Rangif.webper tarandus)
- Predators or carnivores: arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus), polar bears (Ursus maritimus) and numerous species of raptors.
To learn more about the fauna of the Arctic, we show you here information about the Endangered Animals of the North Pole.
Fauna of Antarctica (South Pole)
Known worldwide as the "kings of Antarctica", emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) Y antarctic sea lions (Arctophoca gazella), inhabit the coasts that the vast perpetual ice forms at the South Pole.
However, there are more species of birds and marine mammals that inhabit these distant and cold environments, such as:
- Pay them Antarctic (Stercorarius maccormicki)
- Antarctic ternsSterna vittata)
- Imperial cormorants (Leucocarbo atriceps)
- Kelp gulls (Larus dominicanus)
- Elephant seals (Mirounga leonina)
- Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus)
- Killer whales (Orcinus orca)
- Blue whalesBalaenoptera musculus)
- Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis)
Small arthropods (mites and ticks) and other invertebrates, such as nematode worms, are also abundant, all of them characteristic for their ability to tolerate low temperatures and resist ice, taking refuge under stones and rocks.
Discover much more about the fauna of these frozen parts of planet Earth in this other post in which we tell you what animals live in the North and South Pole.
Images of the most incredible perpetual ice on the planet
Next, we present a perpetual ice gallery more surprising that we can find in different corners of the planet, both in the Arctic Sea of the North Pole (constituting an immense mass of ice located on water, not on land), and in Antarctica or the South Pole.
If you want to read more articles similar to Perpetual ice: climate, flora, fauna and images, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.
Bibliography- Mendoza, E. (2000) The climate of the Argentine northwest: the climate and natural vegetation. South American Climatological Laboratory, pp: 267-281.
- Fairbridge, R. (2002) History of the Earth's Climate, Paleobiology: Selected Readings. Faculty of Sciences UNAM, Project The presses of science, pp: 93-129.
- Martínez, L. (2009) Thaw in the Arctic. Ambiosciences, Journal of Scientific Dissemination, University of León, Volume 5, pp: 21-27.
