Welcome to the Arctic
Let’s journey to the top of the world. Watch this video to see how life survives in this remote and frigid landscape, dominated by snow and ice.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
| Right and Left arrows | Seek forward or backward by 5 seconds |
| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
A key feature of the Arctic is sea ice, which is ice floating on the surface of the ocean. More than just “frozen seawater,” sea ice plays a vital role in the interaction of Earth’s systems. To polar bears, found only in the Arctic, sea ice is so critical that their lives depend on it. In the winter, polar bears use sea ice as a platform from which to hunt seals, their favorite food. In the summer, when much of the ice has melted, the bears come ashore. They have to wait for the ice to freeze again in the fall before they can resume their hunting. During this time ashore, they eat very little.
But this is only one story about Earth’s systems. In this lesson, you will explore how Earth’s systems interact and how changes in these systems can impact our complex and interconnected world.
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