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Polar seas is a collective term for the Arctic Ocean (about 4-5 percent of Earth's oceans) and the southern part of the Southern Ocean (south of Antarctic Convergence, about 10 percent of Earth's oceans). In the coldest years, sea ice can cover around 13 percent of the Earth's total surface at its maximum, but out of phase in the two hemispheres.
Much of the Arctic Ocean is covered by sea ice that varies in extent and thickness seasonally. The mean extent of the Arctic sea ice has been continuously decreasing in the last decades, declining at a rate of currently 12.85% per decade since 1980 from the average winter value of 15,600,000 km 2 (6,023,200 sq mi). [48]
The status of certain portions of the Arctic sea region is in dispute for various reasons. Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States all regard parts of the Arctic seas as national waters (territorial waters out to 12 nautical miles (22 km)) or internal waters. There also are disputes regarding what passages constitute ...
Visualization of the ice and snow covering Earth's northern and southern polar regions Northern Hemisphere permafrost (permanently frozen ground) in purple. The polar regions, also called the frigid zones or polar zones, of Earth are Earth's polar ice caps, the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles.
The word Arctic comes from the Greek word ἀρκτικός (arktikos), "near the Bear, northern" [4] and from the word ἄρκτος (arktos), meaning bear. [5] The name refers either to the constellation known as Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which is prominent in the northern portion of the celestial sphere, or to the constellation Ursa Minor, the "Little Bear", which contains the celestial ...
The Arctic Basin has snow 320 days out of the year while the Arctic Seas have snow cover 260 days a year. [8] The thickness of the snow averages 30–40 cm (12–16 in). [ 8 ] In Greenland , temperatures have an average temperature of −40 °C (−40 °F) in the winter and in the summer the temperatures reach −12 °C (10 °F).
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The Arctic Circle, roughly 67° north of the Equator, defines the boundary of the Arctic waters and lands. The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. [1] Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle.