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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]
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.
On Dec. 21, 2024, the Antarctic sea ice extent was higher than on Dec. 21, 2016, but the Arctic sea ice extent was lower on that date in 2024 compared to 2016, according to government data.
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 ...
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 ...
A map of the Arctic. The red line is the 10 °C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region; also shown is the Arctic Circle. The white area shows the average minimum extent of sea ice in summer as of 1975. [1] The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters
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