Search this website:. The difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic is simply that in the Arctic, the North Pole is located in the middle of the ocean, whereas in the Antarctic, the South Pole is located on a continent completely covered by millions of cubic metres of ice.
All videos, quizzes, animations and photos are copyrighted to the IPF or to their authors. Please contact us before using them. Subscribe to our mailing list to get updates about our educational projects and free educational resources. Antarctica , by contrast, is an entire continent to itself located in the southern hemisphere and 98 percent covered by an ice cap.
There are mountains reaching a maximum of just over 16, feet in height to be found there. Though it is home to dozens of scientific bases , Antarctica does not belong to any country. Numerous populations of native peoples live at the North Pole. Each in their own way, they manage to cope with the wild and extremely harsh natural environment. Inaccessible prior to the modern era, the South Pole remained untouched by human presence until Today still, this southern continent does not have any permanent inhabitants, just scientific teams that rotate on a regular basis.
In Antarctica, the marine fauna boasts sea lions, whales, seals and elephant seals, amongst other creatures. In addition, there are also around forty species of birds that inhabit the southern polar region. With human contact being both recent and extremely limited, the animals of the South Pole are quite fearless, making them a wonderful spectacle for visiting observers.
Temperatures at the North Pole can vary quite significantly , with the thermometers dropping particularly low in February.
Arctic vs Antarctic cruises? Many travelers will ask whether their first polar cruise should be to the Arctic or Antarctica, or even confuse the two. One of the most basic differences between Antarctica cruises and the Arctic cruises is the travel season.
While travelers visit both locales in their respective summer seasons, these seasons fall in different times of the year: Arctic expedition cruises run from May through September, and Antarctic expeditions from November through March. In the battle for extremes, Antarctica takes the win here. It holds the coldest temperature record at F, and winds in the winter here can reach up to miles per hour. Thankfully, our Antarctic travelers will never experience such extreme weather as expedition cruising takes place in the summer months when temps average F.
Temperatures are similar in the Arctic summer, and both Antarctica and the Arctic offer loads of sunlight, up to 24 hours a day, in their summer seasons. The Arctic encompasses a vast frozen ocean around the North Pole, surrounded by the landmasses of North America, Greenland, Svalbard, Northern Europe and Russia, while Antarctica is a frozen continent anchored by the South Pole and surrounded by vast open oceans.
While the Arctic comprises 8 countries Canada, the US, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Finland , the Antarctic comprises 0 technically, with the Antarctic Treaty freezing territorial claims and allowing the land for shared research at scientific bases only. As for getting to the Arctic, the most common access point is from Scandinavian Europe, but there are also routes from Murmansk, Russia, Alaska and Canada. Antarctica is most commonly accessed from the tip of South America: most often from Ushuaia, Argentina, for traditional cruises and Punta Arenas for air-cruise itineraries that fly over the Drake Passage.
The Arctic is home to polar bears; the Antarctic is home to penguins. Except for animated movies and zoos, you will never see them together in the wild. Other wildlife unique to the Arctic besides the polar bear are the walrus, musk ox, reindeer, arctic fox, beluga whale and narwhal, as well as a greater diversity of shorebirds. Learn more in our Arctic wildlife blog.
Unique to Antarctica beyond the many species of penguin are the leopard seal and albatross. You can spot whales in both polar regions. While the Arctic sees tundra and flowering plants, in Antarctica there is almost no vegetation save for lichens. The Antarctic has been historically deserted, though several impermanent research stations house scientists.
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