Arctic and the Environment

(Grum-Grzhimaylo, Olga A., Alfons J. M. Debets and Elena N. Bilanenko 2020).

Arctic Circle

The Arctic is usually defined as the region within the Arctic Circle with the latitude line about 66.5• North of the equator. The name "Arctic" originates from the Greek word for bear arktos. The name is not from the animal bear but from the star constellations viewed in the northern sky of the Arctic. The Arctic is spread across the northern part of eight countries Russia, Finland, Greenland, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and United States of America. The region contains very diverse ecosystems from  sea ice, tundra, mountains, and wide rivers. The Arctic Circle is almost entirely covered by water with much of it being glaciers or icebergs. The glaciers contain approximately 20% of the world's freshwater supply. The Arctic ocean basin is the shallowest ocean basin of the five ocean basins on Earth. The vegetation in the Arctic is very diverse for plant life including grasses and sedges but the most popular being mosses and lichens. The Arctic contains many of the world's natural resources including approximately 13% of undiscovered petroleum resources and 30% of undiscovered natural gas resources. The Arctic is very rich in minerals especially copper and nickel ore. The population of the Arctic is around four million with people spread across each country.