Arctic

=__The Arctic Region __=


 * //Overview//-Hello and welcome to the arctic region page which is going to give you information about the Climate, Econemy, wildlife & vegetation, rocks & minerals, people, and definitions. **


 * __Climate__ The average temperature for the warmest month (July) is below 10 °C. Precipitation mostly comes in the form of snow. The Arctic's annual precipitation is low, with most of the areasreceiving less than 50 centimeters. Average winter temperatures can be as low as −40 °C, and the coldest recorded temperature is approximately −68c. The winters are long and cold. The mountains and other landscapes receive more perception than the other areas. There is very little snow in some areas. This place is called the "frozen desert" because there is only a little bit of precipitation and vegetation. The Arctic can get a fair __amount__ of snow. It gets so much snow, that one year there was a news story that a family lost their house because it got buried in the snow. In this reagion their is 6 mounths constant sunlight abd 6 mounths constant darkness. In this region there is less population due to extreme cold. **


 * __Vegetation & Wildlife__ **
 * Vegetation: The dwarf willow tree is some of the only trees and one of the flowers that blooms in the summer is a called the Arctic Poppy.There is not that much vegetation in this region. Therese lots of fungus here also called"Lichen." **
 * Wildlife: Bow head Whales, Narwhal Whales, Beluga Whales, Harp Seals, Walrus, Arctic hares and Arctic squirrel are some of the Arctics wildlife.did you know that the native's in the arctic region bash baby seals when they come up for air? they do it for food,fur & other people do it for sport. this gives Canadians the nickname seal basher. There are also lots of polerbears which depend on sea ice and seals to liveBut becau ****se of climate change in the Arctic the Polar bears have been endangered. **
 * __Terrain -__ In the sum ****mer the topsoil thaws and it creates many small lakes, pools and marshes.These also freeze again in the winter.Due to the extremely cold weather there are very little trees and most plants are bushes and shrubs. Most off the arctic is flat but it also has different mountain chains and of course lots of thick ice. Although there is lots of land in the arctic lots of it is still composed of water. in the winter a lot of this water freezes over and creates sea ice.There are always icebergs floating on the water and they can be small or very large. **
 * consists on rocky mountains, plains of loose rocks and gravel. **
 * It is also covered with rocks, mountains and plains. People in this region don't build their houses on top of permafrost because their house could go on a tilt if it gets to hot and the permafrost melts. People live where there is water near by (like most places). People in this region traditinal way point marker is the Inukshuk. In this region you can find permafrost and sea ice. This area is not suitable for farming because of permafrost. **
 * __Rocks & Minerals __-Certain islands near the Arctic circle may contain Silver, Zinc and Diamonds, may even contain traces of oil and natural gas. Sometimes there is gold found deep in the ice. Lots of mountains, plains, glaciers, and sea ice. The oil and gas here is desterbing the carabos **


 * People **
 * -There are many groups of people in the Arctic. The Inuit used to be called ESKIMOS. The term Eskimos means "people who eat raw meat". The Inuit disapproved of this meaning, so we now refer to them as Inuit. The term Inuit means "the people". There are seven different dialects of the Inuit language. One of the languages they speak is Inuktitut. The population is 4 million all around the arctic. They travel on ice using dogs to pull them. This was once their main travel. They now use snowmobiles along with traveling by sled dogs. **
 * Traveling by dogsleds is called __qimuksiqs__. They also use ATVs (all terrain vehicles) and use motorboats when they are heading across bodies of water (kayaks used to be the main transportation across water untill motorboats came. Kayaks are still used here in the Arctic along with many other places in the world). **
 * The __Inukshuk__ is a stone marker that helps travelers find their way or know where to hunt. An igloo is a shelter/home made out of blocks of snow. Today, hunters still build when they are out hunting. Although igloos are still built, many people these days own their very own house. These houses are built on posts. This is to stop the warmth of the house/houses to melt the permafrost. If the permafrost melted, it would cause the house/houses to sink into the snow. Green house is important to people. Before spring comes, inuits get together for a festival to celebrate spring. In this regio people travel with dogsleds, trains, trucks, boats, snow mobiles, planes, Atv's and many more. In this region there are oil and gas industrys. They also have hunting in this region. This region has fishing.**

**Economy - Nunavut's economy is based on harvesting traditions of it's Inuit majority. The harvesting economy is worth $40 million annually and provides families with an affordable and important sources or nutritious food. In 2001, mineral exploration and extraction activities contributed over $319 million to the territories GDP. This creaadditional employment and investment opportunities for Nunavut's residents and Canadians in access of $677 million. Diamonds, gold and base metal deposits are being explored through out Nunavut. There are numerous opportunities in fishing, mining and tourism which will grow Iqaluit economy but a number of issues could impede progress. A lack of affordable housing hinders labor mobility which may affect industrial growth in the future. Nunavut uses Canadian dollars for national trades and U.S.A. dollars for international trading.**


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Other ﻿-The Arctic is the region around the North Pole, usually understood as the area within the Arctic Circle. It includes parts of Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Canada, Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.The ground is covered in permafrost meaning if they build their houses on it the heat will melt the ground making the house sink so the house are raised off the ground. The Inuit hunt for food in the Arctic. The insuk helps hunters to find there way home after hunting. The igloo is a shelter that are made by hunters. The igloo is made from of blocks of snow. Hunters still make IGLOO when hunting. Qimuksiq is used by hunters to get around. Basically it is getting pulled by dogs while riding on a sled.It gets really cold when it is winter time and some polar bears dont servive much because it is hard to get food and water.The arctic region is about 800,000 square miles of tundra and has allot of rivers and ponds **.

**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Dictionary **
====**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Tundra - A cold, treeless, usually lowland area of far northern regions. The lower soil of tundras are permanently frozen, but in summer the top layer of soil thaws and can support low-growing mosses, grasses, and small shrubs. **==== ====**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Eskimo - A group of peoples inhabiting the Arctic coastal regions of North America referred to as the "Inuit". **==== ====**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Igloo - A dome-shaped Inuit house, usually built of blocks of solid snow. **====
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Permafrost - Ground that is permanently frozen, often to great depths, the surface sometimes thaws in the summer. **
 * If **
 * permafrost was released from the ground because of global warming, methane  would leak from the ground to the air (after melting). **

**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Videos and other links- **

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Note: These videos have been watched and are appropriate, but some of the comments might be offensive/rude/inappropriate. **

ted

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nrr7nZVdQQ&feature=channel]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Polar bear hunt seal BBC wildlife **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXb9kOO8Lzs]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Video of baby polar bears and there mother **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Polar Bear Shot]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Video of a Polar Bear picture underwater. Global warming is effecting polar bears. **

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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">People of the Arctic
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· **Inuit (__eski__** **__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">mos) __<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">-the Inuits live in igloos and hut for animals. ** __**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Indians **__ __**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Lapps Qimuksiq **__ __**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Chukchi **__ __**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· Koyaki **__ __**<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">· yakuts **__