REGIONAL SLIDES

POLAR REGION• Arctic Sea Ice• Breidamerkurjökull, Iceland• Hubbard Glacier, United

States• Prudhoe Bay, United States• Kolka Glacier, Russia• Filchner Ice Shelf,

Antarctica• Ninnis Glacier, Antarctica• Drygalski Ice Tongue,

Antarctica• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania• Antarctic Ozone Hole

POLAR REGION

ARCTIC

• The core of the Arctic, in the north, is the Arctic Ocean.

• The Arctic Ocean has many thousands of big and small islands and the lands surrounding the Arctic Ocean supports a great variety of plants.

ANTARCTIC

• The Antarctic, in the south, is an isolated continent surrounding the South Pole. Most of Antarctica's land lies beneath ice and snow almost two km thick.

• It has high mountains and glaciers.

Dramatic changes in Arctic Sea Ice

Imagine an ice-free Arctic

Shrinking Breidamerkurjökull Glacier Iceland

• 1973-2000: Images show glacier has receded and the glacial lake at its tip has enlarged

North America: Angangueo

• 1986: Images show Degradation of forest area

• 2001: Between 1984 and 1999, 38 per cent of forests were degraded

Ice dam in the Hubbard Glacier United States

• 1985 –Hubbard Glacier

• 1986 –Hubbard Glacier blocks Russell Fjord

• 2002 –Hubbard Glacier blocks Russell Fjord again

•2003 – Glacier has retreated

North America: Angangueo

• 1986: Images show Degradation of forest area

• 2001: Between 1984 and 1999, 38 per cent of forests were degraded

Hubbard Glacier advances United States

14 Aug 2002

10 Aug 2002

Sprawl of oil fields in Prudhoe BayUnited States

• 1974-1999: After the discovery of oil fields in 1968, the Bay has undergone dramatic changes

Collapse of Kolka Glacier Russia

Around Mt. Kazbek, a dormant volcano glaciers intermittently collapse, burying the landscape below

20 September 2002: Kolka shattered, setting off a massive avalanche of ice, snow and rocks

This before and after image shows the vast extent of disaster following the collapse

Extent of disaster in Kolka GlacierRussia

Breaking Off Filchner Ice Shelf Antarctica

Filchner Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf on the planet

In 1986 the front edge of Ice Shelf broke off into three enormous icebergs

Calving of Ninnis GlacierAntarctica

22 January 2000: The Ninnis Glacier Tongue soon after the initial calving

5 February 2002: Iceberg split into two sections and started moving away from Ninnis Glacier

Cracks on Drygalski Ice Tongue Antarctica

The ice tongue was discovered in 1902

21 February 2005: Drygalski calved an iceberg

Image shows cracks formed by time and ocean currents

Disappearing Icecap of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Africa’s highest mountain with a forest belt having rich diversity of ecosystems

• 1976: Glaciers covered most of the summit

• 2000: The glaciers had receded alarmingly

Growth of the Antarctic Ozone Hole

Darkest blue areas represent regions of maximum ozone depletion

1979

19821984

1986

1988 1990

19921994

1997

1999

2004

• Earth's atmosphere appears to be recovering from losses of "good" ozone in the upper reaches of the atmosphere

“Good” Ozone vs. “Bad” Ozone

• “Bad” ozone is believed to be the associated with smog and poor air quality

• Scientist observed positive changes in the ozone layer

One Planet Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment

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POLAR REGION