• Question: why is the arctic and antarctic really icy ?

    Asked by ellievines to Nuala on 27 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by aishashirz15.
    • Photo: Nuala Carson

      Nuala Carson answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Hey ellievines,

      The arctic and antarctic are both icy for the simple reason that its cold there! The atmosphere and oceans both work together to keep the top and bottom of our earth cold, and the tropics warm. The amount of ice drastically chances between summer and winter though. So in the Arctic in winter we can have as much as 18 million km squared, and this reduces to around 6 million km squared in summer! We have noted though that over the last 20 years the amount of sea ice we see in summer and winter are both reducing at an alarming rate!

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