KU-ITTC Ice Sheet Remote Sensing (8524am)

Tundra, Polar Deserts, and Ice

Canadian Tundra

A large area of tundra surrounds the Arctic Ocean. The tundra supports grasses, mosses, lichens, and heather that survive subfreezing temperatures during the long winter and grow and bloom during the brief, cool summer. In Canada and Alaska, this plant life sustains animals such as polar hares, ptarmigans, voles, caribou, and polar bears. So far this thinly settled landscape has escaped severe ecological damage. However, oil production in Alaska and an increase in ultraviolet radiation caused by the destruction of atmospheric ozone threaten the fragile tundra environment.

Siberian Tundra

Arctic tundra, with similar vegetation to that of North America, also covers northernmost Siberia. The wildlife here includes reindeer, Siberian lemmings, and Arctic foxes. Although the tundra environment remains mostly unspoiled, increased ultraviolet radiation in the Arctic may threaten the plants and animals of this region as well.

Antarctica's Ice Sheet and Polar Desert

A vast ice sheet covers most of Antarctica. Even this forbidding environment, however, supports some life. Snow algae and other microorganisms live on water and nutrients in the ice sheet. In ice-free areas on the coast and in the mountains, lichens and mosses grow on rocks, and protozoans, bacteria, and worms inhabit the soil. Coastal areas also harbor sea birds such as penguins. A severe loss of ozone in the atmosphere over Antarctica has allowed damaging ultraviolet radiation to reach the ground, threatening this fragile environment. The radiation has already begun to kill the marine life on which penguins and other animals depend.

Greenland's Tundra and Ice

Greenland's interior is covered by an ice sheet like that of Antarctica, but along its coasts is a strip of tundra like that of other Arctic regions. Animals that inhabit this zone include the musk-ox and the colorful puffin, a sea bird like the penguin of Antarctica. Ozone depletion threatens this region as well.

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Dog Sledding on Greenland's Ice Sheet :: http://futurthought.blogspot.com/

With a climate ranging from arctic to subarctic, Greenland is anything but green. Much of the island is covered by a huge ice cap, larger than any other glacier in the world except that of Antarctica. Water drains from the ice sheet in the form of glaciers, which pass through valleys to the sea, where thousands of icebergs form every year. Hunters use sled dogs to traverse the vast, frozen landscape in pursuit of fur-bearing animals to trap.

Layne Kennedy/Corbis

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KU-ITTC_IceSheet-RemoteSensing_Tundra-MapTrek_Kids-Encarta-8524.doc