1 Penguins cannot fly

Where are the poles? The North Pole lies at the centre of the Arctic Circle. At the North Pole, wherever you turn, you will be heading south. The South Pole is at the opposite end of the Earth, in the middle of the Antarctic Circle on the continent of Antarctica. Why is Antarctica the highest and lowest continent? The thick ice sheet makes Antarctica the world's highest continent, with an average height of 2,400 metres. At 2,555 metres below sea level, the Bentley Subglacial Trench in West Antarctica is the lowest place on Earth that is not under water. At the poles, the sun rises and sets only once a year, so a day lasts for 12 months. Because the Earth is tilted, one pole faces the sun for six months while the other is dark, then the opposite pole has six months of daylight. Why are there four poles? The Earth is a giant magnet, which is why a compass points to the North Pole. The geographic North and South Poles are fixed points, but because the Earth's magnetic field is always changing, the magnetic North and South Poles move every day. How could north become south? Every so often, the Earth's magnetic field reverses, so a compass that pointed north would point south. This last occurred more than 780,000 years ago and scientists think it is due to happen again.

Can deserts be snowy? Very cold air cannot hold much water, so it rarely snows at the poles. Parts of the Arctic are as dry as the Sahara and Antarctica is the driest continent on Earth making it the world's biggest desert. a camel in the Sahara—the world's largest hot desert Were the poles always frozen? About 100—65 million years ago, the climate was warmer than it is today and the polar ice caps did not exist. Forests reached as far as the South Pole and were home to dinosaurs such as Antarctopelta Antarctica is the world's windiest place. The winds that blow around the coast can reach speeds of about 300 kilometrcs an hour. How cold are the poles? In Antarctica, in 1983, a temperature of-89.20°C was recorded, which is cold enough to freeze the mercury in a thermometer. The winter temperature at the North Pole averages -34°C That is 150°C colder rat, than your freezer. a polar bear in the Arctic the world's second largest cold desert Why is the Antarctic colder than the Arctic? Antarctica is a continent surrounded by the sea, while the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by land. Water stays warmer than land during winter, so on average the Antarctic is about 17°C colder than the Arctic.

How are icebergs formed? Icebergs are huge blocks of freshwater ice that break off from glaciers or from the ice shelf and float out to sea. The largest known iceberg was bigger than the island of Jamaica and the tallest was the height of a 55-storey building. How thick is polar ice? Sea ice in the Arctic is about three metres thick during the winter. The thickest ice is found in the Bentley Subglacial Trench, the lowest point in Antarctica. Here the ice measures 4,776 metres-that is almost six times the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. At 828 metres, the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai, in the Middle East, is the tallest in the world. Ice flows slowly from the centre of Antarctica to the coast. An iceberg floating in the sea today could contain snow that fell at the South Pole during the time of the Neanderthals, early humans who lived about 100,000 years ago. Only one-eighth of an iceberg can be seen. The rest is hidden below the water. Small icebergs are called 'growlers', because they often make a growling noise as trapped air escapes from the ice. What is permafrost? Permafrost is ground that is frozen all year round. In 2007, a perfectly preserved baby mammoth, thought to have died 10,000 years ago, was unearthed from the permafrost in Siberia, Russia.

What lights up the sky? The solar wind carries electrically charged particles from the sun towards Earth. Some particles enter our atmosphere above the magnetic poles and collide with Earth's gases, creating a fantastic light show called the northern or southern lights. What is diamond dust? When the air temperature is very low, water vapour in the atmosphere freezes to form tiny ice crystals, These catch the sun and sparkle like a sprinkling of diamonds in the sky. A whiteout occurs when low white clouds cover the sky and the snow and sky merge into one. People say it is like being trapped inside a huge white ball. Which dogs are found at the poles? Sun dogs are bright flares that appear on either side of the sun when ice crystals in the sky reflect the sunlight, Moon dogs are sometimes seen, too, when the moon is very bright. A Brocken spectre is a large, ghostly figure with a rainbow halo It is actually a person's shadow cast by a low sun onto distant fog.

Does anyone live in the Antarctic? No one lives there permanently, but Antarctica is visited by about 4,000 scientists during the summer. Only about 1,000 stay to brave the cold, dark winter though. Who first came to the poles? American explorers Frederick Cook and Robert Peary both claimed to have reached the North Pole first Cook in 1908 and Peary in 1909. Roald Amundsen led the first expedition to the South Pole, arriving in December 1911. Early polar explorers used huskies to haul their sleds, but now dogs are banned from Antarctica to protect the wildlife Researchers at Antarctica's Concordia Station, studying the effects of living in space, are trying to find out if wearing bedsocks at night would help astronauts to sleep. Do people still build igloos? The word 'iglu' means house in the Inuit language. So people in the Arctic do live in 'iglus', but igloos made of snow are now built only as temporary shelters during hunting trips. Norwegian Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole one month before Britaink Captain Robert Falcon Scott. Traditional explorers' rations included pemmican (dried meat and fat) and sledging biscuits. In 1999, a biscuit from Scott's 1910 expedition was sold for 3900.

Are there any polar plants? The poles are covered in ice all year round but plants grow in less cold areas, called the tundra. For a few weeks in mid-summer, the Arctic tundra is carpeted in colour as plants that have spent the winter beneath the snow burst into flower. The tundra's flowers attract lots of insects, so birds flock there in summer to raise their families and make the most of the insect feast. How do plants survive the cold? Tundra plants huddle close to the ground in tight clumps and often have hairy leaves and stems to protect them from the cold. Cup-shaped flowers follow the sun as it moves across the sky. Which tree grows in the 'treeless' tundra? The word 'tundra' comes from a Finnish word meaning 'treeless plain', so you would not expect to find any trees there. Yet a willow, just 20 centimetres tall, has adapted to the cold, windy climate and provides food for caribou, musk-oxen, Arctic hares and lemmings. Most owls are active only when it is dark, but snowy owls hunt in daylight, too otherwise they would starve during the Arctic summer, when the sun never sets. Permafrost stops melting snow sinking into the ground, so it forms pools that are perfect nursertes for mosquito larvae (young). Sometimes the mosquito swarms are so large, they turn the sky grey. In summer, animals such as snowy owls and caribou take advantage of the plentiial food to raise their young and fetter: up for the winter.