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.

杆子在哪里？北极位于北极圈的中心。 在北极，无论你转到哪里，你都会向南走。 南极在地球的另一端，在南极大陆的南极圈的中间。 为什么南极洲是最高和最低的大陆？ 厚厚的冰盖使南极洲成为世界上最高的大陆，平均高度为2400米。 南极洲西部的本特利冰下海沟位于海平面以下2555米，是地球上海拔最低的非水下地区。 在两极，太阳一年只升起和落下一次，所以一天持续12个月。 因为地球是倾斜的，一个极点面对太阳六个月，而另一个极点是黑暗的，然后另一个极点有六个月的日光。 为什么有四根杆子？地球是一块巨大的磁铁，这就是指南针指向北极的原因。 地理上的北极和南极是固定点，但由于地球磁场一直在变化，磁北极和磁南极每天都在移动。 北方怎么会变成南方呢？ 每隔一段时间，地球的磁场就会倒转，所以指向北方的指南针就会指向南方。 上一次发生在78万多年前，科学家们认为它将再次发生。

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.

沙漠会下雪吗？非常冷的空气不能容纳太多的水，所以在两极很少下雪。 北极的部分地区和撒哈拉沙漠一样干燥，南极洲是地球上最干燥的大陆，是世界上最大的沙漠。 撒哈拉沙漠中的骆驼——世界上最大的炎热沙漠——两极总是冰冻的吗？ 大约1亿到6500万年前，气候比现在暖和，极地冰盖也不存在。 森林一直延伸到南极，是南极洲等恐龙的家园，南极洲是世界上风最大的地方。 沿着海岸吹的风可以达到每小时300公里的速度。 两极有多冷？1983年，在南极洲，记录到的温度是-89.20°C，这个温度足以使温度计中的水银冻结。 北极冬季的平均温度是-34°C，比你的冰箱还要冷150°C。 北极的北极熊世界上第二大寒冷的沙漠为什么南极比北极冷？ 南极洲是一个被海包围的大陆，而北极是一个被陆地包围的海洋。 在冬天，海水比陆地温暖，所以南极的平均温度比北极低17°C。

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.

冰山是如何形成的？冰山是巨大的淡水冰块，从冰川或冰架上脱落，漂向大海。 已知最大的冰山比牙买加岛还大，最高的有55层楼高。 极地冰有多厚？北极的海冰在冬天大约有三米厚。 最厚的冰是在南极最低点本特利冰下海沟。 这里的冰有4776米高，几乎是迪拜哈利法塔的六倍高。 位于中东迪拜的哈利法塔高828米，是世界上最高的建筑。 冰从南极洲中心缓慢地流向海岸。 今天漂浮在海上的冰山可能包含了尼安德特人（穴居人，生活在大约10万年前的早期人类）时期在南极降落的雪。 我们只能看到冰山的八分之一。 其余的都藏在水下。 小冰山被称为“咆哮者”，因为当被困的空气从冰上逸出时，它们经常发出咆哮的声音。 什么是永久冻土？永久冻土是常年冻结的土地。 2007年，在俄罗斯西伯利亚的永久冻土中出土了一只保存完好的小猛犸象，据信它死于1万年前。

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.

是什么照亮了天空？太阳风将带电粒子从太阳吹向地球。 一些粒子进入我们的磁极上方的大气层，与地球的气体相撞，产生了一种奇妙的光秀，叫做北极光或南极光。 什么是钻石粉？当气温很低时，大气中的水蒸气会冻结形成微小的冰晶，这些冰晶可以捕捉到阳光，就像天空中点缀的钻石一样闪闪发光。 当低矮的白云覆盖天空，雪和天空融为一体时，就会出现白茫茫的景象。 人们说这就像被困在一个巨大的白球里。 哪些狗在两极被发现？ 太阳狗是天空中的冰晶反射阳光时出现在太阳两侧的明亮耀斑。月亮狗有时也会在月亮非常亮的时候出现。 布罗肯幽灵是一个巨大的幽灵般的身影，有着彩虹般的光环。它实际上是一个人的影子，由低垂的太阳投射到远处的雾中。

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.

有人住在南极吗？ 没有人永久居住在那里，但每年夏天约有4000名科学家访问南极洲。 然而，只有大约1000人留下来，勇敢地度过寒冷、黑暗的冬天。 谁第一个来到两极？ 美国探险家弗雷德里克·库克和罗伯特·皮尔里都声称自己在1908年和1909年分别到达了北极。 1911年12月，罗尔德·阿蒙森率领第一支探险队到达南极。 早期的极地探险者用哈士奇拉雪橇，但现在为了保护野生动物，禁止狗进入南极洲。南极洲康考迪亚站的研究人员正在研究太空生活的影响，他们正试图弄清楚晚上穿床袜是否有助于宇航员入睡。 人们还在建造冰屋吗？ “iglu”这个词在因纽特语中的意思是房子。 因此，北极地区的人们确实住在“冰屋”里，但雪砌的冰屋现在只用作狩猎旅行时的临时住所。 挪威人罗尔德·阿蒙森比英国船长罗伯特·法尔肯·斯科特早一个月到达南极。 传统探险者的口粮包括墨西哥干酪（肉干和脂肪）和雪橇饼干。 1999年，斯科特1910年探险时留下的一块饼干卖到了3900美元。

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.

有极地植物吗？ 极地终年被冰覆盖，但植物生长在不那么寒冷的地区，称为苔原。 在仲夏的几个星期里，北极苔原被色彩覆盖，因为在雪下度过冬天的植物开花了。 苔原的花朵吸引了许多昆虫，所以鸟类在夏天聚集在那里养育它们的家庭，并充分利用昆虫的盛宴。 植物如何在寒冷中生存？ 苔原上的植物紧紧地簇拥在地面上，通常有毛茸茸的叶子和茎，以保护它们免受寒冷。 当太阳在天空中移动时，杯状的花朵跟随太阳。 什么树生长在“无树”的苔原上？ “苔原”这个词来自芬兰语，意思是“没有树木的平原”，所以你不会期望在那里找到任何树木。 然而，一棵只有20厘米高的柳树已经适应了寒冷多风的气候，并为北美驯鹿、麝牛、北极野兔和旅鼠提供食物。 大多数猫头鹰只在天黑时活动，但雪鸮也在白天捕猎，否则它们会在太阳永不落的北极夏季挨饿。 永久冻土阻止融化的雪沉降到地下，所以它形成了一个池塘，是蚊子幼虫（幼虫）的完美温床。 有时蚊子群如此之大，以至于把天空变成了灰色。 在夏天，像雪鸮和驯鹿这样的动物利用丰富的食物来抚养他们的孩子，并为冬天做准备。