Arctic Sea Ice Ecology and History

Arctic Sea Ice Ecology And History

The Arctic sea ice covers less area in the summer than in the winter. The multi-year (i.e. perennial) sea ice covers nearly all of the central deep basins. The Arctic sea ice and its related biota are unique, and the year-round persistence of the ice has allowed the development of ice endemic species, meaning species not found anywhere else.

There are differing scientific opinions about how long perennial sea ice has existed in the Arctic. Estimates range from 700,000 to 4 million years.

Read more about Arctic Sea Ice Ecology And History:  Endemic Species, Dating Arctic Ice

Famous quotes containing the words arctic, sea, ice, ecology and/or history:

    “Nature confounds her summer distinctions at this season. The heavens seem to be nearer the earth. The elements are less reserved and distinct. Water turns to ice, rain to snow. The day is but a Scandinavian night. The winter is an arctic summer.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “All night your moth-breath
    Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
    A far sea moves in my ear.”
    —Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)

    “Sole and self-commanded works,
    Fears not undermining days,
    Grows by decays,
    And, by the famous might that lurks
    In reaction and recoil,
    Makes flames to freeze, and ice to boil.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “... the fundamental principles of ecology govern our lives wherever we live, and ... we must wake up to this fact or be lost.”
    —Karin Sheldon (b. c. 1945)

    “If you look at the 150 years of modern China’s history since the Opium Wars, then you can’t avoid the conclusion that the last 15 years are the best 15 years in China’s modern history.”
    —J. Stapleton Roy (b. 1935)