Notes

Info: on polar ice caps:
Polar Ice Biome

The Polar Ice Biome

The polar ice biome actually consists two biomes, both on opposite ends of the world; the north and south poles. These biomes are defined as being high and low-altitude areas where the energy from the sun is weak enough for water to freeze and create pack ice (North Pole) and ice sheets (South Pole). The polar ice caps are very similar to the arctic tundra in that many of the same organisms can be found in both the tundra and the ice caps. While it may not seem like there is much to the ice caps, there is actually an abundance of wildlife living both on the ice and below it in the water.
Wildlife that can be found in polar ice includes but is not limited to:
Polar bears, arctic wolves, arctic foxes, wolverines, lemmings, ermines, arctic hare, musk oxen,

caribou, snowy Owls, and gyr Falcons
Orca whales, beluga whales, pilot whales, ringed seals, leopard seals, emperor penguins, adelie penguins, krill, and algae.
There is a smaller abundance of plants in the polar ice than in most other biomes, these include: Wildflowers, Arctic Poppies, Arctic Azaleas, Arctic Lupine, Mosses, Grasses, Lichens, and small shrubs like the Arctic Willow.

The polar ice caps are very extreme biomes. During the summer, the sun is out all day for about three months. Then, during winter, the sun is barely seen between late October and mid-March.
-The average annual temperature is 7 degrees fahrenheit.
-The average winter temperature is -29 degrees fahrenheit
-The average summer temperature is 29 degrees fahrenheit


The ice provides shelter and habitat for the animals and plants that live there. Many animals, including polar bears, make dens in the snow for hibernation during the winter.The animals that make their homes in the ice caps have many special adaptations that allow them to survive. Almost all the animals found in the ice caps have white coats during the winter season, only the polar bear keeps its white coat year round. The ermine, arctic hare, lemming, arctic fox, and arctic ground squirrels change their fur color to a grayish-brown coats for the spring and summer.

Although there are many animals that make their home in the polar ice caps, there so called "home sweet home" is disappearing little by little at a rapid pace. The home to the many artic creatures is melting due to the global warming. Never mind what you've heard about global warming, as a slow-motion emergency that would take decades to play out. Suddenly and unexpectedly, the crisis is upon us. Global warming is already disrupting the biological world, pushing many species to the brink of extinction and the worst is yet to come. If there was any consolation, it was that the glacial pace of nature would give us decades or even centuries to sort out the problem.