[ FAQ & Interviews ]
Q & A: The North Pole
Q. What is the difference between the north pole and the magnetic north pole?
A. The North Pole is an imaginary point at the earth's northern axis where lines of longitude converge. The Magnetic North Pole is a location to where compasses point from virtually every place on the planet, which acts somewhat like a giant magnet. The closest town to the Magnetic North Pole is Resolute, a small town in Canada.
Q. How big do icebergs get?
A. The smallest size of iceberg (called a growler) is about the size of a pickup truck. There are actually several types of icebergs. At the North Pole they are relatively flat, the large ones are called 'pans', and can be the size of city blocks or even several square miles, large enough to land a plane on.
Q. What is the record low and high temperatures at the North Pole?
A. The coldest temperature measured in the Arctic is -68C.
Q. What is the closest town and where is it?
A. In Canada its Resolute Bay, in Russia it would be Golommiany
Meteorological Station (or Khatanga)
Q. How is the North Pole different from the South Pole?
A. The North Pole is basically ocean surrounded by continents and the South Pole is a continent surrounded by oceans. The North Pole elevation is 3-1/4 feet above sea level and is formed by sea ice whereas the South Pole is 9,554 feet above sea level.
Q. Is it harder to go to the North Pole or South Pole?
A. The North Pole.
Q. What size is a polar ice cap and how is it measured?
A. The Arctic ice cap covers an area roughly the size of the United States.
Q. Is the ice cap increasing, receding or melting?
A. Most would argue that the ice cap is simply not freezing as much as it used to. It's typical for it to melt every summer, but it hasn't been regaining its same size when winter returns. Best calculations are the ice is 'receding' about 10% every decade, or 1% per year.
Q. How are icebergs made?
A. While numerous icebergs found are made of freshwater, ice formed at the North Pole is different. It's sea ice, formed from the sea and much colder surface air temperature, that over time looses it salinity. Ice at the pole is on average perhaps 3.5" thick, though only about 10% is above the surface of the ocean water.
Q. Why is the ozone layer measured at the North Pole?
A. Measuring the ozone at both poles is a 'barometer' of sorts. Though typically the ozone varies in densities and coverage at these areas, it also reflects the overall warming and depletion of the ozone worldwide. Sun shining on the poles is not filtered of harmful ultraviolet radiation due to the increasing lack of ozone.
Q. What is the depth of the ice?
A. It can vary from just a centimeter or two, to the thickest of 17 feet.
Q. How does the ice depth vary with the seasons?
A. As summer comes, the ice is melted, reducing thickness and size. As
winter comes, near total darkness, the air temperatures dip extremely low
allowing for ice to form.
Q. Has it ever rained at the North Pole?
A. Yes, likely, but only in the summer. Though there is not much snow (or
rain) at the North Pole, which is actually considered an arctic desert since
it only gets 10 inches of snow per year on average.
Q. How does the amount of sunlight change during the year at the North Pole?
A. The darkest time of year at the North Pole is the Winter Solstice (approximately December 21). There has been no sunlight or even twilight since early October! The darkness lasts until the beginning of the Spring Equinox (approximately March 21), and the sun rises higher in the sky with each advancing day, reaching a maximum height at the Summer Solstice (approximately June 21). In summertime, the sun is always above the horizon at the North Pole, circling the Pole once every day. It is highest in the sky at the Summer Solstice (this is the reason that the Arctic is called the land of the midnight sun), after which it moves closer to the horizon, until it sinks below the horizon, at the Fall Equinox (approximately September 21). At this time the sun sinks below the horizon, and the North Pole is in twilight until early October, after which it is in full darkness for the Winter.
Q. I heard that airplanes fly over the polar cap. How much distance would they save by flying from Vancouver to Moscow, Russia?
A. I don't know, but it's considerable. Eventually ships will start passing this route as the ice is decreased and allows for safe passage during the summer months.
Q. What country owns the North Pole?
A. No one "owns" or has political sovereignty over the North Pole due mainly to the fact that the Geographic North Pole lies in the center of the vast Arctic Ocean. The North Pole itself is an imaginary point at the earth's northern axis where lines of longitude converge.
