The two poles are at extreme opposites of the
planet, and many of their features are also
polar opposites. This list looks at ten of the
most significant differences between two of
Earth’s most inhospitable areas. Feel free to
mention others in the comments.

10. Metamorphoses
The arctic area is located in the North Pole
region and has a natural melting cycle during
which almost half of the ice shelf melts away
in summer, only to freeze again in winter and
come back to its original size. During winter,
the arctic ice shelf has a surface almost equal
to that of the US. However, an unsettling
study has recently revealed that the 3.5 km
thick ice shelf from Greenland is melting away
so fast that half of it could disappear by the
end of the century. Other studies suggest that
the whole Arctic region could become iceless
during summer, in less than a century.
On the other hand, the Antarctic region, or the South Pole, does not show the same regular melting cycle because its ice shelf has almost the same size and shape throughout the twelve months. Recent studies have also shown that the Antarctic region is melting away as well, not because of natural processes, but because of the global warming effects. Should all the ice from the South Pole melt in one day (which won’t happen in the near future), the seas and oceans would rise by 60 meters, specialists say. Interestingly
enough, the Arctic region melts faster
because it is submerged and the ocean
currents accelerate the process, whereas the
Antarctic region is made of stony bedrock
which is less, or not at all, influenced by such
phenomena.

9. Hole in the Ozone Layer
There is a hole in the ozone layer just above
the Antarctic region which, now, is almost
three times bigger than the US continental
surface. The ozone layer above the Arctic
region is getting thinner and thinner, as well,
and there is no hole in the North Pole’s ozone
layer just yet. Of course, a hole in the ozone
layer does not mean that a physical breach
actually exists there. The term is used to
describe the phenomenon by which the
chemical substance, the ozone, which wraps
the Earth and protects it against solar
radiation, has been severely damaged, and in
some places, is even gone.
The ozone losses from the northern
hemisphere are lower compared to those
from the southern hemisphere because the
higher Arctic temperatures prevent the
forming of the polar stratospheric clouds
which destroy the ozone. Nevertheless, the
temperatures from the North Pole’s
stratosphere have gradually dropped in recent
years, leading to significant losses in the
ozone layer.

8. Cold and Freezing Cold
The South Pole is much cooler than the North
Pole. Actually the Antarctic temperatures are
so low that snow never melts in some parts
of this continent. The average yearlong
temperature of this region is -49˚ Celsius,
which makes it the coldest place on Earth. In
contrast, the average winter temperature in
the Arctic region is -34˚ Celsius, and goes up
by a few degrees during summer.
The lowest temperature ever recorded on
Earth was -89.6 ˚Celsius and was reported at
the Vostok Base, near the geomagnetic South
Pole. The Arctic region is an ice shelf and this
is what makes it more vulnerable to climate
changes.

7. Polar Bears and Penguins
Most people think that polar bears and
penguins share the same habitat. However,
this is a false idea rooted in commercials and
post cards. Penguins actually live in the
southern hemisphere only, this means in the
Antarctic region, where they have no natural
continental predators. If penguins and polar
bears lived in the same region, then polar
bears wouldn’t have to worry about their food
source.
But they don’t, therefore penguins have
evolved into flightless birds and adapted their
wings into flippers, which come in very handy
when performing various nautical maneuvers.
On the other hand, polar bears are the largest
land predators and an endemic species of the
northern hemisphere. They rule over the icy
northern area of the Arctic Ocean and feed on
seals, sea cows and sometimes even on
stranded whales.

6. Black Gold
Almost half of the world’s remaining oil
deposits lie under the ice from the northern
part of the Arctic Circle, according to
estimates published by the US Geological
Survey. For this reason, Russia is already
claiming a monopoly over a large part of the
Arctic region, thus hoping to exploit the
deposits from the Lomonosov ridge, an
aquatic protuberance from under the Arctic
Ocean. It stretches over more than 1,800 km
and allegedly hosts up to 10 billion tons of
crude oil.
The US is also claiming its part, and is
sending ice breakers to mark the US territory
near Alaska. It is thought that oil deposits
exist under the continental crust of the
Antarctic region as well, such as the Ross
Sea, but the Treaty of the Antarctic strictly
forbids any oil exploitation activiti

FTC
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5. No Man’s Land
Despite symbolic images featuring daring
explorers triumphantly digging flags in the ice
of the South Pole, the Antarctic continent is
the only place on Earth that belongs to
nobody. No traces of indigenous people have
been discovered yet, and the region is
governed by the Treaty of the Antarctic, which
stipulates that the territory itself, and its
resources, should be used solely for peaceful
and scientific purposes.
In contrast, more than four million people live
inside the Arctic circle, both in small villages
and in towns, such as: Barrow, Alaska;
Tromso, Norway; Murmansk and Salekhard,
Russia. People rarely set foot on the Antarctic
territory and they do so only on research and
scientific grounds.

4. Ice, Ice Everywhere
The southernmost continent of the planet
hosts 90% of all the ice on Earth, which
makes up for 3/4 of the global freshwater
reserves. Due to this fact, some have even
considered the idea of cutting large chunks of
ice and using them for quenching the thirst of
arid areas. In fact, Prince Mohammed-al-
Faisal of Saudi Arabia even planned to
dislodge a 100 million ton iceberg from the
Antarctic region, and take it to the Arabic
Peninsula. In comparison, the North Pole has
far less ice then the South Pole.

3. Continent vs. Ocean
The Arctic region is basically a frozen ocean.
In contrast, Antarctica is a continent in itself,
based on bedrock and various landforms,
such as mountains, valleys and lakes, all
surrounded by the ocean. In fact, Antarctica
is home to the famous active volcano Mount
Erebus (pictured below).
Ironically enough, from a social and political
standpoint, the Arctic region, which is made
up of ice only, is the place where the interests
of many countries converge: Canada,
Greenland (part of Denmark), Russia, Iceland,
Norway, Sweden, Finland and the United
States. As stated before, the South Pole
belongs to no country, and it has never been
colonized nor populated by Eskimos.

2. Polar Vortex
An interesting phenomenon occurs near the
geographic poles of the Earth, namely the
polar vortex, which is a massive cyclone
forming near the vertical edges of the planet.
Polar vortexes are located in the middle and
upper parts of the troposphere and the
stratosphere.
They surround the polar areas and are part of
the so-called “polar front” – the climate
boundary between the polar area air masses
and the neighboring warmer areas from both
hemispheres. The Antarctic polar vortex is
stronger and lasts longer than the Arctic one.
This is due to the large land regions
concentrated in the high latitude areas of the
northern hemisphere, which create the
Rossby atmospheric waves, thus diminishing
the intensity of the vortex. In contrast, there
are not too many factors able to influence the
vortex from the South Pole.

1. Magnetic Field and Mineral Deposits
Since the Antarctic is a landmass, a lot of
minerals can be found in the bedrock: nickel,
gold, silver, platinum, iron. Obviously, there
are no such minerals in the Arctic ice.
Speaking of the magnetic poles of the Earth,
one is near the north and the other near the
south. When we talk about the magnetic
north pole, we refer to the geographic area
with the same name, although the north pole
of the Earth’s magnetic field is actually in the
south, and the south pole of the magnetic
field is located in the north. For this reason,
compasses do not show the magnetic north,
but the geographic north of the planet.
However, it has been established by
convention that the magnetic north is near
the geographic north and the magnetic south
is near the geographic south.
The planet’s magnetic poles do not coincide
with its geographic poles because the
magnetic field of the Earth is changing. Unlike
the geographic poles, the magnetic ones
actually move, and this could be considered a
common feature of the two poles. The
difference is that the magnetic north pole (the
south of the magnetic field) is no longer
located right in the Arctic region but is
moving towards the East at a rate of 55-60
km every year. The magnetic south pole (the
north of the magnetic field) still overlaps
Antarctica, but is also moving westwards at a
rate of 10-15 km per year.