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The following is an encore presentation of Everything Everywhere daily. Located above 66 degrees 33 minutes Latitude north is the region that we call the Arctic. The Arctic is unlike any other environment on Earth, even the Antarctic. It's sparsely populated and has unique wildlife as well as a biome that can't be found anywhere else. It's completely dark in the winter and the sun never sets in the summer and of course it's really cold. Learn more about the Arctic and what makes it so special on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. This episode is sponsored by Fiji Water. You've probably heard of Fiji Water and have seen it in stores. Well, Fiji Water really is from the islands of Fiji. Drop by drop, Fiji Water is filtered through volcanic rock 1,600 miles away from the nearest continent and all its pollution protected and preserved naturally from external elements. In this process it collects a unique profile of electrolytes and minerals, resulting in more than double the electrolytes as the other top two premium bottled water brands, giving Fiji Water its smooth taste. Fiji Water's electrolytes are 100% natural and this water even has a perfectly balanced pH of 7.7. I've recently been trying to reduce my consumption of diet soda and I've found Fiji Water to be a great alternative. Visit your local retailer to pick up some Fiji Water today for your next backyard party, beach day hike, or even your home office. Fiji Water is Earth's finest water. This episode is sponsored by Quints. I've been telling you about Quince for quite a while now, but perhaps it still hasn't sunk in for some of you just how affordable quince can be. I went to their website and checked out several prices. A woman's Mongolian cashmere tee, which costs up to $175 from other retailers is available for just $44.90 on Quince. A men's comfort stretch trench coat that goes as high as $498 on other sites costs only $99.90 on quints. A European linen chambray fitted sheet set that will run you $270 at competitors can be purchased for only $85.90 on Quinn's. These are serious discounts on high end luxury items and they can do this by working directly with top artisans and cutting out the middlemen. Quince gives you luxury prices without the markup, passing the savings on to you. Keep it classic and cool this fall with long lasting staples from quince. Go to quince.com daily for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I-M C-E.com daily free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com daily if you've never been to the Arctic, you might think of it as a desolate wasteland, but it's not. It's an environment that's unique in the world, and there are many things that set it apart from even Earth's polar region in the south. So what exactly is the Arctic? The Arctic is defined by the Arctic Circle, which lies at 66 degrees, 33 minutes and 50.1 seconds latitude north. Everything above that imaginary line is considered to be the Arctic. So what is so special about that exact latitude? That latitude corresponds to the axial tilt of the Earth. The Arctic Circle is the point where the sun doesn't set above that line on the summer solstice and the sun doesn't rise above that line on the winter solstice. The axial tilt of the Earth also defines the Antarctic Circle in the south, as well as the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. The Arctic Circle is not a fixed point. It changes over time, but very, very slowly. Every year, the Arctic circle moves forward 14.5 meters, or 48ft to the north. And this will continue for approximately another 10,000 years, at which the point of precession of the Earth's axial tilt will go the other way and the Arctic Circle will begin moving back south. At the center of the Arctic Circle is the North Pole. The North Pole is the point on the surface of the Earth that meets the planet's axis of rotation. It is also defined as the point at 90 degrees latitude where all points of longitude meet in the north. The star which is often used to define the Earth's axis, Polaris, is not perfectly aligned with the North Pole. It's off by 0.7 degrees, which is good enough for basic navigation, but not for calibrating instruments. In addition to the geographic North Pole, the Arctic contains the magnetic North Pole. Unlike the geographic North Pole, the magnetic North Pole wanders around constantly, depending on the Earth's magnetic field. Since the 17th century, the magnetic North Pole has been in Canadian territory for most of that time. However, it's recently moved out into the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Ocean is the heart of the Arctic, and it is also the smallest and shallowest of the Earth's oceans. The Arctic Ocean makes the Arctic, and in many ways, it's the opposite of the Antarctic. The Antarctic continent is surrounded by oceans, whereas the Arctic is an ocean surrounded by continents. The Arctic Ocean is approximately 5.4 million square miles or 13.9 million square kilometers. And during the winter, almost all of the ocean is covered with sea ice. The average thickness of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean varies depending on the location, the time of year and the specific measurement methods. There are roughly two types of sea ice. First year ice is ice that forms and melts within a single year. The thickness of first year ice typically ranges from about 1 to 2 meters, or 3 to 6ft. Multi year ice is ice that survives through multiple summer melt seasons and is generally thicker than first year ice. Multi year ice averages between 2 to 4 meters, or 6.5 to 13ft in thickness, but it can be thicker in some areas. The overall average thickness of Arctic sea ice, combining both first and multi year ice, is generally estimated to be around 2 to 3 meters or 6 to 10ft. The Arctic Ocean is also home to a wide variety of sea life. Narwhals, often called the unicorns of the sea, are unique to the Arctic. These marine mammals have a long spiral tusk, which is actually an elongated tooth. Other sea mammals include species such as walruses, seals and beluga whales. Arctic char, Atlantic wolffish, Arctic cod and Polar Cod are all native to the Arctic Ocean, as is the Greenland shark, which has a life expectancy of over 400 years. Almost all of the land surrounding the Arctic Ocean is permafrost. Permafrost is a layer of soil, rock or sediment that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years. Typically found in polar regions like the Arctic, it can extend from just a few meters below the surface to hundreds of meters deep. While permafrost lies below the surface, the soil on top of it can and does thaw during the summer, which can cause huge problems for anything built above it. As the ground thaws, it can become unstable, leading to problems like sinkholes, landslides, and the collapse of buildings and roads. Overcoming this is a huge engineering challenge, and one of the best examples of this is the Dempster Highway. The Dempster highway connects Dawson City, Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories, well above the Arctic Circle. The ground that it's built on is largely permafrost. In order to avoid the buckling of thawing soil that would otherwise destroy a road. The Dempster highway is built on a gravel Bermuda. The berm actually insulates the permafrost so it doesn't melt and the road doesn't buckle. I actually drove on the Dempster highway up to the Arctic Circle once, and I was amazed at the quality of the road. Given its location and the conditions, it's perhaps the world's most high tech and expensive gravel road. Just as an aside, the Canadian government has recently extended the Dempster highway with the Inuvik Tuktoyuktuk Highway. This highway is an all weather road that reaches the shore of the Arctic Ocean. That means it's literally possible, if you live in North America, to now drive all the way to the Arctic Ocean if you're so inclined. Permafrost can also preserve fossils exceptionally well due to its ability to keep organic material frozen and protect any decay for thousands or possibly even millions of years. When plants, animals or other organisms die in regions where permafrost is present, they can become quickly buried by soil or sediment, which then will freeze. The cold temperature slows down the decomposition process, preventing bacteria and other decomposers from breaking down the organic material. As a result, the remains of these organisms, including bone, tissue and sometimes even DNA, can remain intact for long periods. If you remember back to my episode on the Woolly Mammoth, fully intact mammoths have been found in the permafrost, and they were found so commonly that there were actually recipes developed for eating frozen mammoth. On this permafrost lies an ecosystem that's unlike any other on Earth. This is perhaps the biggest difference between the Arctic and the Antarctic. There is really no ecosystem to speak of in Antarctica because almost all of the land is covered in ice, and the bits that aren't are some of the driest places on the planet. There are no native plants in Antarctica beyond some basic lichen. While the land in the Arctic is mostly frozen year round below the surface, most of it is ice free in the summers, and that makes all the difference in the world. The land which is furthest north is called tundra. The word tundra actually means treeless uplands. In here you'll find some ground shrubs, grasses, mosses and lichens. But you will not see any trees. On the Dalton highway in Alaska, which goes all the way up to Prudhoe Bay on the shores of the Arctic Ocean, there is a spot on the road where you can actually see the last tree. While this isn't a lot of plant life, it is plant life enough to sustain an ecosystem. Musk oxen and caribou, both of which are large mammals, can live in this environment. Of course, the king of the Arctic is the polar bear. Polar bears are actually very closely related to grizzly bears, and the two can actually interbreed with each other. Polar bears feed almost exclusively on seals, particularly seal Blubber. They hunt for seals on sea ice in the winter and live off the stored fat during the summer months. They are the largest land carnivores in the world and are capable of swimming up to 60 miles or 100 kilometers in search of prey. And they can reach weights of 1,600 pounds, or 725 kilograms. South of the tundra, you'll find a type of forest known as taiga. Taiga is defined by its small coniferous trees, which comprise much of the landscape. The size of the trees will usually depend on the latitude and elevation. The trees in this region will vary from scrawny to small. Due to the conditions, they can't grow very tall, and it takes a long time for them to reach the heights they do. Many of the animals found in the tundra can be found in the taiga as well. In addition to animals such as Arctic foxes, the Taiga extends beyond the Arctic Circle into a region known as the Subarctic. The Subarctic is basically the taiga that exists south of the Arctic Circle. Taiga makes up almost 12% of the Earth's land and the vast majority of the land in both Canada and Russia. One of the most prolific animals found in the Arctic is, of course, human beings. The largest native group in the Arctic is the Inuit, who live in Canada, the United States and Greenland. The term Inuit covers many different groups of people who are all culturally related to each other and live in roughly the same geographic area. In Russia, there are many different indigenous groups, including the Upit, the Chukchi and the Koryak people. In Western Europe, the Sami people inhabit parts of Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. There are also a few proper cities north of the Arctic Circle. The largest city is Murmansk, Russia, which has a population of about 250,000 people. However, that's down from a peak of about 450,000 people at the end of the Cold War. Norilsk, Russia also has a population over 100,000 people. Other notable communities outside of Russia are Tromso, Norway, Iqaluit, Canada, and UTQI Advik, formerly Barrow, Alaska. The Arctic has become more and more important economically over time. In 1977, the Trans Alaska Pipeline opened, which took crude oil 800 miles, or 1200 kilometers from the high Arctic down to the Pacific Ocean. The United States Geological Survey has estimated that as much as 22% of the world's natural gas and petroleum reserves might be in the Arctic. In addition to oil, there are known deposits of phosphate, bauxite, iron ore, copper, nickel and diamond. Tourism to the Arctic has been increasing as well. Expedition ships can take you to Baffin island in Canada or through the Northwest Passage. And if you have the money, it's even possible to take a Russian nuclear powered icebreaker all the way to the North Pole. The borders and resources in the Arctic have become more contentious now that the Arctic Ocean is often free of sea ice during the summer. Not only would this make accessing resources such as oil and minerals much easier, but it would also offer a much more direct route for shipping between Asia and Europe. Many geopolitical thinkers are concerned that the Arctic might become a conflict zone in the future because of its increasing importance. I've covered a lot in this episode and some of the topics will be explored more fully in future shows, but what you should take away is that the Arctic is not a cold, barren wasteland. Well, ok, it is cold, but it's a fascinating place in its own right. I visited the Arctic several times and I've enjoyed each trip. The Arctic is in many ways the Earth's last frontier. It's a place where few people live, few people visit, but it has one of the most interesting geographies and ecosystems in the world. The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Austin Otkin and Cameron Kiefer. My big thanks go to everyone who supports the show over on Patreon. Your support helps make this podcast possible, and I also want to remind everyone about the community groups on Facebook and Discord. That's where everything happens that's outside the podcast, and links to those are available in the show notes. As always, if you leave a review on any major podcast app or in the above community groups, you too can have it read on the show.