query: For what appears to be the first time since scientists began keeping track, sea ice in the Arctic and the Antarctic are at record lows this time of year.

positive: Climate change in the Arctic The effects of global warming in the Arctic , or climate change in the Arctic include rising temperatures , loss of sea ice , and melting of the Greenland ice sheet with a related cold temperature anomaly , observed in recent years . Potential methane release from the region , especially through the thawing of permafrost and methane clathrates , is also a concern . The Arctic warms twice as fast compared to the rest of the world . The pronounced warming signal , the amplified response of the Arctic to global warming , it is often seen as a leading indicator of global warming . The melting of Greenland 's ice sheet is linked to polar amplification . According to a study published in 2016 , about 0.5 ◦ C of the warming in the Arctic has been attributed to reductions in sulfate aerosols in Europe since 1980 .

positive: Arctic sea ice decline Arctic sea ice decline is the sea ice loss observed in recent decades in the Arctic Ocean . The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) Fourth Assessment Report states that greenhouse gas forcing is largely , but not wholly , responsible for the decline in Arctic sea ice extent . A study from 2011 suggested that internal variability enhanced the greenhouse gas forced sea ice decline over the last decades . A study from 2007 found the decline to be `` faster than forecasted '' by model simulations . The IPCC Fifth Assessment Report concluded with high confidence that sea ice continues to decrease in extent , and that there is robust evidence for the downward trend in Arctic summer sea ice extent since 1979 . It has been established that the region is at its warmest for at least 40,000 years and the Arctic-wide melt season has lengthened at a rate of 5 days per decade ( from 1979 to 2013 ) , dominated by a later autumn freezeup . Sea ice changes have been identified as a mechanism for polar amplification .

positive: Sea ice Sea ice arises as seawater freezes . Because ice is less dense than water , it floats on the ocean 's surface ( as does fresh water ice , which has an even lower density ) . Sea ice covers about 7 % of the Earth 's surface and about 12 % of the world 's oceans . Much of the world 's sea ice is enclosed within the polar ice packs in the Earth 's polar regions : the Arctic ice pack of the Arctic Ocean and the Antarctic ice pack of the Southern Ocean . Polar packs undergo a significant yearly cycling in surface extent , a natural process upon which depends the Arctic ecology , including the ocean 's ecosystems . Due to the action of winds , currents and temperature fluctuations , sea ice is very dynamic , leading to a wide variety of ice types and features . Sea ice may be contrasted with icebergs , which are chunks of ice shelves or glaciers that calve into the ocean . Depending on location , sea ice expanses may also incorporate icebergs .

positive: Antarctica Antarctica ( UK English -LSB- ænˈtɑːktɪkə -RSB- or -LSB- ænˈtɑːtɪkə -RSB- , US English -LSB- æntˈɑːrktɪkə -RSB- ) is Earth 's southernmost continent . It contains the geographic South Pole and is situated in the Antarctic region of the Southern Hemisphere , almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle , and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean . At 14000000 km2 , it is the fifth-largest continent . For comparison , Antarctica is nearly twice the size of Australia . About 98 % of Antarctica is covered by ice that averages 1.9 km in thickness , which extends to all but the northernmost reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula .   Antarctica , on average , is the coldest , driest , and windiest continent , and has the highest average elevation of all the continents . Antarctica is a desert , with annual precipitation of only 200 mm ( 8 in ) along the coast and far less inland . The temperature in Antarctica has reached − 89.2 ° C ( − 128.6 ° F ) , though the average for the third quarter ( the coldest part of the year ) is − 63 ° C ( − 81 ° F ) . Anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 people reside throughout the year at the research stations scattered across the continent . Organisms native to Antarctica include many types of algae , bacteria , fungi , plants , protista , and certain animals , such as mites , nematodes , penguins , seals and tardigrades . Vegetation , where it occurs , is tundra .   Although myths and speculation about a Terra Australis ( `` Southern Land '' ) date back to antiquity , Antarctica is noted as the last region on Earth in recorded history to be discovered and colonised by humans , being only first sighted in 1820 by the Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev on Vostok and Mirny , who sighted the Fimbul ice shelf . The continent , however , remained largely neglected for the rest of the 19th century because of its hostile environment , lack of easily accessible resources , and isolation . In 1895 , the first confirmed landing was conducted by a team of Norwegians .   Antarctica is a de facto condominium , governed by parties to the Antarctic Treaty System that have consulting status . Twelve countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 , and thirty-eight have signed it since then . The treaty prohibits military activities and mineral mining , prohibits nuclear explosions and nuclear waste disposal , supports scientific research , and protects the continent 's ecozone . Ongoing experiments are conducted by more than 4,000 scientists from many nations .

negative: Arctic dipole anomaly The Arctic dipole anomaly is a pressure pattern characterized by high pressure on the arctic regions of North America , and a low pressure on the Eurasia region . This pattern sometimes replaces the Arctic oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation . It was observed for the first time in the first decade of 2000s and is perhaps linked to recent climate change . The Arctic dipole lets more southern winds into the Arctic ocean resulting in more ice melting . The summer 2007 event played an important role in the record low sea ice extent which was recorded in September . The Arctic dipole has also been linked to changes in arctic circulation patterns that cause drier winters in Northern Europe , but much wetter winters in Southern Europe and colder winters in East Asia , Europe and the eastern half of North America .

negative: Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 The Great Arctic Cyclone , or `` Great Arctic Cyclone of 2012 , '' was an extratropical cyclone which centered on the Arctic Ocean in early August , 2012 . Such storms are rare in the Arctic summer , although common in the winter . The Great Arctic Cyclone was the strongest summer storm and the 13th strongest storm observed at any time since satellite observations began in 1979 .   Although the Great Arctic Cyclone did not cause the record melting of sea ice which occurred in 2012 , turbulence resulting from the storm is believed to have contributed to melting of sea ice due to the rise of warmer saltier water from below .

negative: ANDRILL ANDRILL ( ANtarctic DRILLing Project ) is a scientific drilling project in Antarctica gathering information about past periods of global warming and cooling . The project involves scientists from Germany , Italy , New Zealand , and the United States . At two sites in 2006 and 2007 , ANDRILL team members drilled through ice , seawater , sediment and rock to a depth over more than 1,200 m and recovered a virtually continuous core record from the present to nearly 20 million years ago . The project is based at McMurdo Station in Antarctica .   In studying the cores , ANDRILL scientists from various disciplines are gathering detailed information about past periods of global warming and cooling . A major goal of the project is to significantly improve the understanding of Antarctica 's impact on the world 's oceans currents and the atmosphere by reconstructing the behavior of Antarctic sea-ice , ice-shelves , glaciers and sea currents over tens of millions of years . Initial results imply rapid changes and dramatically different climates at various times on the southernmost continent.Quirin Scheirmeier , `` Sediment cores reveal Antarctica 's warmer past , '' Nature News , April 24 , 2008 .   The $ 30 million project has achieved its operational goal of retrieving a continuous core record of the last 17 million years , filling crucial gaps left by previous drilling projects . Making use of knowledge gained through prior Antarctic drilling projects , ANDRILL employed novel techniques to reach record depths at its two drilling sites . Among the innovations deployed were a hot-water drilling system that allowed for easier ice-boring and a flexible drill pipe that could accommodate tidal oscillations and strong currents .   On December 16 , 2006 , ANDRILL broke the previous record of 999.1 m set in 2000 by the Ocean Drilling Program 's drill ship , the Joides Resolution . The Antarctic-record 1285 m of core ANDRILL went on to recover represents geologic time to about 13 million years ago . In 2007 , drilling at the Southern McMurdo Sound , ANDRILL scientists recovered another 1138 meters ( 3733.6 ft ) of core . One goal in 2006 was to look at a period of around 3 to 5 million years ago in the Pliocene , which scientists know to be warmer . The team 's sedimentologists identified more than 60 cycles in which ice sheets or glaciers advanced and retreated across McMurdo Sound .

negative: Antarctic ice sheet The Antarctic ice sheet is one of the two polar ice caps of the Earth . It covers about 98 % of the Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice on Earth . It covers an area of almost 14 e6km2 and contains 26.5 e6km3 of ice . Approximately 61 percent of all fresh water on the Earth is held in the Antarctic ice sheet , an amount equivalent to about 58 m of sea-level rise . In East Antarctica , the ice sheet rests on a major land mass , but in West Antarctica the bed can extend to more than 2,500 m below sea level . Much of the land in this area would be seabed if the ice sheet were not there .   In contrast to the melting of the Arctic sea ice , sea ice around Antarctica was expanding . The reasons for this are not fully understood , but suggestions include the climatic effects on ocean and atmospheric circulation of the ozone hole , and/or cooler ocean surface temperatures as the warming deep waters melt the ice shelves .

negative: Wiesław Masłowski Wiesław Masłowski is a research professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey , California since 2009 . He obtained his MS from the University of Gdańsk in 1987 , and his PhD from the University of Alaska , Fairbanks in 1994 with a dissertation entitled `` Numerical modeling study of the circulation of the Greenland Sea '' . He became well known in 2007 for stating that the Arctic Ocean might be nearly ice free in the summer as early as 2013 , based on projection of the declining ice volume trend . While later revised to 2016 + / - 3 years based on computer modeling , this prediction became controversial when the Arctic was not sea-ice free in 2013 , having increased from the record low set in 2012 .

negative: Arctic The Arctic ( -LSB- ˈɑrktɪk -RSB- or -LSB- ˈɑrtɪk -RSB- ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth . The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean , adjacent seas , and parts of Alaska ( United States ) , Canada , Finland , Greenland ( Denmark ) , Iceland , Norway , Russia and Sweden . Land within the Arctic region has seasonally varying snow and ice cover , with predominantly treeless permafrost-containing tundra . Arctic seas contain seasonal sea ice in many places .   The Arctic region is a unique area among Earth 's ecosystems . For example , the cultures in the region and the Arctic indigenous peoples have adapted to its cold and extreme conditions . In recent years , Arctic sea ice decline has been caused by global warming . Life in the Arctic includes organisms living in the ice , zooplankton and phytoplankton , fish and marine mammals , birds , land animals , plants and human societies . Arctic land is bordered by the subarctic .

negative: Polar ice pack Polar ice pack may refer to :   Arctic ice pack  Antarctic sea ice  Drift ice

negative: Antarctic oscillation The Antarctic oscillation ( AAO , to distinguish it from the Arctic oscillation or AO ) is a low-frequency mode of atmospheric variability of the southern hemisphere . It is also known as the Southern Annular Mode ( SAM ) . It is defined as a belt of westerly winds or low pressure surrounding Antarctica which moves north or south as its mode of variability . In its positive phase , the westerly wind belt contracts towards Antarctica , while its negative phase involves this belt moving towards the Equator .   In 2014 , Dr Nerilie Abram used a network of temperature-sensitive ice core and tree growth records to reconstruct a 1000-year history of the Southern Annular Mode . This work suggests that the Southern Annular Mode is currently in its most extreme positive phase over at least the last 1000 years , and that recent positive trends in the SAM are attributed to increasing greenhouse gas levels and later stratospheric ozone depletion .

negative: Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya ( Се́верная Земля́ ( Northern Land ) , -LSB- ˈsʲevʲɪrnəjə zʲɪˈmlʲa -RSB- ) is a 37,000 km2 archipelago in the Russian high Arctic . It lies off Siberia 's Taymyr Peninsula , separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait . This archipelago separates two marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean , the Kara Sea in the west and the Laptev Sea in the east . The largest glacier in the Russian Federation , the Academy of Sciences Glacier , is located in Severnaya Zemlya .   Severnaya Zemlya was first noted in 1913 and first charted in 1930 -- 32 , making it the last sizeable archipelago on Earth to be explored . Administratively , the islands form part of Russia 's Krasnoyarsk Krai federal subject . In Soviet times there were a number of research stations in different locations , but currently there are no human inhabitants in Severnaya Zemlya except for the Prima Polar Station near Cape Baranov .   Severnaya Zemlya is notable in connection with the ongoing multi-year Arctic sea ice decline . Until recently , ice joined the islands to Eurasia even at its smallest extent during the late summer melt season , blocking the Northeast Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific . By the late summer of 2012 , however , the permanent ice had reached a record low extent and open water appeared to the north of the archipelago .

negative: Water sky Water sky is a phenomenon that is closely related to ice blink . It forms in regions with large areas of ice and low-lying clouds and so is limited mostly to the extreme northern and southern sections of earth , in Antarctica and in the Arctic .   When light hits the blue oceans or seas , some of it bounces back and enables the observer to physically see the water . However , some of the light also is reflected back up on to the bottoms of low-lying clouds and causes a dark spot to appear underneath some clouds . These clouds may be visible when the seas are not and can show alert and knowledgeable travelers the general direction of water . The dark clouds over open water have long been used by polar explorers and scientists to navigate in sea ice . For example , Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his assistant Hjalmar Johansen used the phenomenon to find lanes of water in their failed expedition to the North Pole as did Bernacchi and Sir Douglas Mawson in the Antarctica .

negative: Ice age An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth 's surface and atmosphere , resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers . Within a long-term ice age , individual pulses of cold climate are termed `` glacial periods '' ( or alternatively `` glacials '' or `` glaciations '' or colloquially as `` ice age '' ) , and intermittent warm periods are called `` interglacials '' . In the terminology of glaciology , ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in both northern and southern hemispheres . By this definition , we are in an interglacial period -- the Holocene -- of the ice age . The ice age began 2.6 million years ago at the start of the Pleistocene epoch , because the Greenland , Arctic , and Antarctic ice sheets still exist .

negative: Polaribacter franzmannii Polaribacter franzmannii is a species of gas vacuolate polar marine bacteria . It was first isolated from sea ice and water from the Arctic and the Antarctic . Its type strain is ATCC 700399 .

negative: Polaribacter filamentus Polaribacter filamentus is a species of gas vacuolate polar marine bacteria . It was first isolated from sea ice and water from the Arctic and the Antarctic . Its type strain is ATCC 700397 .

negative: Polaribacter irgensii Polaribacter irgensii is a species of gas vacuolate polar marine bacteria . It was first isolated from sea ice and water from the Arctic and the Antarctic . Its type strain is ATCC 700398 .

negative: Ice core An ice core is a core sample that is typically removed from an ice sheet , most commonly from the polar ice caps of Antarctica , Greenland or from high mountain glaciers elsewhere . As the ice forms from the incremental buildup of annual layers of snow , lower layers are older than upper , and an ice core contains ice formed over a range of years . The properties of the ice and the recrystallized inclusions within the ice can then be used to reconstruct a climatic record over the age range of the core , normally through isotopic analysis . This enables the reconstruction of local temperature records and the history of atmospheric composition .   Ice cores contain an abundance of information about climate . Inclusions in the snow of each year remain in the ice , such as wind-blown dust , ash , pollen , bubbles of atmospheric gas and radioactive substances . The variety of climatic proxies is greater than in any other natural recorder of climate , such as tree rings or sediment layers . These include ( proxies for ) temperature , ocean volume , precipitation , chemistry and gas composition of the lower atmosphere , volcanic eruptions , solar variability , sea-surface productivity , desert extent and forest fires .   The length of the record depends on the depth of the ice core and varies from a few years up to 800 kyr ( 800,000 years ) for the EPICA core . The time resolution ( i.e. the shortest time period which can be accurately distinguished ) depends on the amount of annual snowfall , and reduces with depth as the ice compacts under the weight of layers accumulating on top of it . Upper layers of ice in a core correspond to a single year or sometimes a single season . Deeper into the ice the layers thin and annual layers become indistinguishable .   An ice core from the right site can be used to reconstruct an uninterrupted and detailed climate record extending over hundreds of thousands of years , providing information on a wide variety of aspects of climate at each point in time . It is the simultaneity of these properties recorded in the ice that makes ice cores such a powerful tool in paleoclimate research .

negative: Antarctica: A Year on Ice Antarctica : A Year on Ice is the first feature film by New Zealand filmmaker Anthony B. Powell . This documentary is set in Antarctica , specifically in the Ross Island region , which is home to two research bases : United States ' McMurdo Station and New Zealand 's Scott Base .   It chronicles a year of time spent living and working at these remote stations ; the summer season ( October to February ) when the sun shines 24 hours a day and the long dark winter ( February to October ) where the sun goes down for four long months and darkness envelopes the environment . The film focuses on the everyday workers that keep the stations and the equipment running so the scientists can complete their work . Interviewees include a helicopter pilot , fireman , firehouse dispatcher , cook , mechanic , storekeeper , storeman , finance person , administrative person , and operations manager .   Extensive use of time-lapse photography is used to document the changing seasons and the Antarctic landscapes . Powell had to invent many of his own camera systems to survive the extreme conditions of the deep Antarctic winter .   Powell 's previous work includes footage for Discovery , National Geographic , and was featured in BBC 's Frozen Planet .   The film also touches upon topics such as ` T3 Syndrome , ' a term that describes what happens to people during the winter , when the T3 hormone in the brain is reassigned to the muscles of the body in an effort to protect it against the extreme cold . The film also describes how the community works and plays together including the annual New Year 's party `` Ice Stock '' .   The film 's post-production was completed at Park Road Post Production in Wellington , New Zealand .

negative: Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment The Sea Ice Physics and Ecosystem eXperiment ( SIPEX ) was an Australian contribution to the International Polar Year ( IPY ) . The expedition studied the sea ice in the Antarctica zone in September and October 2007 , investigating links between the sea ice and the Southern Ocean ecosystems .   Taking part were 45 scientists from 8 different countries , each a specialist on some aspect of the Antarctic sea ice zone . Travelling aboard the research vessel Aurora Australis , the researchers covered East Antarctica between 110 ° E and 130 ° E. Experiments dealt with ice thickness and snow cover , the sympagic fauna and flora and examined the effects of ocean currents and wind .   The extent and distribution of sea ice in the polar regions is a sensitive indicator of global climate change . Global warming has been implicated in significant reductions in the extent of sea ice and this trend is set to continue . An improved understanding of sea ice may lead to improved conservation policies in Antarctica .

negative: Strandflat Strandflat is the low land on the coast and the near coast bottom of sea , typical for the landscape of the Norwegian coast . This landform is created in the Quaternary Period , and it is only to be found in arctic and antarctic areas that has been or is covered by ice , for instance Greenland and Svalbard . Strandflat is a geomorphological word of Norwegian origin , and is used in geology and geography .

negative: Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute The Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute , or AARI ( Арктический и антарктический научно-исследовательский институт , abbreviated as ААНИИ ) is the oldest and largest Russian research institute in the field of comprehensive studies of Arctic and Antarctica . It is located in Saint Petersburg .   The AARI was founded on 3 March 1920 as the Northern Research and Trade Expedition under the Scientific and Technical Department of the All-Union Council of State Economy . In 1925 , the expedition was reorganized into the Institute of Northern Studies and five years later - into the All-Union Arctic Institute . In 1932 , the institute was integrated into the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route . In 1948 , they established the Arctic Geology Research Institute ( Научно-исследовательский институт геологии Арктики , or НИИГА ) on the basis of the geology department of the All-Union Arctic Institute , which would subordinate to the Ministry of Geology of the USSR . In 1958 , the All-Union Arctic Institute was renamed Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute . In 1963 , the AARI was incorporated into the Chief Administration of the Hydrometeorological Service under the Council of Ministers of the USSR ( now Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia ) .   Throughout its history , the AARI has organized more than a thousand Arctic expeditions , including dozens of high-latitude aerial expeditions , which transported 34 manned drifting ice stations Severniy Polyus ( '' Северный полюс '' , or North Pole ) to Central Arctic . In 1955 , the AARI participated in the organization of Antarctic research . In 1958 , it began to organize and lead all of the Soviet Antarctic expeditions , which would later make many geographic discoveries . In 1968 , the institute engaged in research of the areas of the Atlantic Ocean contiguous to the Arctic and Antarctica .   The AARI has numerous departments , such as those of oceanography , glaciology , meteorology , hydrology or Arctic river mouths and water resources , geophysics , polar geography , and others . It also has its own computer center , ice research laboratory , experimental workshops , and a museum ( the Arctic and Antarctic Museum ) .   Scientists , such as Alexander Karpinsky , Alexander Fersman , Yuly Shokalsky , Nikolai Knipovich , Lev Berg , Otto Schmidt , Rudolf Samoylovich , Vladimir Vize , Nikolai Zubov , Pyotr Shirshov , Nikolai Urvantsev , and Yakov Gakkel have all made their valuable contributions to the work of the AARI .   In 1967 , AARI was awarded the Order of Lenin .

negative: North Ice North Ice was a research station of the British North Greenland Expedition ( 1952 to 1954 ) on the inland ice of Greenland . The coordinates of the station were , at an altitude of 2341 m above sea level . The British North Greenland Expedition was led by Commander James Simpson RN . The station recorded the lowest temperature ever in North America with -66.1 C on 9 January 1954 . The name of the station contrasts to the former British South Ice station in Antarctica .

negative: Instrumental temperature record The instrumental temperature record provides the temperature of Earth 's climate system from the historical network of in situ measurements of surface air temperatures and ocean surface temperatures . Data are collected at thousands of meteorological stations , buoys and ships around the globe . The longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series , that starts in 1659 . The longest-running quasi-global record starts in 1850 . In recent decades more extensive sampling of ocean temperatures at various depths have begun allowing estimates of ocean heat content but these do not form part of the global surface temperature datasets .

negative: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment ( ACIA ) is a study describing the ongoing climate change in the Arctic and its consequences : rising temperatures , loss of sea ice , unprecedented melting of the Greenland ice sheet , and many impacts on ecosystems , animals , and people . The ACIA is the first comprehensively researched , fully referenced , and independently reviewed evaluation of Arctic climate change and its impacts for the region and for the world . The project was guided by the intergovernmental Arctic Council and the non-governmental International Arctic Science Committee . Three hundred scientists participated in the study over a span of three years .   The 140-page synthesis report Impacts of a Warming Arctic was released in November 2004 , and the scientific report later in 2005 .   The ACIA Secretariat is located at the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks .

negative: Lincoln Sea Lincoln Sea is a body of water in the Arctic Ocean , stretching from Cape Columbia , Canada , in the west to Cape Morris Jesup , Greenland , in the east . The northern limit is defined as the great circle line between those two headlands . It is covered with sea ice throughout the year , the thickest sea ice in the Arctic Ocean , which can be up to 15 m thick . Water depths range from 100 m to 300 m. Water and ice from Lincoln Sea empty into Robeson Channel , the northernmost part of Nares Strait , most of the time .   The sea was named after Robert Todd Lincoln , then United States Secretary of War , on Adolphus W. Greely 's 1881 -- 1884 Arctic expedition into Lady Franklin Bay .   Alert , the northernmost station of Canada , is the only populated place on the shore of Lincoln Sea .   The body of water to the east of Lincoln Sea ( east of Cape Morris Jesup ) is Wandel Sea .

negative: Vaygach (1909 icebreaker) Icebreaker Vaygach was an icebreaking steamer of moderate size built for the Russian Imperial Navy at St. Petersburg in 1909 . She was named after Vaygach Island in the Russian Arctic .   Vaygach and her sister ship Taymyr were built for the purpose of thoroughly exploring the uncharted areas of the Northern Sea Route . This venture became known as the Arctic Ocean Hydrographic Expedition .   The first of a series of surveys began in the autumn of 1910 , when Vaygach and Taymyr left Vladivostok . They entered the Chukchi Sea with scientists on board and began their exploration . For the next five years , these icebreakers went on sounding and carrying on vital surveys during the thaw . Before every winter , when ice conditions became too bad , they returned to Vladivostok and waited for the spring . In 1911 the scientists and crew aboard Vaygach and Taymyr made the first Russian landing on Wrangel Island .   In 1914 , led by Colonel I. Sergeev , Vaygach sailed together with Taymyr , whose captain was Boris Vilkitsky . Together , they tried to force the whole Northern Passage in order to reach Archangelsk . Severe weather and ice conditions , however , did not allow them to cross the Kara Sea and they were forced to winter at Bukhta Dika , close to the Firnley Islands . Thus they were able to complete the passage only in 1915 .   Some of the biggest successes of the expedition were the accurate charting of the Northern Sea Route and the discovery of Severnaya Zemlya in 1913 . Taymyr and Vaygach were considered the best icebreakers in the world at the time .

negative: Arctic vegetation In the Arctic , the low tundra vegetation clothes a landscape of wide vistas , lit by the low-angle light characteristic of high latitudes . Much of the Arctic shows little impact from human activities , making it one of the few places on earth one can see intac  ecosystems . Arctic plants are adapted to short , cold growing seasons . They have the ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures in the winter ( winter hardiness ) , but what is even more important is the ability to be able to function in limiting summer conditions .   Arctic plants have a compressed growing season : they initiate growth rapidly in the spring , and flower and set seed much sooner than plants that grow in warmer conditions . Their peak metabolic rate also occurs at a much lower temperature than plants from farther south . Compact cushions of vegetation keep the plants close to the warm soil and shield the tender central growing shoot . The height of Arctic plants is also governed by snow depth . Plants that protrude above the snow are subject to strong winds , blowing snow , and being eaten by caribou , muskox , or ptarmigan . Mosses and lichens are common in the Arctic . These plants have the ability to stop growth at any time and resume it promptly when conditions improve . They can even survive being covered by snow and ice for over a year .

negative: Temperature record For extreme records instead of records as a set of data , see List of weather records   The temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans through various spans of time . The most detailed information exists since 1850 , when methodical thermometer-based records began . There are numerous estimates of temperatures since the end of the Pleistocene glaciation , particularly during the current Holocene epoch . Older time periods are studied by paleoclimatology .

negative: Late Glacial The Late Glacial ( c. 13,000 -- 10,000 years ago ) , or Tardiglacial ( `` Late Glacial '' ) , is defined primarily by the beginning of the modern warm period , in which climates in the Northern Hemisphere warmed substantially , causing a process of accelerated deglaciation following the Last Glacial Maximum ( c. 25,000 -- 13,000 years ago ) . At this time , human populations , previously forced into refuge areas as a result of Last Glacial Maximum climatic conditions , gradually begin to repopulate the Northern Hemisphere 's Eurasian landmass and eventually populate North America via Beringia for the first time .   Evidence for its occurrence stems from two main types of analysis . The first is the use of oxygen isotope stages ( OIS ) gathered from stratified deep-sea sediment cores . Samples are gathered and measured for change in isotope levels to determine temperature fluctuation for given periods of time . The second is a proxy measurement , the observation of certain reappearing fauna and flora fossils that can survive only in temperate climates , thus indicating warming trends for a given geographic area .   Archaeological evidence of settlement and resettlement in certain areas by humans also serve as proxy measurements . Towards the end of OIS 2 in which the Late Glacial Maximum occurs , the deep-sea sediment cores indicate a gradually warming climate , and the reappearance of certain warm-weather flora and fauna remains throughout the Northern Hemisphere correlate with that trend . A period of relatively brief cold oscillation , referred to as the Younger Dryas , is detected during OIS 2 , as can be inferred from an increase in isotope weight .

negative: Seawater Seawater , or salt water , is water from a sea or ocean . On average , seawater in the world 's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5 % ( 35 g/L , or 0.600 M ) This means that every kilogram ( roughly one litre by volume ) of seawater has approximately 35 g of dissolved salts ( predominantly sodium and chloride ions ) . Average density at the surface is 1.025 kg/L . Seawater is denser than both fresh water and pure water ( density 1.0 kg/L at 4 C ) because the dissolved salts increase the mass by a larger proportion than the volume . The freezing point of seawater decreases as salt concentration increases . At typical salinity , it freezes at about -2 C . The coldest seawater ever recorded ( in a liquid state ) was in 2010 , in a stream under an Antarctic glacier , and measured -2.6 C. Seawater pH is typically limited to a range between 7.5 and 8.4 . However , there is no universally accepted reference pH-scale for seawater and the difference between measurements based on different reference scales may be up to 0.14 units .

negative: Joseph Adhémar Joseph Alphonse Adhémar ( 1797 -- 1862 ) was a French mathematician . He was the first to suggest that ice ages were controlled by astronomical forces in his 1842 book Revolutions of the Sea .   The Earth 's orbit is elliptical , with the Sun at one focus ; lines drawn through the summer and winter solstice ; and the spring and autumn equinox ; intersect with the sun at right angles . The Earth is closest to the Sun ( perihelion ) near the northern hemisphere winter solstice . The earth moves faster through its orbit when closer to the sun . Hence , the period from the northern hemisphere 's autumn equinox to winter and spring is shorter by around seven days than the period from spring to summer to autumn ; the reverse is true in the southern hemisphere . Hence , northern hemisphere winter is shorter .   Because of this , Adhemar reasoned that because the southern hemisphere had more hours of darkness in winter , it must be cooling , and attributed the Antarctic ice sheet to this . Adhemar knew of the 22,000 year cycle of precession of the equinoxes , and theorised that the ice ages occurred in this cycle .   One immediate objection to the theory was that the total insolation during a year does not vary at all during the precessional cycle , only its seasonal distribution . Another was that the timing was wrong ; however this could not be tested by observations available at the time .   Adhemar 's theory was further developed , first by James Croll and later by Milutin Milanković .   Adhemar predicted the Antarctic ice sheet and theorised about its thickness by comparing the depths of the Arctic and circum-Antarctic oceans . Finding the Antarctic oceans deeper ( the measurements he used may not have been fully representative ) and attributing this to the gravitational attraction of the Antarctic ice sheet , he postulated a truly enormous ice sheet approximately 90 km thick .

negative: Polar High The polar highs are areas of high atmospheric pressure around the north and south poles ; the north polar high being the stronger one because land gains and loses heat more effectively than sea . The cold temperatures in the polar regions cause air to descend to create the high pressure ( a process called subsidence ) , just as the warm temperatures around the equator cause air to rise to create the low pressure intertropical convergence zone . Rising air also occurs along bands of low pressure situated just below the polar highs around the 50th parallels of latitude . These extratropical convergence zones are occupied by the polar fronts where air masses of polar origin meet and clash with those of tropical or subtropical origin . This convergence of rising air completes the vertical cycle around the polar cell in each latitudinal hemisphere . Closely related to this concept is the polar vortex .   Surface temperatures under the polar highs are the coldest on Earth , with no month having an average temperature above freezing . Regions under the polar high also experience very low levels of precipitation , which leads them to be known as `` polar deserts '' .   Air flows outwards from the poles to create the polar easterlies in the arctic and antarctic areas .