The Polar Ice Biome.

The polar ice biome actually consists of 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. 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 of 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 coat 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. Global warming could cause polar bears to go extinct by the end of the

century by eroding the sea ice that sustains them, according to the most

comprehensive international assessment ever done of Arctic climate change. The

thinning of sea ice, which is projected to shrink by at least half by the end of the

century and could disappear altogether, according to some computer models, could

determine the fate of many other key Arctic species. Researchers concluded that

some areas in the Arctic have warmed 10 times as fast as the world as a whole,

which has warmed an average of 1 degree Fahrenheit over the past century. The sea

ice in Hudson Bay, Canada, now breaks up 2 1/2 weeks earlier than it did 30 years

ago, and as a result female polar bears there weigh 55 pounds less than they did

then. Assuming the current rate of ice shrinkage and accompanying weight loss in

the Hudson Bay region, bears there could become so thin by 2012 they may no

longer be able to reproduce.