Sign In | Sign Up | Help | Invite    
Advanced Search Ask A Question Community Recent Changes
My:             Contributions   
Contributors
{for ul in pageInfo.page}
${ul.nickName}
{var al = toBreakWord(ul.adUrl,18)} {if ul.adSentence !=''}${ul.adSentence}
{/if} {if ul.adUrl !=''}${al}
{/if}
 
{/for}
Earn Free Advertising   +   Earn Money By Writing What You Know at WISTEME.COM
Question Discussion History

Edit
    Question ID:   1937         Current Version: 1
Question: How will conditions in the Arctic affect human life?
Category: Science > Environment & Ecology
Keywords: human, life, affect, impact, condition, environment, weather, climate, Arctic
Type: how
Rating:(0 ratings)    Views: 558    Discussions: 0   In Watch Lists: 1  

 
    Answer:
For humans that live in the Arctic, conditions there dictate lifestyle to a very great extent. Residents must cope with very low temperatures and constant darkness in the winter, and temperatures above freezing and constant daylight in the summer. While temperatures are below freezing, the frozen, snow covered ground, ice covered rivers, and shore-fast ice are utilized for transportation using dog sleds (traditionally) or snowmobiles (recently). In warmer weather, transportation is based on small boats on ice-free coastal waters and flowing rivers. Most indigenous people live along the coast or on river banks. Diet is based on foods that can be taken from the natural environment (fish, seals, whales, caribou, berries, plants), since agriculture is impossible. Until recently, indigenous people often migrated seasonally, or established "camps" to be near food sources. The harsh climate limited European immigration in many Arctic areas, and the indigenous people have continued a non-market, subsistence economy even today. However, conditions are changing. Recent discoveries of oil, minerals, and diamonds in Arctic areas, and a growing interest in Arctic tourism are bringing many non-indigenous people to the Arctic to live or visit. Simultaneously, the indigenous people are blending many parts of western civilization into their lifestyle (e.g., city water and sewerage, food markets, the internet).

For humans that live in the mid-latitudes, impacts from the Arctic come mainly in the form of weather and climate. Wintertime outbreaks of cold Arctic air are responsible for unusually cold or persistent low temperatures, high winds, and blowing snow that are frequent characteristics of mid-latitude winters. We are still at the early stages of discovery in learning how the Arctic Oscillation (AO) impacts temperatures and precipitation in the mid-latitude belt below the Arctic, but it seems clear that the AO is a dominant feature in controlling our weather and climate on annual to decadal scales. The Arctic is an area with a net loss of heat to outer space due to the long periods of little or no sunlight and the high reflectivity of the snow and ice even when the sun is present in the Arctic. The circulation of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans moves heat from the tropics to the poles, making the Earth overall a much more habitable place. Over longer time scales, changes in the reflectivity of the land and ocean surfaces in the Arctic, or changes in ocean currents, such as the Gulf Stream, that could result from different sea ice conditions in the Arctic, can alter the extent to which heat is redistributed from the tropics. Thus the climate in the mid-latitude belt depends significantly on natural processes in the Arctic.

Studies now underway in the Arctic should lead to more reliable forecasts of weather over the Arctic and in heavily populated mid-latitude areas. We will learn more about how the Arctic influences the global climate and achieve greater insight about the climate our children will experience. We will be better able to quantify, manage and use the natural resources of the Arctic.  

Read more questions from WISTEME through
     Add to MSN Add to My AOL
 Rate this Question
   Add to Groups   Add to Watch Lists   Share Question
                          
 
    More Readings :
[QID:1940]    Is the Arctic environment changing?  
[QID:1939]    Are conditions in the Arctic the same today as they were 100 years ago?  
[QID:1870]    Are there any impact of glaciers on people, land, or climate change?  
[QID:3058]    How does Space Weather affect us on Earth?  
[QID:3534]    What inferences (understanding) about Earth's geography, specifically weather and climate, can we make observing global relative humidity?  
[QID:1936]    Why should we study the Arctic and how do we study it?  
[QID:920]    What should you do if a blizzard traps you in the car?  
[QID:2195]    How to create microgravity?  
[QID:4502]    How might global warming affect glaciers melting?   - No answer
[QID:5822]    How does acid rain affect ecosystems?  
     Question ID:  ${question.id}         Current Version:  ${question.version}

{for qh in questionHistory} {if qh.status == 'r'} {else} {/if} {/for}
Version Contributor Date (ET) Voting
${qh.version} ${qh.nickName} ${qh.date} Rejected
${qh.version} ${qh.nickName} ${qh.date} {if qh.status != 'c'} {if qh.status == 'a'} Approved {else} {if qh.rstatus == 'c'} On-going {else} Pending {/if} {/if} {else}   {/if}
Start a New Topic
ID Topics Replies Latest Post (ET)
{if dlist!=null} {for d in dlist} {/for}
${parseInt(d_index)+1} ${d.sentence} ${d.replyNum} ${d.lastestDate}
{else}
No discussion topic.
{/if}
Label Name:
 
Group Name:
 
 
{else}
     You have no group.
{/if}
Advertisements
{if advertisements.length > 0} {else} {/if}
{for ad in advertisements}
${ad.adTitle}
${ad.adSentence}
${ad.adUrl}
{/for}

Home | About Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Browse Questions | RSS Feed

Copyright ©2010 WISTEME LLC. All Rights Reserved.