THEMATIC SLIDES
TUNDRA AND POLAR
• Arctic Sea Ice
• Ninnis Glacier, Antarctica
• Drygalski Ice Tongue
Antarctica
• Filchner Ice Shelf, Antarctica
• Breidamerkurjökull, Iceland
• Kolka Glacier, Russia
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
• Hubbard Glacier, United States
• Prudhoe Bay, United States
TUNDRA AND POLAR FACTS
• The Earth’s tundra and polar regions are the world’s least
populated regions
• Arctic Tundra is in the Northern hemisphere, while Alpine
Tundra is found on mountains throughout the world
• Earth’s polar regions are the Arctic and the Antarctic: the
Arctic is frozen ocean surrounded by land and the Antarctic
is frozen continent surrounded by ocean
• Most of the world’s freshwater is locked up in polar ice caps
• Arctic sea ice is melting at an alarming rate of 8.5% per
decade
• 87% of the 244 marine glaciers in Antarctic Peninsula have
retreated over the last 50 years
Earth Observatory, UNEP 2005
Dramatic changes in Artic Sea Ice
1979-2003:
Progressive
Loss of
Arctic Ice
Imagine an
ice-free
Arctic
Calving of Ninnis Glacier, Antarctica
22 January 2000:
Shows Ninnis
Glacier Tongue
soon after the initial
calving
5 February 2002:
Iceberg split into
two sections and
started moving
away from Ninnis
Glacier
Cracks on Drygalski Ice Tongue
Antarctica
The ice tongue
was discovered
in 1902
21 February 2005:
Drygalski calved
an iceberg
Image shows
cracks formed by
time and ocean
currents
Filchner Ice Shelf – largest by volume
Antarctica
Filchner Ice
Shelf is the
largest ice
shelf on the
planet
In 1986, the front
edge of the Ice
Shelf broke off
into three
enormous
icebergs
Shrinking Breidamerkrjökull Glacier
Iceland
Breidamerkurjökull
glacier has been
shrinking
1973-2000: Images
show glacier has
receded and the
glacial lake at its tip
has enlarged
Collapse of Kolka Glacier, Russia
Around Mt.
Kazbek, dormant
volcano glaciers
intermittently
collapse, burying
the landscape
below
20 September 2002: Kolka shattered, setting off a
massive avalanche of ice, snow and rocks
Extent of disaster in Kolka Glacier
Russia
This
before
and after
image
shows the
vast
extent of
the
disaster,
following
the
glacier’s
collapse
Disappearing ice cap of Mt. Kilimanjaro
Tanzania
Africa’s highest mountain
with a forest belt
containing a rich diversity
of ecosystems
• 1976: Glaciers covered
most of the summit
• 2000: The glaciers had
receded alarmingly
Calving
HubbardAngangueo
Glacier
North of
America:
United States
•1986 – Hubbard
Glacier blocks Russell
• 1986: Images show
Fjord
Degradation of forest
area•1999 – Hubbard
Glacier during the
formation of the ice
• 2001:
damBetween 1984
and 1999, 38 per cent
of forests
•2002 –
were
Hubbard
degraded
Glacier blocks Russell
Fjord again
• 2003 – Glacier has
retreated
Hubbard
Glacier Advance
North America:
Angangueo
United States
• 1986: Images show
Degradation of forest
area
• 2001: Between 1984
and 1999, 38 per cent
of forests were
degraded
10 Aug 2002
14 Aug 2002
Sprawling oil fields along Prudhoe Bay
United States
• 1974-1999: After
the discovery of oil
fields in 1968, the
Bay has undergone
dramatic changes
TUNDRA AND POLAR
One Planet Many People:
Atlas of Our Changing Environment
Thank You!
Free Downloads:
www.na.unep.net
Purchase:
www.Earthprint.com