While global average temperature has risen above the 1950-1980 average, our planet's polar regions are experiencing warming at a faster rate than other places.

A detailed comparison of many aspects of the two polar regions. Includes physical features, seasons, weather, types of ice, plants and animals, human population, and climate change.

Learn about the exploration of the polar regions by the U.S. Navy. Links to various activities are found on the site.

This Smithsonian website has a brief, but thorough, article on the Tufted Puffin. It also includes pictures and an extensive quote from 19th Century naturalist Edward Nelson.

Camille Seaman describes how enterprising people and organisms have found ways to reside around both poles despite the frigid temperatures. [4:24]

This Smithsonian website has a brief, but thorough, article on the Ptarmigan. It also includes pictures and an extensive quote from 19th Century naturalist Edward Nelson.

This site takes a very brief look at the muskox as an arctic creature. Several photographs are also provided.

What do you know about the world of penguins? This PBS site features information about these flightless birds. Come and check out this extraordinary resource.

This Smithsonian website has a brief, but thorough, article on the Snowy Owl that also includes a picture and an extensive quote from the 19th Century naturalist Edward Nelson.

This Oklahoma Climatological Survey explores how air masses form, as well as the weather formations, which tend to appear on the edges of these masses in what is known as a front.