- The Arctic is defined as the area north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N), including the North Pole.
- The region covers some 30 million km2 of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
- The Arctic is the only place where polar bears live; penguins do not live here, they only live in the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica.
- Unlike Antarctica, people live in the Arctic Circle.
- Average winter temperatures in the Arctic can be as low as -40°C (-40°F).
- The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the five oceans of the world, and includes the Northwest Passage, Barents Sea, Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, East Siberian Sea, Greenland Sea, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, Kara Sea, Laptev Sea and other bodies of water.
- The Titanic struck an iceberg from the Arctic.
- Home
- What We Do
- Priority Places
- African Rift Lakes
- Altai-Sayan Mountains
- Amur-Heilong
- Amazon
- Arctic
- Atlantic Forests, South America
- Australian Southwest
- Baltic Sea
- Black Sea Basin
- Borneo Forests
- Cerrado, Brazil
- Chihuahuan Desert, US & Mexico
- Chile, southern
- Choco-Darien, Central America
- Congo Basin
- Coral Triangle, SE Asia
- East African Coast
- European Alps
- Galapagos
- Gulf of California
- Himalayas
- Indus Delta
- Lake Baikal, Russia
- Madagascar
- Mediterranean
- Greater Mekong
- Mesoamerican Reef
- Miombo, Africa
- Namib Desert
- New Guinea Forests
- Northern Great Plains, N America
- Orinoco
- Pacific Southwest
- Pantanal, South America
- South African Fynbos
- Southeastern Rivers, USA
- Southern Ocean
- Sumatra
- Western Ghats, India
- West Africa (Marine)
- Yangtze
- Yellow Sea
- Conservation Projects
- Priority Places
- What We Do
The Arctic
Bringing the walruses back
Since 1996, the native people of Cape Vankarem in Russia have been working to return walruses to the area. In 2006, WWF developed the Umky Patrol, or Polar Bear Patrol Project, working to preserve walrus haul-outs and protect people from the polar bears that are attracted to the haul-outs, so all can co-exist harmoniously. Here’s how it all began.
Finishing with a flourish
The Arctic Tent came down today, on the same day that President Obama comes to town to join other world leaders in the negotiations. As our last act yesterday in bringing voices of the north to the negotiations, the tent was packed to capacity to hear indigenous people from North America and Europe talk about the impact of change on caribou and reindeer.
During COP15, WWF hosted an 'Arctic Tent' and invited lots of people to help tell the stories of arctic climate change. Find out about the Ice Bear Project | Take the virtual tour | Read our blog from Copenhagen
What WWF is doing
About the top of the world
Consisting of deep ocean covered by drifting pack ice and surrounded by continents and archipelagos around the Earth's North Pole, the Arctic is the planet's largest and least fragmented inhabited region.Shared between Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States, it is home to several million people, many of them indigenous, and provides a rich habitat to a vast array of animals, including the polar bear, arctic fox, walrus as well as many species of seals, whales and birds.
It stores the world's largest freshwater reserves in its glaciers and offers a wealth of natural resources, especially fossil fuels and fisheries.
An uncertain future
From overfishing and toxic pollution to oil and gas exploration, the Arctic is under threat. Yet there is one single threat that outweighs them all: climate change.Global warming in the Arctic is expected to be two or three times greater than the rest of the world. Even a slight shift in temperature could potentially result in an ice-free Arctic within this century, threatening Arctic communities and animals as well as the entire planet.
Fresh from our blog...
-
20 Dec 2009
COP15: Finishing with a flourish
The Arctic Tent comes down today, on the same day that President Obama comes to town to join other ...
-
16 Dec 2009
COP15: The Arctic in Copenhagen and the world
So you’re sitting in front of your computer reading this and wondering “so it looks fine from here, ...
Latest News
Time for countries behind Copenhagen Accord to show they are serious
Sunday’s deadline for countries to lodge targets and details of emission reduction programs under the Copenhagen Accord, is the opportunity for nations that pushed the climate accord to show they are serious about it, WWF said yesterday.
Emerging economies commit on serious climate negotiations
New Delhi, India: WWF welcomes the early lead on continuing climate negotiations and the level of commitment shown by the BASIC group of countries to a fair and effective UN-based outcome to climate change this year.
WWF Reports
It's not too late
WWF is working with its many partners – governments, business and communities – across the Arctic to combat these threats and preserve the region’s rich biodiversity.
Conservation efforts include a combination of actions ranging from protected area management and public awareness campaigns to promoting national, regional and international advocacy work.- We provide up-to-date and reliable information on the effects of climate change in the Arctic and support actions to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- We persuade governments to go over and above existing commitments for Arctic environmental protection.
- We aim to reduce or eliminate direct threats to biodiversity from oil and gas development, encouraging large-scale investments into renewable energy rather than new hydrocarbon projects.
- We work with fishermen to protect of the world’s richest and most productive remaining fisheries from illegal fishing.
- We protect key Arctic species and habitats.
Find us on...
Tracking polar bears in the Arctic
Polar bears, the world's largest terrestrial carnivore, spend much of their lives on the arctic sea ice.
But with their habitat melting at an alarming rate as a result of global warming, scientists believe that they will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century.
To ensure their future, the WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracking Programme is charting polar bear movements throughout the Arctic, giving insight into how they behave in their natural environment and how they are being affected by climate change.
The information is used to help conservationists find solutions to better protect this threatened species.
But with their habitat melting at an alarming rate as a result of global warming, scientists believe that they will be vulnerable to extinction within the next century.
To ensure their future, the WWF-Canon Polar Bear Tracking Programme is charting polar bear movements throughout the Arctic, giving insight into how they behave in their natural environment and how they are being affected by climate change.
The information is used to help conservationists find solutions to better protect this threatened species.
Where is the Arctic?
There are several definitions of the Arctic region as illustrated by the map below.
