The Arctic situation may be different. I have not studied it close enough to comment. From what I know it is different, and more observations have been made over the last several years to back up what is being researched there.

In the strictest sense, the Arctic is all of the Earth north of the Arctic Circle, which is located at 66 degrees, 32 minutes North Latitude. However, there are other definitions to suit specific scientific or political interests. For instance, the U.S. Congress has decreed that all of the Bering Sea, which extends southward to about 53 degrees North Latitude, is part of the Arctic for internal U.S. planning and budgeting purposes.

Yes it does. Usually provided by diesel powered generators at each base, but in the last couple of years, some bases, particularly the Australian ones have installed windmills to generate supplementary electricity. This makes sense as Antarctica is the windiest place on earth, but poses a problem in case the wind damages the windmills.

The word arctic means "bear" in ancient Greek. It refers to the constel- lations of the Great Bear and Little Bear, which you can find in the night sky near the North Star. The North Star, currently Polaris, in the Alpha Ursae Minoris, or Little Bear Constellation, is also known as the Lode Star or Pole Star, and is part of the Little Dipper, 431 light years away.

No-one lives in Antarctica permanently or even for a long period of time. Most people do a "summer only" that's about November to April, with a lesser number staying over the Antarctic winter (when any chance of transport in or out is virtually impossible), some stay for two winters and three summers, this is the longest time any one stays there.

It was compiled by David Macfarlane <dmac@impressed.com> from material on the letterpress mailing list, as well as many other sources (noted where known). The specific contributors are listed within the individual questions. Please email me with any suggestions or concerns.

The Arctic environment is unique in many ways and offers the opportunity for a great many discoveries about how the physical and biologic environments function under the "extreme" conditions found in the Arctic. Several species of animals are unique to the Arctic (e.g., polar bear, walrus, musk ox) and many species of birds have their summer home there.

The Arctic is inhabited by several different groups of indigenous people, and also by relatively recent immigrants of mostly European background. In Alaska, for example, indigenous people account for about 70% or more of the total population in mainland areas bordering the Bering, Chukchi, or Beaufort Seas. In Russia, only 15% or fewer of the inhabitants along the north coast are indigenous people.

Arctic wolves hunt in packs and mostly eat caribou. They can eat up to twenty pounds of meat at one meal!

Version 2.4 will bring some much needed usability improvements including a revamped select tool, a revamped crop tool and a reorganised menu. It will also bring some important new editing tools, such as foreground select and additional clone options. We now have a working GEGL and, once 2.4 is released, will begin integrating it into GIMP. This will lay the foundations for version 3.

No one lives in Antarctica on a permanent basis. The Antarctic Treaty guarantees that Antarctica is to be used for "peaceful purposes and for scientific research". This means that no one can have Antarctica as their permanent mailing address. Only scientists are allowed to spend any time there. There are over 5,000 scientists and support staff from 27 different countries in Antarctica during the Antarctic summer season.

The Arctic Circle is an imaginary line at latitude at 66° 32~33' North (depending on the earth's wobble) defined by the northernmost point where you can still see the sun on winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, December 21.

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.

There is no simple answer to this question. Good records of temperature and precipitation are available for the last 50 years, but data quantity and quality are diminished in prior years. It is clear that the Arctic has undergone significant change in the last 50 years, but the changes differ in different regions in the Arctic. For example, Alaska has experienced significant warming over the past 30 years, with average wintertime temperatures about 6 degrees warmer now than in the 1960's.

The Arctic is a vast, ice-covered ocean that is surrounded by tree-less, frozen land, which is often covered with snow and ice. The rigors of this harsh environment are a challenge to living, working and performing research in the Arctic. None the less, the Arctic is an ecosystem that teems with life including organisms living in the ice, fish and marine mammals living in the sea, birds, land animals such as wolves, caribou and polar bears, and human societies.