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Antarctica is much different than the Arctic! All I see is a snow desert. Ice is everywhere! There are not nearly as many animals here as there were in the Arctic. While traveling through northern Alaska in the Arctic I saw polar bears, seals, narwhals, muskox, wolverines, arctic foxes, arctic hares, etc. Most people think there are polar bears in Antarctica, but even they couldn't survive here. The only animals that can survive here are penguins and seals. I came to the Antarctic Peninsula to see the colonies of Adelie Penguins.

The North Pole is recording more ice melt than ever before, but strangely enough, the South Pole is the least affected place in the world from global warming. Antarctica also has the cleanest air in the world because there is an air barrier off the coast of southern Australia which blocks the dirty air that is getting pushed down to the South Pole. I think another reason is that in Australia it is warm and humid and in Antarctica is really cold and dry. Cold air and warm air don't mix very well, but warm air and smoggy air do.

Did you know there are Southern Lights or Aurora Australias in the South Pole like the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis in the Arctic? In fact, the Aurora Australias are just a reflection of the Aurora Borealis in the north! The Southern Lights are more emerald green in color with a deep blue tint whereas the Northern Lights are more hot pink in color with a tint of green. They are both the most beautiful sight I have ever seen!

In 1968 there was a population of about 10,000 polar bears in the Arctic Circle and now there are about 27,000 :-) The crazy thing is, that while the population of the polar bears is growing, their habitat is shrinking! Mankind desperately needs to start taking better care of our "Mother Earth" so that the polar bears, the auroras, the ice, and all the other cool things on our planet will survive.

Logybear