Как найти координаты северного полюса

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The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole, Terrestrial North Pole or 90th Parallel North, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth’s axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magnetic North Pole.

The North Pole is by definition the northernmost point on the Earth, lying antipodally to the South Pole. It defines geodetic latitude 90° North, as well as the direction of true north. At the North Pole all directions point south; all lines of longitude converge there, so its longitude can be defined as any degree value. No time zone has been assigned to the North Pole, so any time can be used as the local time. Along tight latitude circles, counterclockwise is east and clockwise is west. The North Pole is at the center of the Northern Hemisphere. The nearest land is usually said to be Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast of Greenland about 700 km (430 mi) away, though some perhaps semi-permanent gravel banks lie slightly closer. The nearest permanently inhabited place is Alert in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada, which is located 817 km (508 mi) from the Pole.

While the South Pole lies on a continental land mass, the North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean amid waters that are almost permanently covered with constantly shifting sea ice. The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at 4,261 m (13,980 ft) by the Russian Mir submersible in 2007^[1] and at 4,087 m (13,409 ft) by USS Nautilus in 1958.^[2][3] This makes it impractical to construct a permanent station at the North Pole (unlike the South Pole). However, the Soviet Union, and later Russia, constructed a number of manned drifting stations on a generally annual basis since 1937, some of which have passed over or very close to the Pole. Since 2002, a group of Russians have also annually established a private base, Barneo, close to the Pole. This operates for a few weeks during early spring. Studies in the 2000s predicted that the North Pole may become seasonally ice-free because of Arctic ice shrinkage, with timescales varying from 2016^[4][5] to the late 21st century or later.

Attempts to reach the North Pole began in the late 19th century, with the record for «Farthest North» being surpassed on numerous occasions. The first undisputed expedition to reach the North Pole was that of the airship Norge, which overflew the area in 1926 with 16 men on board, including expedition leader Roald Amundsen. Three prior expeditions – led by Frederick Cook (1908, land), Robert Peary (1909, land) and Richard E. Byrd (1926, aerial) – were once also accepted as having reached the Pole. However, in each case later analysis of expedition data has cast doubt upon the accuracy of their claims. The first confirmed overland expedition to reach the North Pole was in 1968 by Ralph Plaisted, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean-Luc Bombardier, using snowmobiles and with air support.^[6]

Precise definition

The Earth’s axis of rotation – and hence the position of the North Pole – was commonly believed to be fixed (relative to the surface of the Earth) until, in the 18th century, the mathematician Leonhard Euler predicted that the axis might «wobble» slightly. Around the beginning of the 20th century astronomers noticed a small apparent «variation of latitude», as determined for a fixed point on Earth from the observation of stars. Part of this variation could be attributed to a wandering of the Pole across the Earth’s surface, by a range of a few metres. The wandering has several periodic components and an irregular component. The component with a period of about 435 days is identified with the eight-month wandering predicted by Euler and is now called the Chandler wobble after its discoverer. The exact point of intersection of the Earth’s axis and the Earth’s surface, at any given moment, is called the «instantaneous pole», but because of the «wobble» this cannot be used as a definition of a fixed North Pole (or South Pole) when metre-scale precision is required.

It is desirable to tie the system of Earth coordinates (latitude, longitude, and elevations or orography) to fixed landforms. However, given plate tectonics and isostasy, there is no system in which all geographic features are fixed. Yet the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service and the International Astronomical Union have defined a framework called the International Terrestrial Reference System.

Exploration

Pre-1900

As early as the 16th century, many prominent people correctly believed that the North Pole was in a sea, which in the 19th century was called the Polynya or Open Polar Sea.^[7] It was therefore hoped that passage could be found through ice floes at favorable times of the year. Several expeditions set out to find the way, generally with whaling ships, already commonly used in the cold northern latitudes.

One of the earliest expeditions to set out with the explicit intention of reaching the North Pole was that of British naval officer William Edward Parry, who in 1827 reached latitude 82°45′ North. In 1871, the Polaris expedition, a US attempt on the Pole led by Charles Francis Hall, ended in disaster. Another British Royal Navy attempt to get to the pole, part of the British Arctic Expedition, by Commander Albert H. Markham reached a then-record 83°20’26» North in May 1876 before turning back. An 1879–1881 expedition commanded by US naval officer George W. De Long ended tragically when their ship, the USS Jeannette, was crushed by ice. Over half the crew, including De Long, were lost.

In April 1895, the Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen struck out for the Pole on skis after leaving Nansen’s icebound ship Fram. The pair reached latitude 86°14′ North before they abandoned the attempt and turned southwards, eventually reaching Franz Josef Land.

In 1897, Swedish engineer Salomon August Andrée and two companions tried to reach the North Pole in the hydrogen balloon Örnen («Eagle»), but came down 300 km (190 mi) north of Kvitøya, the northeasternmost part of the Svalbard archipelago. They trekked to Kvitøya but died there three months after their crash. In 1930 the remains of this expedition were found by the Norwegian Bratvaag Expedition.

The Italian explorer Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi and Captain Umberto Cagni of the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) sailed the converted whaler Stella Polare («Pole Star») from Norway in 1899. On 11 March 1900, Cagni led a party over the ice and reached latitude 86° 34’ on 25 April, setting a new record by beating Nansen’s result of 1895 by 35 to 40 km (22 to 25 mi). Cagni barely managed to return to the camp, remaining there until 23 June. On 16 August, the Stella Polare left Rudolf Island heading south and the expedition returned to Norway.

1900–1940

The US explorer Frederick Cook claimed to have reached the North Pole on 21 April 1908 with two Inuit men, Ahwelah and Etukishook, but he was unable to produce convincing proof and his claim is not widely accepted.^[9][10]

The conquest of the North Pole was for many years credited to US Navy engineer Robert Peary, who claimed to have reached the Pole on 6 April 1909, accompanied by Matthew Henson and four Inuit men, Ootah, Seeglo, Egingwah, and Ooqueah. However, Peary’s claim remains highly disputed and controversial. Those who accompanied Peary on the final stage of the journey were not trained in [Western] navigation, and thus could not independently confirm his navigational work, which some claim to have been particularly sloppy as he approached the Pole.

The distances and speeds that Peary claimed to have achieved once the last support party turned back seem incredible to many people, almost three times that which he had accomplished up to that point. Peary’s account of a journey to the Pole and back while traveling along the direct line – the only strategy that is consistent with the time constraints that he was facing – is contradicted by Henson’s account of tortuous detours to avoid pressure ridges and open leads.

The British explorer Wally Herbert, initially a supporter of Peary, researched Peary’s records in 1989 and found that there were significant discrepancies in the explorer’s navigational records. He concluded that Peary had not reached the Pole.^[11] Support for Peary came again in 2005, however, when British explorer Tom Avery and four companions recreated the outward portion of Peary’s journey with replica wooden sleds and Canadian Eskimo Dog teams, reaching the North Pole in 36 days, 22 hours – nearly five hours faster than Peary. However, Avery’s fastest 5-day march was 90 nautical miles (170 km), significantly short of the 135 nautical miles (250 km) claimed by Peary. Avery writes on his web site that «The admiration and respect which I hold for Robert Peary, Matthew Henson and the four Inuit men who ventured North in 1909, has grown enormously since we set out from Cape Columbia. Having now seen for myself how he travelled across the pack ice, I am more convinced than ever that Peary did indeed discover the North Pole.»^[12]

The first claimed flight over the Pole was made on 9 May 1926 by US naval officer Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett in a Fokker tri-motor aircraft. Although verified at the time by a committee of the National Geographic Society, this claim has since been undermined^[13] by the 1996 revelation that Byrd’s long-hidden diary’s solar sextant data (which the NGS never checked) consistently contradict his June 1926 report’s parallel data by over 100 mi (160 km).^[14] The secret report’s alleged en-route solar sextant data were inadvertently so impossibly overprecise that he excised all these alleged raw solar observations out of the version of the report finally sent to geographical societies five months later (while the original version was hidden for 70 years), a realization first published in 2000 by the University of Cambridge after scrupulous refereeing.^[15]

The first consistent, verified, and scientifically convincing attainment of the Pole was on 12 May 1926, by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his US sponsor Lincoln Ellsworth from the airship Norge.^[16] Norge, though Norwegian-owned, was designed and piloted by the Italian Umberto Nobile. The flight started from Svalbard in Norway, and crossed the Arctic Ocean to Alaska. Nobile, with several scientists and crew from the Norge, overflew the Pole a second time on 24 May 1928, in the airship Italia. The Italia crashed on its return from the Pole, with the loss of half the crew.

Another transpolar flight [ru] was accomplished in a Tupolev ANT-25 airplane with a crew of Valery Chkalov, Georgy Baydukov and Alexander Belyakov, who flew over the North Pole on 19 June 1937, during their direct flight from the Soviet Union to the USA without any stopover.

Ice station

In May 1937 the world’s first North Pole ice station, North Pole-1, was established by Soviet scientists 20 kilometres (13 mi) from the North Pole after the ever first landing of four heavy and one light aircraft onto the ice at the North Pole. The expedition members — oceanographer Pyotr Shirshov, meteorologist Yevgeny Fyodorov, radio operator Ernst Krenkel, and the leader Ivan Papanin^[17] — conducted scientific research at the station for the next nine months. By 19 February 1938, when the group was picked up by the ice breakers Taimyr and Murman, their station had drifted 2850 km to the eastern coast of Greenland.^[18][19]

1940–2000

In May 1945 an RAF Lancaster of the Aries expedition became the first Commonwealth aircraft to overfly the North Geographic and North Magnetic Poles. The plane was piloted by David Cecil McKinley of the Royal Air Force. It carried an 11-man crew, with Kenneth C. Maclure of the Royal Canadian Air Force in charge of all scientific observations. In 2006, Maclure was honoured with a spot in Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame.^[20]

Discounting Peary’s disputed claim, the first men to set foot at the North Pole were a Soviet party^[21] including geophysicists Mikhail Ostrekin and Pavel Senko, oceanographers Mikhail Somov and Pavel Gordienko,^[22] and other scientists and flight crew (24 people in total)^[23] of Aleksandr Kuznetsov’s Sever-2 expedition (March–May 1948).^[24] It was organized by the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route.^[25] The party flew on three planes (pilots Ivan Cherevichnyy, Vitaly Maslennikov and Ilya Kotov) from Kotelny Island to the North Pole and landed there at 4:44pm (Moscow Time, UTC+04:00) on 23 April 1948.^[26] They established a temporary camp and for the next two days conducted scientific observations. On 26 April the expedition flew back to the continent.

Next year, on 9 May 1949^[27] two other Soviet scientists (Vitali Volovich and Andrei Medvedev)^[28] became the first people to parachute onto the North Pole.^[29] They jumped from a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, registered CCCP H-369.^[30]

On 3 May 1952, U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher and Lieutenant William Pershing Benedict, along with scientist Albert P. Crary, landed a modified Douglas C-47 Skytrain at the North Pole. Some Western sources considered this to be the first landing at the Pole^[31] until the Soviet landings became widely known.

The United States Navy submarine USS Nautilus (SSN-571) crossed the North Pole on 3 August 1958. On 17 March 1959 USS Skate (SSN-578) surfaced at the Pole, breaking through the ice above it, becoming the first naval vessel to do so.^[32]

The first confirmed surface conquest of the North Pole was accomplished by Ralph Plaisted, Walt Pederson, Gerry Pitzl and Jean Luc Bombardier, who traveled over the ice by snowmobile and arrived on 19 April 1968. The United States Air Force independently confirmed their position.

On 6 April 1969 Wally Herbert and companions Allan Gill, Roy Koerner and Kenneth Hedges of the British Trans-Arctic Expedition became the first men to reach the North Pole on foot (albeit with the aid of dog teams and airdrops). They continued on to complete the first surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean – and by its longest axis, Barrow, Alaska, to Svalbard – a feat that has never been repeated.^[33][34] Because of suggestions (later proven false) of Plaisted’s use of air transport, some sources classify Herbert’s expedition as the first confirmed to reach the North Pole over the ice surface by any means.^[34][35] In the 1980s Plaisted’s pilots Weldy Phipps and Ken Lee signed affidavits asserting that no such airlift was provided.^[36] It is also said that Herbert was the first person to reach the pole of inaccessibility.^[37]

On 17 August 1977 the Soviet nuclear-powered icebreaker Arktika completed the first surface vessel journey to the North Pole.

In 1982 Ranulph Fiennes and Charles R. Burton became the first people to cross the Arctic Ocean in a single season. They departed from Cape Crozier, Ellesmere Island, on 17 February 1982 and arrived at the geographic North Pole on 10 April 1982. They travelled on foot and snowmobile. From the Pole, they travelled towards Svalbard but, due to the unstable nature of the ice, ended their crossing at the ice edge after drifting south on an ice floe for 99 days. They were eventually able to walk to their expedition ship MV Benjamin Bowring and boarded it on 4 August 1982 at position 80:31N 00:59W. As a result of this journey, which formed a section of the three-year Transglobe Expedition 1979–1982, Fiennes and Burton became the first people to complete a circumnavigation of the world via both North and South Poles, by surface travel alone.^[38] This achievement remains unchallenged to this day. The expedition crew included a Jack Russell Terrier named Bothie who became the first dog to visit both poles.^[39]

In 1985 Sir Edmund Hillary (the first man to stand on the summit of Mount Everest) and Neil Armstrong (the first man to stand on the moon) landed at the North Pole in a small twin-engined ski plane.^[40] Hillary thus became the first man to stand at both poles and on the summit of Everest.

In 1986 Will Steger, with seven teammates, became the first to be confirmed as reaching the Pole by dogsled and without resupply.

USS Gurnard (SSN-662) operated in the Arctic Ocean under the polar ice cap from September to November 1984 in company with one of her sister ships, the attack submarine USS Pintado (SSN-672). On 12 November 1984 Gurnard and Pintado became the third pair of submarines to surface together at the North Pole. In March 1990, Gurnard deployed to the Arctic region during exercise Ice Ex ’90 and completed only the fourth winter submerged transit of the Bering and Seas. Gurnard surfaced at the North Pole on 18 April, in the company of the USS Seahorse (SSN-669).^{[citation needed]}

On 6 May 1986 USS Archerfish (SSN 678), USS Ray (SSN 653) and USS Hawkbill (SSN-666) surfaced at the North Pole, the first tri-submarine surfacing at the North Pole.

On 21 April 1987 Shinji Kazama of Japan became the first person to reach the North Pole on a motorcycle.^[41][42]

On 18 May 1987 USS Billfish (SSN 676), USS Sea Devil (SSN 664) and HMS Superb (S 109) surfaced at the North Pole, the first international surfacing at the North Pole.

In 1988 a team of 13 (9 Soviets, 4 Canadians) skied across the arctic from Siberia to northern Canada. One of the Canadians, Richard Weber, became the first person to reach the Pole from both sides of the Arctic Ocean.

On April 16, 1990, a German-Swiss expedition led by a team of the University of Giessen reached the Geographic North Pole for studies on pollution of pack ice, snow and air. Samples taken were analyzed in cooperation with the Geological Survey of Canada and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. Further stops for sample collections were on multi-year sea ice at 86°N, at Cape Columbia and Ward Hunt Island.^[43]

On 4 May 1990 Børge Ousland and Erling Kagge became the first explorers ever to reach the North Pole unsupported, after a 58-day ski trek from Ellesmere Island in Canada, a distance of 800 km.^[44]

On 7 September 1991 the German research vessel Polarstern and the Swedish icebreaker Oden reached the North Pole as the first conventional powered vessels.^[45] Both scientific parties and crew took oceanographic and geological samples and had a common tug of war and a football game on an ice floe. Polarstern again reached the pole exactly 10 years later,^[46] with the Healy.

In 1998, 1999, and 2000, Lada Niva Marshs (special very large wheeled versions made by BRONTO, Lada/Vaz’s experimental product division) were driven to the North Pole.^[47][48] The 1998 expedition was dropped by parachute and completed the track to the North Pole. The 2000 expedition departed from a Russian research base around 114 km from the Pole and claimed an average speed of 20–15 km/h in an average temperature of −30 °C.

21st century

Commercial airliner flights on the Polar routes may pass within viewing distance of the North Pole. For example, a flight from Chicago to Beijing may come close as latitude 89° N, though because of prevailing winds return journeys go over the Bering Strait. In recent years journeys to the North Pole by air (landing by helicopter or on a runway prepared on the ice) or by icebreaker have become relatively routine, and are even available to small groups of tourists through adventure holiday companies. Parachute jumps have frequently been made onto the North Pole in recent years. The temporary seasonal Russian camp of Barneo has been established by air a short distance from the Pole annually since 2002, and caters for scientific researchers as well as tourist parties. Trips from the camp to the Pole itself may be arranged overland or by helicopter.

The first attempt at underwater exploration of the North Pole was made on 22 April 1998 by Russian firefighter and diver Andrei Rozhkov with the support of the Diving Club of Moscow State University, but ended in fatality. The next attempted dive at the North Pole was organized the next year by the same diving club, and ended in success on 24 April 1999. The divers were Michael Wolff (Austria), Brett Cormick (UK), and Bob Wass (USA).^[49]

In 2005 the United States Navy submarine USS Charlotte (SSN-766) surfaced through 155 cm (61 in) of ice at the North Pole and spent 18 hours there.^[50]

In July 2007 British endurance swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh completed a 1 km (0.62 mi) swim at the North Pole. His feat, undertaken to highlight the effects of global warming, took place in clear water that had opened up between the ice floes.^[51] His later attempt to paddle a kayak to the North Pole in late 2008, following the erroneous prediction of clear water to the Pole, was stymied when his expedition found itself stuck in thick ice after only three days. The expedition was then abandoned.

By September 2007 the North Pole had been visited 66 times by different surface ships: 54 times by Soviet and Russian icebreakers, 4 times by Swedish Oden, 3 times by German Polarstern, 3 times by USCGC Healy and USCGC Polar Sea, and once by CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent and by Swedish Vidar Viking.^[52]

2007 descent to the North Pole seabed

On 2 August 2007 a Russian scientific expedition Arktika 2007 made the first ever manned descent to the ocean floor at the North Pole, to a depth of 4.3 km (2.7 mi), as part of the research programme in support of Russia’s 2001 extended continental shelf claim to a large swathe of the Arctic Ocean floor. The descent took place in two MIR submersibles and was led by Soviet and Russian polar explorer Artur Chilingarov. In a symbolic act of visitation, the Russian flag was placed on the ocean floor exactly at the Pole.^[53][54][55]

The expedition was the latest in a series of efforts intended to give Russia a dominant influence in the Arctic according to The New York Times.^[56] The warming Arctic climate and summer shrinkage of the iced area has attracted the attention of many countries, such as China and the United States, toward the top of the world, where resources and shipping routes may soon be exploitable.^[57]

MLAE 2009 Expedition

In 2009 the Russian Marine Live-Ice Automobile Expedition (MLAE-2009) with Vasily Elagin as a leader and a team of Afanasy Makovnev, Vladimir Obikhod, Alexey Shkrabkin, Sergey Larin, Alexey Ushakov and Nikolay Nikulshin reached the North Pole on two custom-built 6 x 6 low-pressure-tire ATVs. The vehicles, Yemelya-1 and Yemelya-2, were designed by Vasily Elagin, a Russian mountain climber, explorer and engineer. They reached the North Pole on 26 April 2009, 17:30 (Moscow time). The expedition was partly supported by Russian State Aviation. The Russian Book of Records recognized it as the first successful vehicle trip from land to the Geographical North Pole.

MLAE 2013 Expedition

On 1 March 2013 the Russian Marine Live-Ice Automobile Expedition (MLAE 2013) with Vasily Elagin as a leader, and a team of Afanasy Makovnev, Vladimir Obikhod, Alexey Shkrabkin, Andrey Vankov, Sergey Isayev and Nikolay Kozlov on two custom-built 6 x 6 low-pressure-tire ATVs—Yemelya-3 and Yemelya-4—started from Golomyanny Island (the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago) to the North Pole across drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean. The vehicles reached the Pole on 6 April and then continued to the Canadian coast. The coast was reached on 30 April 2013 (83°08N, 075°59W Ward Hunt Island), and on 5 May 2013 the expedition finished in Resolute Bay, NU. The way between the Russian borderland (Machtovyi Island of the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago, 80°15N, 097°27E) and the Canadian coast (Ward Hunt Island, 83°08N, 075°59W) took 55 days; it was ~2300 km across drifting ice and about 4000 km in total. The expedition was totally self-dependent and used no external supplies. The expedition was supported by the Russian Geographical Society.^[58]

Day and night

The sun at the North Pole is continuously above the horizon during the summer and continuously below the horizon during the winter. Sunrise is just before the March equinox (around 20 March); the sun then takes three months to reach its highest point of near 23½° elevation at the summer solstice (around 21 June), after which time it begins to sink, reaching sunset just after the September equinox (around 23 September). When the sun is visible in the polar sky, it appears to move in a horizontal circle above the horizon. This circle gradually rises from near the horizon just after the vernal equinox to its maximum elevation (in degrees) above the horizon at summer solstice and then sinks back toward the horizon before sinking below it at the autumnal equinox. Hence the North and South Poles experience the slowest rates of sunrise and sunset on Earth.

The twilight period that occurs before sunrise and after sunset has three different definitions:

• a civil twilight period of about two weeks;
• a nautical twilight period of about five weeks; and
• an astronomical twilight period of about seven weeks.

These effects are caused by a combination of the Earth’s axial tilt and its revolution around the sun. The direction of the Earth’s axial tilt, as well as its angle relative to the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, remains very nearly constant over the course of a year (both change very slowly over long time periods). At northern midsummer the North Pole is facing towards the sun to its maximum extent. As the year progresses and the Earth moves around the sun, the North Pole gradually turns away from the sun until at midwinter it is facing away from the Sun to its maximum extent. A similar sequence is observed at the South Pole, with a six-month time difference.

Time

In most places on Earth, local time is determined by longitude, such that the time of day is more or less synchronised to the position of the sun in the sky (for example, at midday, the sun is roughly at its highest). This line of reasoning fails at the North Pole, where the sun rises and sets only once per year, and all lines of longitude, and hence all time zones, converge. There is no permanent human presence at the North Pole and no particular time zone has been assigned. Polar expeditions may use any time zone that is convenient, such as Greenwich Mean Time, or the time zone of the country from which they departed.^{[citation needed]}

Climate, sea ice at North Pole

The North Pole is substantially warmer than the South Pole because it lies at sea level in the middle of an ocean (which acts as a reservoir of heat), rather than at altitude on a continental land mass. Despite being an ice cap, the northernmost weather station in Greenland has a tundra climate (Köppen ET) due to the July and August mean temperatures peaking just above freezing.^[a]

Winter temperatures at the northernmost weather station in Greenland can range from about −50 to −13 °C (−58 to 9 °F), averaging around −31 °C (−24 °F), with the North Pole being slightly colder. However, a freak storm caused the temperature to reach 0.7 °C (33.3 °F) for a time at a World Meteorological Organization buoy, located at 87.45°N, on 30 December 2015. It was estimated that the temperature at the North Pole was between −1 and 2 °C (30 and 35 °F) during the storm.^[59] Summer temperatures (June, July, and August) average around the freezing point (0 °C (32 °F)). The highest temperature yet recorded is 13 °C (55 °F),^[60] much warmer than the South Pole’s record high of only −12.3 °C (9.9 °F).^[61] A similar^{[clarification needed]} spike in temperatures occurred on 15 November 2016 when temperatures hit freezing.^[62] Yet again, February 2018 featured a storm so powerful that temperatures at Cape Morris Jesup, the world’s northernmost weather station in Greenland, reached 6.1 °C (43.0 °F) and spent 24 straight hours above freezing.^[63] Meanwhile, the pole itself was estimated to reach a high temperature of 1.6 °C (34.9 °F)^{[clarification needed]}. This same temperature of 1.6 °C (34.9 °F) was also recorded at the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles at the very same time.^[64]

The sea ice at the North Pole is typically around 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) thick,^[65] although ice thickness, its spatial extent, and the fraction of open water within the ice pack can vary rapidly and profoundly in response to weather and climate.^[66] Studies have shown that the average ice thickness has decreased in recent years.^[67] It is likely that global warming has contributed to this, but it is not possible to attribute the recent abrupt decrease in thickness entirely to the observed warming in the Arctic.^[68] Reports have also predicted that within a few decades the Arctic Ocean will be entirely free of ice in the summer.^[69] This may have significant commercial implications; see «Territorial claims», below.

The retreat of the Arctic sea ice will accelerate global warming, as less ice cover reflects less solar radiation, and may have serious climate implications by contributing to Arctic cyclone generation.^[70]

Flora and fauna

Polar bears are believed to travel rarely beyond about 82° North, owing to the scarcity of food, though tracks have been seen in the vicinity of the North Pole, and a 2006 expedition reported sighting a polar bear just 1 mi (1.6 km) from the Pole.^[71][72] The ringed seal has also been seen at the Pole, and Arctic foxes have been observed less than 60 km (37 mi) away at 89°40′ N.^[73][74]

Birds seen at or very near the Pole include the snow bunting, northern fulmar and black-legged kittiwake, though some bird sightings may be distorted by the tendency of birds to follow ships and expeditions.^[75]

Fish have been seen in the waters at the North Pole, but these are probably few in number.^[75] A member of the Russian team that descended to the North Pole seabed in August 2007 reported seeing no sea creatures living there.^[54] However, it was later reported that a sea anemone had been scooped up from the seabed mud by the Russian team and that video footage from the dive showed unidentified shrimps and amphipods.^[76]

Territorial claims to the North Pole and Arctic regions

Currently, under international law, no country owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic countries, Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark (via Greenland), and the United States, are limited to a 200-nautical-mile (370 km; 230 mi) exclusive economic zone off their coasts, and the area beyond that is administered by the International Seabed Authority.

Upon ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country has 10 years to make claims to an extended continental shelf beyond its 200-mile exclusive economic zone. If validated, such a claim gives the claimant state rights to what may be on or beneath the sea bottom within the claimed zone.^[77] Norway (ratified the convention in 1996^[78]), Russia (ratified in 1997^[78]), Canada (ratified in 2003^[78]) and Denmark (ratified in 2004^[78]) have all launched projects to base claims that certain areas of Arctic continental shelves should be subject to their sole sovereign exploitation.^[79][80]

In 1907 Canada invoked a «sector principle» to claim sovereignty over a sector stretching from its coasts to the North Pole. This claim has not been relinquished, but was not consistently pressed until 2013.^[81][82]

Cultural associations

In some children’s Christmas legends and Western folklore, the geographic North Pole is described as the location of Santa Claus’ legendary workshop and residence,^[84] although the depictions have been inconsistent between the geographic and magnetic North Pole.^{[citation needed]} Canada Post has assigned postal code H0H 0H0 to the North Pole (referring to Santa’s traditional exclamation of «Ho ho ho!»).^[85]

This association reflects an age-old esoteric mythology of Hyperborea that posits the North Pole, the otherworldly world-axis, as the abode of God and superhuman beings.^[86]

As Henry Corbin has documented, the North Pole plays a key part in the cultural worldview of Sufism and Iranian mysticism. «The Orient sought by the mystic, the Orient that cannot be located on our maps, is in the direction of the north, beyond the north.».^[87]

In Mandaean cosmology, the North Pole and Polaris are considered to be auspicious, since they are associated with the World of Light. Mandaeans face north when praying, and temples are also oriented towards the north. On the contrary, South is associated with the World of Darkness.^[88]

Owing to its remoteness, the Pole is sometimes identified with a mysterious mountain of ancient Iranian tradition called Mount Qaf (Jabal Qaf), the «farthest point of the earth».^[89][90] According to certain authors, the Jabal Qaf of Muslim cosmology is a version of Rupes Nigra, a mountain whose ascent, like Dante’s climbing of the Mountain of Purgatory, represents the pilgrim’s progress through spiritual states.^[91] In Iranian theosophy, the heavenly Pole, the focal point of the spiritual ascent, acts as a magnet to draw beings to its «palaces ablaze with immaterial matter.»^[92]

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

• Arctic Council
• The Northern Forum
• North Pole Web Cam
• FAQ on the Arctic and the North Pole
• Daylight, Darkness and Changing of the Seasons at the North Pole
• Video of the Nuclear Icebreaker Yamal visiting the North Pole in 2001
• Polar Discovery: North Pole Observatory Expedition

Северный полюс

Связанные понятия

Ю́жный по́люс Земли — точка пересечения оси вращения Земли с её поверхностью в Южном полушарии. Находится в пределах Полярного плато Антарктиды на высоте 2800 м. Южный полюс не следует путать с Южным магнитным полюсом.

Дрейфующая станция — научно-исследовательская станция, создаваемая на дрейфующих льдах в глубоководной части Северного Ледовитого океана.

Ю́жный магни́тный по́люс — условная точка на земной поверхности, в которой магнитное поле Земли направлено строго вертикально вверх (под углом 90° к поверхности). Следует отметить, что с физической точки зрения этот полюс является «северным», поскольку притягивает южный полюс стрелки компаса.

Поля́рная ста́нция — научно-наблюдательный пункт, созданный на побережье Северного Ледовитого океана, в Антарктике, на близлежащих островах, а также на дрейфующих льдах.

Советская Антарктическая экспедиция (САЭ) — постоянная экспедиция Арктического и Антарктического научно-исследовательского института Академии наук СССР (1955—1992 годы).

Упоминания в литературе

Связанные понятия (продолжение)

Дрейф льда — движение льда в море или океане под действием ветра и течений. Самый масштабный дрейф льда происходит в Арктике, именно там он давно и усиленно исследуется.

Па́ковый лёд — морской лёд толщиной не менее 3 метров, просуществовавший более 2 годовых циклов нарастания и таяния. В виде обширных ледяных полей наблюдается преимущественно в Арктическом бассейне. Более правильное название — многолетний лёд.

«Норвегия» (норв. Norge) — полужёсткий дирижабль, построенный в 1923-1926 годах в Италии.

Южный полярный круг — самая южная широта, на которой центр полуденного солнца виден только в июньское солнцестояние, и самая северная, на которой центр солнца полуночного виден только в солнцестояние декабрьское, и южнее которой бывают полярные дни и ночи; одна из пяти главных параллелей, обозначенных на карте Земли.

Мыс Арктический является самой северной точкой острова Комсомолец, который, в свою очередь, является одним из самых северных островов архипелага Северная Земля. Открыт в ходе экспедиции Вилькицкого 1913 года, назван мысом Жохова по фамилии вахтенного офицера. В мае 1931 года Северная Земля была картографирована экспедицией Ушакова и Урванцева, после чего мыс был назван в честь Председателя Совнаркома Молотова. В конце 1950-х получил политически нейтральное название Арктический.

Ортодро́мия, ортодро́ма (от др.-греч. «ὀρθός» — «прямой» и «δρόμος» — «бег», «путь») в геометрии — кратчайшая линия между двумя точками на поверхности вращения, частный случай геодезической линии.

Поля́рная ночь — период, когда Солнце более 24 часов (то есть более суток) не появляется из-за горизонта. Самая короткая полярная ночь (почти двое суток) наблюдается на широте ≈ 67°24′ с. ш., определяемой как широта Северного полярного круга ≈ 66°34′ с. ш., к которой прибавлены радиус солнечного диска (около 15′) и величина атмосферной рефракции (на уровне моря в среднем 35′); самая длинная — на Южном полюсе, чуть менее шести месяцев. Полярная ночь является следствием наклона оси вращения Земли к…

Северо-Западный проход (англ. Northwest Passage) — морской путь через Северный Ледовитый океан вдоль северного берега Северной Америки через Канадский Арктический архипелаг.

Поля́рное плато́ (англ. Antarctic Plateau) — равнинная поверхность ледникового щита, в центре которого находится Южный полюс.

Се́верный магни́тный по́люс — условная точка в северной полярной области земной поверхности, в которой магнитное поле Земли направлено строго вниз (под углом 90° к поверхности).

Поля́рный круг — воображаемая линия на поверхности планеты, параллель, выше широты́ которой (то есть дальше от экватора) бывают полярный день и полярная ночь.

Шельфовый ледник обычно формируется там, где ледники и ледяные потоки, стекающие с континентального ледникового щита, впадают в залив. Спустившись по дну до определённой глубины — обычно 300 м, — лёд переходит в плавучее состояние, и различные ледники сливаются в единое поле. Это поле продолжает расти, пока не заполнит залив. Выходя за пределы залива, как бы тот ни был велик, передняя часть ледника, лишившаяся сдерживающего влияния устья залива, утрачивает стабильность и становится уязвимой для сил…

Междунаро́дный геофизи́ческий год (МГГ) — условный период, в течение которого проводятся согласованные геофизические исследования по единой программе и методике.

Се́верный морско́й путь, Се́верный морско́й коридо́р — кратчайший морской путь между Европейской частью России и Дальним Востоком; законодательством РФ определён как «исторически сложившаяся национальная единая транспортная коммуникация России в Арктике».

Герои́ческий век антаркти́ческих иссле́дований (англ. Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration) — термин, принятый в англоязычной историографии для обозначения ряда экспедиций в регион Антарктики, организованных на рубеже XIX века и первых десятилетий XX века, использовавших собачьи упряжки в качестве основного вида транспорта. Основной их целью было достижение географического Южного полюса и территориальный раздел побережий и внутренних районов неизвестного материка, изучение его физических, климатических…

«Полюс недоступности» — временная советская антарктическая станция в 2100 километрах от станции Мирный, действовавшая в декабре 1958 года. Имеет код 89550 согласно Всемирной метеорологической организации.

Кругосве́тное путеше́ствие, «кругосве́тка», англиц. циркумнавига́ция — путешествие, маршрут которого в системе отсчёта, связанной с Землёй, однократно огибает земную ось и завершается в исходной точке. Если такое путешествие осуществляется без оказания внешней помощи, без пополнения запасов воды, провизии, оборудования и пр., то такое путешествие называется кругосветным безостановочным путешествием.

Территориальное деление Антарктиды — исторически сложившаяся в XIX—XX веках система географического (но не политического) разделения поверхности шестого континента Земли на участки территории, традиционно называемые «Землями» и «Берегами».

А́йсберг (нем. Eisberg, «ледяная гора») — крупный свободно плавающий кусок льда в океане или море. Как правило, айсберги откалываются от шельфовых ледников. Поскольку плотность льда составляет 920 кг/м³, а плотность морской воды — около 1025 кг/м³, около 90 % объёма айсберга находится под водой. Многолетние снегопады, уплотнение снегового покрова вызывает «рост» айсберга, превращая его как бы в совокупность из миллиардов крошечных ледяных зеркал, отражающих свет.

Бе́рег «Пра́вды» — часть побережья Восточной Антарктиды, лежащая между 88° и 100° восточной долготы. Согласно «Атласу Антарктики» (1966), центральная точка этого объекта имеет координаты 67°00′ ю. ш. 94°00′ в. д.

Бельгийская антарктическая экспедиция (фр. L’expédition antarctique belge, также «Экспедиция „Бельжики“», фр. expédition Belgica) — проходила в 1897—1899 годах в Южном океане. Руководитель — Адриен де Жерлаш, в интернациональной команде приняли участие будущие известные полярные исследователи Фредерик Кук (США) и Руаль Амундсен (Норвегия). В ходе плавания произошёл незапланированный 386-дневный дрейф в Море Беллинсгаузена, тем не менее, были сделаны годичные циклы астрономических, метеорологических…

Гри́нвичский меридиа́н — меридиан, проходящий через ось пассажного инструмента Гринвичской обсерватории. Гринвичский меридиан служил началом отсчёта долготы в некоторых системах координат, является средним меридианом нулевого часового пояса. Местное солнечное время применяется в астрономии (для синхронизации всемирного времени).

Международный полярный год (англ. International Polar Year), или МПГ (IPY), призван объединить усилия ряда стран в исследовании арктического и антарктического полярных регионов. По общей программе и единой методике проводятся одновременные геофизические наблюдения.

Се́верный поля́рный круг — самая северная широта, на которой центр полуденного солнца виден только в декабрьское солнцестояние, и самая южная, на которой центр солнца полуночного виден только в солнцестояние июньское, и севернее которой бывают полярные дни и ночи; одна из пяти главных параллелей, обозначенных на карте Земли.

Поля́рная по́чта (англ. polar mail) — авиационные, морские и прочие почтовые линии связи между континентом и почтовыми службами, действующими в зоне Арктики и Антарктики.

Бэрд (англ. Byrd) — антарктическая внутриконтинентальная научная станция США на Земле Мэри Бэрд (80°01′ южной широты и 119°32′ западной долготы). Названа именем Ричарда Бэрда. Открыта 1 января 1957 года в связи с проведением Международного геофизического года. На первую половину 2012 года станция закрыта.

Ездовая собака — собака определённой породы (хаски, маламут, самоед), использующаяся как тяговая сила на снегу или льду, для буксировки лодок, для перевозки грузов и людей на нартах.

Магни́тный по́люс — условная точка на земной поверхности, в которой силовые линии магнитного поля Земли направлены строго под углом 90° к поверхности.

Географический полюс — точка, в которой ось вращения Земли пересекается с поверхностью Земли. Имеется два географических полюса: Северный полюс — находится в Арктике (центральная часть Северного Ледовитого океана) и Южный полюс — находится в Антарктиде.

Торо́сы — нагромождение обломков льда, до 10—20 метров в высоту, которые образуются в результате сжатия ледяного покрова. Различают два вида образования торосов (или торошения): взлом и раздробление ледяного покрова.

Новая Швабия (нем. Neu-Schwabenland или Neuschwabenland) — территория Антарктиды («немецкий антарктический сектор» между 4°50′ и 16°30′ в. д.), на которую нацистская Германия в период с 19 января 1939 года по 8 мая 1945 года предъявляла территориальные претензии. Формально от данных территориальных претензий Германия не отказалась по сей день. Территория Новой Швабии располагалась на Земле Королевы Мод, которую с 1938 года Норвегия считает своей зависимой территорией.

Импе́рская трансантаркти́ческая экспеди́ция 1914—1917 годов (англ. Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition) — вторая экспедиция под командованием сэра Эрнеста Шеклтона, целью которой было пересечение всего Антарктического материка. Достичь поставленной цели не удалось, однако в анналах истории эта экспедиция стала примером профессионализма и выносливости полярников, сумевших выжить в экстремальных условиях. Экспедиция считается последним великим путешествием «Золотого века полярных исследований», использующим…

Российская Антарктическая экспедиция (РАЭ) — непрерывно работающая экспедиция Арктического и Антарктического научно-исследовательского института Федеральной службы по гидрометеорологии и мониторингу окружающей среды России. В РАЭ участвуют зимовщики, проводящие в Антарктике около года, и сезонные отряды, работающие антарктическим летом.

Вторая германская антарктическая экспедиция (нем. Zweite Deutsche Antarktisexpedition) проходила в море Уэдделла в 1911—1912 годах; это была вторая германская экспедиция, действовавшая в Антарктике после 1903 года. Главной целью экспедиции и её главы — Вильгельма Фильхнера — было пересечение Антарктического континента в самом узком его месте — от моря Уэдделла до моря Росса; о покорении Южного полюса официально не объявлялось. Предстояло доказать или опровергнуть гипотезу о наличии пролива между…

Ли́ния переме́ны да́ты — условная линия на поверхности земного шара, проходящая от полюса до полюса, по разные стороны которой местное время отличается на сутки (или почти на сутки). То есть по разные стороны линии часы показывают примерно одно время суток (возможна разница на один-три часа из-за сдвига часовых поясов), однако на западной стороне линии дата сдвинута на один день вперёд относительно восточной. Это можно выразить иначе следующим образом: если на линии перемены даты в данный момент…

Австро-Венгерская полярная экспедиция — арктическая экспедиция по поиску Северо-Восточного прохода, совершённая в 1871—1874 годах под руководством Юлиуса Пайера и Карла Вайпрехта. В ходе экспедиции был открыт и частично исследован архипелаг Земля Франца-Иосифа.

Трансантарктическая экспедиция Британского содружества (англ. Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, аббревиатура CTAE) 1955—1958 гг. — полярная экспедиция под руководством сэра Вивиана Фукса и сэра Эдмунда Хиллари, впервые в мировой научной практике успешно пересекшая Антарктический континент на дистанции 3473 км и проведшая исследования мощности ледникового покрова на всём протяжении пути от залива Фазеля на побережье моря Уэдделла, до побережья моря Росса. Вспомогательная команда Э. Хиллари…

Экспедиция Норденшёльда (в иноязычных источниках — экспедиция «Веги») 1878—1880 годов под руководством Адольфа Эрика Норденшёльда была первой экспедицией, во время которой удалось пройти весь Северный морской путь, известный с середины 1700-х годов как возможный судоходный маршрут между Европой и Азией через Северный Ледовитый океан. Несмотря на многие препятствия и проблемы, возникавшие в пути, экспедиция закончилась успешно и была признана одним из выдающихся достижений шведской науки.

Шотландская национальная антарктическая экспедиция 1902—1904 гг. — антарктическая экспедиция, организованная и проходившая под руководством Уильяма Спирса Брюса, естествоиспытателя и бывшего студента-медика Университета Эдинбурга. Несмотря на то, что славу предприятия затмила проходившая в то же время экспедиция «Дискавери» Роберта Скотта, Брюс полностью выполнил запланированные геологоразведочные работы и научные изыскания. Достижения экспедиции включали создание первой в Антарктике обитаемой метеорологической…

Упоминания в литературе (продолжение)