#15 - The ends of the Earth 地球的尽头

1.The Earth is round, but it has two 'ends' - the North Pole and the South Pole.
The Earth is constantly spinning around an imaginary line called the axis. At the ends of this axis are the poles. Here, it is always cold, because the poles are so far from the Sun.

V The position of the poles means they receive little heat from the Sun. V

2.At the North Pole, the average temperature is -20°C.
At the South Pole, it's much colder - about -50°C. It's hard for humans to survive in this cold. Water droplets in your breath would freeze onto your skin and stick there.

3.The area around the North Pole is called the Arctic.
Parts of Europe, Asia, and North America reach into the Arctic, but most of it is actually the Arctic Ocean. Many animals live in the Arctic. Polar bears and seals live on the ice and Arctic foxes, Arctic hares and snowy owls live on the land. The sea around the pole is mainly frozen. Scientists have found the ice is melting because of global warming. This is happening because pollution in the air is trapping heat close to the Earth making it warm up.

V Pollution in the form of carbon dioxide gas traps the heat from the Sun, making the Earth warm up. This is one reason that the polar ice is melting. It is also known as 'The Greenhouse effect'. V

4.The Antarctic is mostly made up of a huge continent, called Antarctica.
Much of it is covered in a layer of solid ice up to 4.7 kilometers thick. The Antarctic is colder than the Arctic because its thick ice and mountains make it very high, and the air is colder higher up. Because Antarctica is so big, the seas around it cannot warm it very much. Little wildlife lives here, but is home to lots of penguins.

V There are several different species (types) of penguins living in Antarctica. These emperor penguins and their chicks are the largest species. V

5.Explorers didn't make it to the poles until the 20th century.
US explorer Robert Peary and his team reached the North Pole in 1909. Soon afterward, two explorers raced to reach the South Pole. Norwegian Roald Amundsen arrived first, in December 1911. British explorer Robert Scott arrived one month later - but he and his one men died on their way home.

Fun fact: Explorers at the poles sometimes lose their body parts. If they let their fingers, toes, or nose get too cold, they can get frostbite. Blood stops flowing to these parts, and they can turn black and fall off.

V There are no towns or cities in Antarctica as it's so cold, but people do go there to explore and study nature. They sometimes use snowmobiles to travel around on the snow or ice. V

地球是圆的，但它有两个“两端” - 北极和南极。
地球不断围绕一条称为轴线的假想线旋转。在这个轴的末端是极点。在这里，总是很冷，因为两极是太远的太阳。

V极的位置意味着他们几乎没有太阳的热量。 V

在北极，平均气温为-20°C。
在南极，它比较冷 - 约-50°C。人类很难在寒冷中生存下去。你的呼吸中的水滴将冻结在你的皮肤上并粘在那里。

北极周围的地区被称为北极。
欧洲，亚洲和北美的部分地区进入北极，但大部分地区实际上是北冰洋。许多动物生活在北极。极地的熊和海豹住在冰上，北极的狐狸，北极的野兔和多雪的猫头鹰都住在这片土地上。极点周围的海水主要是冻结的。科学家发现冰由于全球变暖而融化。发生这种情况是因为空气中的污染正在将热量逼近地球，使其热身。

V以二氧化碳气体形式的污染捕获太阳的热量，使地球变暖。这是极地冰融化的一个原因。它也被称为“温室效应”。 V

南极大部分是由一个名叫南极的巨大大陆组成的。
它的大部分覆盖在厚达4.7公里的坚固冰层中。南极比北极寒冷，因为它的厚厚的冰和山使它非常高，空气越来越高。因为南极洲是如此之大，它周围的海洋不能很温暖。小野生动物住在这里，但是拥有许多企鹅。

五，有几种不同种类（种类）的企鹅生活在南极洲。这些皇帝企鹅和他们的小鸡是最大的物种。 V

在二十世纪以前，展示者并没有把它们推向极点。
美国探险家罗伯特·佩里和他的队伍在1909年到达了北极。不久之后，两名探险家开始到达南极。挪威Roald Amundsen于1911年12月抵达。英国探险家罗伯特·斯科特（Robert Scott）抵达一个月后，但他和他的一个人在回家路途中死亡。

有趣的事实：极地的探险者有时会失去身体部位。如果让他们的手指，脚趾或鼻子变得太冷，就可以得到冻伤。血液停止流向这些部位，它们可以变黑并脱落。

五，南极没有城镇，因为这么冷，但人们去那里去探索和学习自然。他们有时会使用雪地摩托车在雪或冰上旅行。 V