We often think the Arctic(北极) only has snow and ice. But in fact, it has far more than that! The Arctic is on top of Earth. The Arctic Ocean makes up two-thirds of the Arctic, while made up of land in eight countries, including Russia, Canada, and the US.
The Arctic lands nave many various lives. Some plants and animals can grow in very cold temperatures. In fact，the Arctic is home to more than 21,000 kinds of lives. There are whales. Arctic foxes and many more. The polar bear (北极熊) is the most famous Arctic animal.
You might think that the Arctic is too cold for people to live in. But surprisingly, there are about 4 million people living there. That's the same population as the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi, China. About 10 percent are local people. They have been there for thousands of years. They make a living by fishing, hunting (打猎) and so on.
A group of scientists recently came back from a one-year-long study in the Arctic. They have bad news: the Arctic is dying. The amount of Arctic sea ice is falling by around 3 percent every year. There will be no more ice during the summer in the near future. What does this mean for us? Many animals, such as polar bears, hunt for their food on the ice. lf they can't do this anymore, they will die of hunger. Local people hunt animals for food. But since so many animals are dying, they need to change their way of life.
