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North Pole
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For other uses, see North Pole (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with North Magnetic Pole.
Coordinates: 90°N 0°W / 90°N -0°E / 90; -0
An azimuthal projection showing the Arctic Ocean and the North Pole. The map also shows the 75th parallel north and 60th parallel north.
Sea ice at the North Pole in 2006
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is (subject to the caveats explained below) defined as the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface.
The North Pole is the northernmost point on the Earth, lying diametrically opposite 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. Along tight latitude circles, counterclockwise is east and clockwise is west. The North Pole is at the center of the Northern Hemisphere.
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. 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, the Russians have also annually established a 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[1][2] to the late 21st century or later.
The sea depth at the North Pole has been measured at 4,261 m (13,980 ft) by the Russian Mir submersible in 2007[3] and at 4,087 m (13,410 ft) by USS Nautilus in 1958.[4][5] 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.
Contents
[hide]
1 Precise definition
2 Exploration
2.1 Pre-1900
2.2 1900–40
2.3 1940–2000
2.4 21st century
2.4.1 2007 descent to the North Pole seabed
2.4.2 MLAE 2009 Expedition
2.4.3 MLAE 2013 Expedition
3 Day and night
4 Time
5 Climate
6 Flora and fauna
7 Territorial claims to the North Pole and Arctic regions
8 Cultural associations
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References
12 Further reading
13 External links
Precise definition[edit]
See also: Polar motion
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. Of course, 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[edit]
See also: Arctic exploration, Farthest North, List of Arctic expeditions, and List of firsts in the Geographic North Pole
Pre-1900[edit]
Gerardus Mercator's map of the North Pole from 1595
C.G. Zorgdragers map of the North Pole from 1720
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.[6] 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 on 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. DeLong ended tragically when their ship, the USS Jeanette, was crushed by ice. Over half the crew, including DeLong, were lost.
Nansen's ship Fram in the Arctic ice
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 later. 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.
1900–40[edit]
Peary's sledge party at what they claimed was the North Pole, 1909. From left: Ooqueah, Ootah, Henson, Egingwah, Seeglo.[7]
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.[8]
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.[9] 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, significantly short of the 135 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."[10]
Ivan Papanin at North Pole-1 drifting station, 1937
Another rejection of Peary's claim arrived in 2009, when E. Myles Standish of the California Institute of Technology, an experienced referee of scientific claims, reported numerous alleged lacunae and inconsistencies.[11][unreliable source?]
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[12] 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).[13] 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.[14]
According to Standish, "Anyone who is acquainted with the facts and has any amount of logical reasoning can not avoid the conclusion that neither Cook, nor Peary, nor Byrd reached the North Pole; and they all knew it."[11][unreliable source?]
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.[15] 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.
In May 1937 the world's first North Pole ice station, North Pole-1, was established by Soviet scientists by air 20 kilometres (13 mi) from the North Pole. The expedition members: oceanographer Pyotr Shirshov, meteorologist Yevgeny Fyodorov, radio operator Ernst Krenkel, and the leader Ivan Papanin[16] 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.[17][18]
1940–2000[edit]
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.[19]
Discounting Peary's disputed claim, the first men to set foot at the North Pole were a Soviet party[20] including geophysicists Mikhail Ostrekin and Pavel Senko, oceanographers Mikhail Somov and Pavel Gordienko,[21] and other scientists and flight crew (24 people in total)[22] of Aleksandr Kuznetsov's Sever-2 expedition (March–May 1948).[23] It was organized by the Chief Directorate of the Northern Sea Route.[24] 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.[25] 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[26] two other Soviet scientists (Vitali Volovich and Andrei Medvedev)[27] became the first people to parachute onto the North Pole.[28] They jumped from a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, registered CCCP H-369.[29]
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[30] until the Soviet landings became widely known.
USS Skate at drift station Alpha, 1958
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.[31]
Setting aside Peary's claim, the first confirmed surface conquest of the North Pole was that of 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.[32][33] 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.[33][34] In the 1980s Plaisted's pilots Weldy Phipps and Ken Lee signed affidavits asserting that no such airlift was provided.[35] It is also said that Herbert was the first person to reach the pole of inaccessibility.[36]
Icebreaker Arktika, the first surface ship to reach the North Pole.
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. This achievement remains unchallenged to this day.
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.[37] 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 April 18, in the company of the USS Sea Horse (SSN-669).
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.[38][39]
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 13-man strong team (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 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.[40]
On 7 September 1991 the German research vessel Polarstern and the Swedish icebreaker Oden reached the North Pole as the first conventional powered vessels.[41] 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[42] 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.[43][44] 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[edit]
USS Charlotte at the North Pole in 2005
Commercial airliner flights on the Polar routes may pass within viewing distance of the North Pole. For example, the 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).[45]
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.[46]
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.[47] 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.[48]
2007 descent to the North Pole seabed[edit]
Main article: Arktika 2007
MIR submersible, one of the two vehicles that were used in the first ever manned descent to the seabed under the North Pole
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.[49][50][51]
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.[52] 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.[53]
MLAE 2009 Expedition[edit]
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 — Yemelya-1 and Yemelya-2, designed by Vasily Elagin, a known Russian mountain climber, explorer and engineer. The vehicles 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[edit]
Yemelya — all terrain amphibious vehicle
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 Hant 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 Hant 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.[54]
Day and night[edit]
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.
A civil twilight period of about two weeks occurs before sunrise and after sunset, a nautical twilight period of about five weeks occurs before sunrise and after sunset and an astronomical twilight period of about seven weeks occurs before sunrise and after sunset.
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[edit]
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[edit]
Arctic ice shrinkages of 2007 compared to 2005 and also compared to the 1979–2000 average.
Main article: Climate of the Arctic
See also: Climate change in the Arctic
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, it shares some characteristics with a tundra climate (ETf) due to the July and August temperatures peaking just above freezing.
Winter temperatures at the North Pole can range from about −50 to −13 °C (−58 to 9 °F), averaging around −31 °C (−24 °F).A However, a freak storm caused the temperature to reach 0.7 °C (33 °F) for a time at a World Meteorological Organization buoy, located at 87.45°N, on December 30, 2015. It was estimated that the temperature at the North Pole was between 30 and 35 °F (−1 and 2 °C) during the storm.[55] 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),[56] much warmer than the South Pole's record high of only −12.3 °C (9.9 °F).[57] A similar spike in temperatures occurred on November 15, 2016 when temperatures hit freezing.[58] Yet again, February of 2018 featured a storm so powerful that temperatures at Cape Morris Jesup, the world northermost weather station in Greenland, reached 6.1 °C (43 °F) and spent 24 straight hours above freezing.[59] Meanwhile, the pole itself was estimated to reach a high temperature of 1.6 °C (35 °F). This same temperature of 1.6 °C (35 °F) was also recorded at the Hollywood Burbank Airport in Los Angeles at the very same time.[60]
The sea ice at the North Pole is typically around 2 to 3 m (6 ft 7 in to 9 ft 10 in) thick,[61] although ice thickness, its spatial extent, and the fraction of open water within the ice pack can very rapidly and profoundly in response to weather and climate.[62] Studies have shown that the average ice thickness has decreased in recent years.[63] 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.[64] Reports have also predicted that within a few decades the Arctic Ocean will be entirely free of ice in the summer.[65] 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.[66]
[hide]Climate data for Greenlandic Weather StationA (eleven year average observations)
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Record high °C (°F)
−13
(9) −14
(7) −11
(12) −6
(21) 3
(37) 10
(50) 13
(55) 12
(54) 7
(45) −2
(28) 0.6
(33.1) 0.7
(33.3) 13
(55)
Average high °C (°F)
−29
(−20) −31
(−24) −30
(−22) −22
(−8) −9
(16) 0
(32) 2
(36) 1
(34) −7
(19) −18
(0) −25
(−13) −26
(−15) −16.2
(2.9)
Daily mean °C (°F)
−31
(−24) −32
(−26) −31
(−24) −23
(−9) −11
(12) −1
(30) 1
(34) 0
(32) −9
(16) −20
(−4) −27
(−17) −28
(−18) −17.7
(0.2)
Average low °C (°F)
−33
(−27) −35
(−31) −34
(−29) −26
(−15) −12
(10) −2
(28) 0
(32) −1
(30) −11
(12) −22
(−8) −30
(−22) −31
(−24) −19.7
(−3.7)
Record low °C (°F)
−47
(−53) −50
(−58) −50
(−58) −41
(−42) −24
(−11) −12
(10) −2
(28) −12
(10) −31
(−24) −41
(−42) −41
(−42) −47
(−53) −50
(−58)
Average relative humidity (%)
83.5 83.0 83.0 85.0 87.5 90.0 90.0 89.5 88.0 84.5 83.0 83.0 85.83
Source: Weatherbase[56]
Flora and fauna[edit]
Polar bears are believed rarely to travel 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.[67][68] 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.[69][70]
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.[71]
Fish have been seen in the waters at the North Pole, but these are probably few in number.[71] A member of the Russian team that descended to the North Pole seabed in August 2007 reported seeing no sea creatures living there.[50] 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.[72]
Territorial claims to the North Pole and Arctic regions[edit]
Main article: Territorial claims in the Arctic
Sunset over the North Pole at the International Dateline, 2015
Currently, under international law, no country owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic countries, Russian Federation, Canada, Norway, Denmark (via Greenland), and the United States (via Alaska), 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.[73] Norway (ratified the convention in 1996[74]), Russia (ratified in 1997[74]), Canada (ratified in 2003[74]) and Denmark (ratified in 2004[74]) have all launched projects to base claims that certain areas of Arctic continental shelves should be subject to their sole sovereign exploitation.[75][76]
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.[77][78]
Cultural associations[edit]
In some children's Western cultures, the geographic North Pole is described as the location of Santa Claus' workshop and residence,[79][80] 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!").[81]
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.[82] The popular figure of the pole-dwelling Santa Claus thus functions as an archetype of spiritual purity and transcendence.[83]
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."[84]
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".[85][86] 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.[87] 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." [88]
See also[edit]
Arctic portal
Arctic cooperation and politics
Arctic Council
Biome
Celestial pole
Ecliptic pole
Inuit Circumpolar Council
North Pole, Alaska
Polaris
Poles of astronomical bodies
Willem Barentsz
Notes[edit]
A.^ Data is from a Greenlandic Weather Station at 83°38′N 033°22′W / 83.633°N 33.367°W / 83.633; -33.367 (Greenlandic Weather Station) located 709 km (441 mi) from the North Pole.
References[edit]
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Further reading[edit]
Frederick, Albert; Cook, Robert E. Peary, George W. Melville (2003). Finding the North Pole. The Lyons press. ISBN 1-59228-072-2. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
Pal, Christopher (2002). The Oddest Place on Earth: Rediscovering the North Pole. Writer's Showcase. ISBN 0-595-21454-1.
Fairfield, William (1885). Paradise Found a Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole a Study of the Prehistoric World. Houghton, Mifflin. ISBN 0-665-37759-2.
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Draft lottery (1969)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (October 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Representative Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first number.
On December 1, 1969, the Selective Service System of the United States conducted two lotteries to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for men born from 1944 to 1950. These lotteries occurred during a period of conscription from just before World War II to 1973. It was the first time a lottery system had been used to select men for military service since 1942.
The lottery numbers assigned in December 1969 were used during calendar year 1970 both to call for induction and to call for physical examination, a preliminary call covering more men.
Contents
[hide]
1 Method
2 Origins and consequences
3 Modification
4 Present Day Use
5 References
6 External links
Method[edit]
The days of the year (including February 29) were written on slips of paper. These pieces of paper were then placed in separate plastic capsules that were mixed in a shoebox and then dumped into a deep glass jar. Capsules were drawn from the jar one at a time.
The first number drawn was 258 (September 14), so all registrants with that birthday were assigned lottery number 1. The second number drawn corresponded to April 24, and so forth. All men of draft age (born 1944 to 1950) who shared a birth date would be called to serve at once. The first 195 birthdates drawn were later called to serve in the order they were drawn; the last of these was September 24.[1]
Also on December 1, 1969, a second lottery was held with the 26 letters of the alphabet. Among men with the same birthdate, the order of induction was determined by the ranks of the first letters of their last, first, and middle names.[2] Anyone with initials "JJJ" would have been first within the shared birthdate, followed by "JGJ", "JDJ", and "JXJ"; anyone with initials "VVV" would have been last.[3]
SSS Draft scatterplot of the days of the year (horizontal) and their lottery numbers (vertical). December birthdays (far right) were assigned many low numbers (bottom), representing early induction, and few high numbers (top).
People soon noticed that the lottery numbers were not distributed uniformly over the year. In particular, November and December births, or dates 306 to 366, were assigned mainly to lower draft numbers representing earlier calls to serve (see figure). This led to complaints that the lottery was not random as the legislation required. Analysis of the procedure suggested that mixing 366 capsules in the shoe box did not mix them sufficiently before dumping them into the jar. ("The capsules were put in a box month by month, January through December, and subsequent mixing efforts were insufficient to overcome this sequencing.")[2] Only five days in December—Dec. 2, 12, 15, 17 and 19—were higher than the last call number of 195; had the days been evenly distributed, 14 days in December would have been expected to remain uncalled. From January to December, the rank of the average draft pick numbers were 5 4 1 3 2 6 8 9 10 7 11 12. A Monte Carlo simulation found that the probability of a random order of months being this close to the 1–12 sequence expected for unsorted slips was 0.09%.[4]
Draft lotteries were conducted again in 1970 (for those born in 1951) and from 1971 to 1975 (for 1952 to 1956 births). The draft numbers issued in 1972 were never used the next year to call for induction into service, because the last call was December 7 and authority to induct expired on June 30, 1973.
The 1972 to 1975 lottery numbers were used to call some men born 1953 to 1956 for physical exams. The highest number called for a physical was 215 (for tables 1970 through 1976).[3]
Origins and consequences[edit]
The reason for the 1969 draft was to add personnel to a war to stop the spread of communism in Vietnam. After World War II, Japan left Vietnamese Emperor Bao Dai in command. Ho Chi Minh, another Vietnamese leader, saw this as an opportunity to strike and took over Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh then set up the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Emperor Bo, in the South, set up the Vietnam State with Saigon as the capital. Ho Chi Minh was basing his political structure off of the communist states such as Russia while Emperor Bao Dai in the south wanted a Vietnam that was modeled after the west, like the United States.[5]
The North and the South began armed conflict against one another until the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954 ended with the Viet Minh forces as the victor. Afterwards at the Geneva conference Vietnam was split along the 17th latitude. There was supposed to be a reunification election in 1956 but another leader took over the South. Ngo Dinh Diem took over leadership from Emperor Bao Dai who took a very hard stance against communism.[5]
In other parts of the world, the Cold War was intensifying between Soviet Russia and the United States. The U.S. was becoming more rigid in its policies with the communist allies of Russia. President Dwight D. Eisenhower started supporting the South Vietnamese who were also against the communist north.[5]
The U.S. begun training and equipping Diem's forces with weapons. Conflicts between communist sympathizers began occurring in the South. At the time, the U.S. had only committed around 800 personnel to train and outfit the South Vietnamese. In 1961, the John F. Kennedy administration started working under the “Domino Theory,” which stated that if South Vietnam was to fall to the North, then other places in southeast Asia were to become vulnerable to the communists as well. This caused President Kennedy to begin sending additional American soldiers to Vietnam. By 1962, there were around 9,000 personnel in Vietnam.[5]
In 1963, a coup was organized by South Vietnamese generals which resulted in the death of Diem. President Lyndon B. Johnson increased U.S. personnel in Vietnam due to the political instability in the country. In August 1964, two U.S. warships were attacked by North Vietnamese torpedo boats. Johnson issued an attack order against North Vietnam, and Congress passed a motion which gave him more authority over military decisions. In 1965, President Johnson had sent 82,000 troops to Vietnam, and his officials wanted another 175,000. Due to the heavy demand for military personnel, the United States required more than what the regular military could provide, causing the acceleration of the draft. Between 1965 and 1972 the draft provided 2,215,000 service members to the U.S. military.[5]
Previously in the United States, during the War of 1812, President Madison established a commission to recommend the best ways to raise military manpower; to keep the draft or to institute a volunteer army.[6]
After much debate within the Nixon administration and Congress, it was decided that an all-volunteer force was affordable, feasible, and would enhance the nation’s security.[7] President Richard Nixon issued an executive order prescribing regulations for random selection by the United States Selective Service on November 26, 1969.[8]
In the 1960s anti-war movements started to occur in the U.S., mainly among those on college campuses and in more leftist circles, especially those who embraced the “hippie” lifestyle.[9] College students were entitled to a deferment (2-S status) but were subject to the draft if they dropped out or graduated.[10]
In 1967, the number of U.S. military personnel in Vietnam was around 500,000. The war was costing the U.S. $25 billion a year, and many of the young men drafted were being sent to a war they wanted no part of. Martin Luther King Jr. also started to support the anti-war movement on the grounds of it being immoral and the amount of African Americans that were being killed.[9]
November 15, 1969 marked the largest anti war movement in the history of the United States. This protest featured many anti-war political speakers and popular singers of the time. Many people at the time saw Richard Nixon as a liar; when he took office, he claimed that he would begin troop withdrawals from Vietnam immediately. After ten months of being in office, the president had yet to start withdrawals, anyone and the people felt lied to. Later, president Nixon claimed to have been watching sports as the anti-war demonstration took place outside the White House.[9]
The 1970s were a time of turmoil in the United States, beginning with the civil rights movement which set the standards for practices by the anti-war movement. The 1969 draft lottery only encouraged resentment of the Vietnam War and the draft. It strengthened the anti-war movement,[verification needed] and all over the United States, people decried discrimination by the draft system "against low-education, low-income, underprivileged members of society".[11]
The draft lottery had social and economic consequences because it generated resistance to military service and the resisters, draft evaders or "draft dodgers", were generally young, well-educated, healthy men. The fear of military service in Vietnam influenced many young men born in the late 1940s to join the National Guard. These young men were aware that the National Guard would be unlikely to send its soldiers to Vietnam. Many men were unable to join the National Guard, even though they had passed their physicals, because many state National Guards had long waiting lists just to enlist. Still others chose legal sanctions such as imprisonment, either showing their disapproval by burning their draft cards or draft letters, or simply not presenting themselves for the military service test. Others left the country, commonly moving to Canada. The number of American citizens who moved to Canada during the Vietnam war because of the draft is estimated to be around 125,000; it is believed that about half returned to the United States after the Nixon era (when the war was also over)(1975).[citation needed]
Modification[edit]
Lottery procedure was improved the next year although public discontent continued to grow [12] until "authority to induct expired on June 30, 1973".[3]
In 1970, covering 1951 birthdates for use during 1971 (sometimes called the 1971 draft), scientists at the National Bureau of Standards prepared 78 random permutations of the numbers 1 to 366 using random numbers selected from published tables.[13] From the 78 permutations, 25 were selected at random and transcribed to calendars using 1 = January 1, 2 = January 2, ... 365 = December 31. Those calendars were sealed in envelopes. 25 more permutations were selected and sealed in 25 more envelopes without transcription to calendars. The two sets of 25 envelopes were furnished to the Selective Service System.[13]
On June 2, an official picked two envelopes, thus one calendar and one raw permutation. The 365 birthdates (for 1951) were written down, placed in capsules, and put in a drum in the order dictated by the selected calendar. Similarly, the numbers from 1 to 365 were written down and placed into capsules in the order dictated by the raw permutation.[13]
On July 1, the drawing date, one drum was rotated for an hour and the other for a half-hour (its rotating mechanism failed).[13] Pairs of capsules were then drawn, one from each drum, one with a 1951 birthdate and one with a number 1 to 366. The first date and number drawn were September 16 and 139, so all men born September 16, 1951, were assigned draft number 139. The 11th draws were the date July 9 and the number 1, so men born July 9 were assigned draft number 1 and drafted first.[13]
Present Day Use[edit]
The military draft method used back in the 1950s and 1960s involved using dates and numbers mixed randomly and then drawn to decide who would go to war. In the present-day, not much has changed on how the draft would be conducted if it was ever needed. The Selective Service Committee who presides over the draft procedures still have a large tumbler that holds all the number and dates that will be drawn to select candidates and the only thing that seems to have changed between the method of the past and the present one is that instead of using pieces of paper in blue capsules the SSC now uses ping pong balls with the dates and numbers on them.[14]
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Selective Service System. "1970 Draft Lottery Results drawn December 1, 1969 sorted by date". Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012. See also sorted by numeric order.
^ Jump up to: a b Norton Starr (1997). "Nonrandom Risk: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Journal of Statistics Education 5.2 (1997). — The online edition includes instructions for getting the data online and a lesson plan for statistics class using the 1970 and 1971 draft lottery data.
^ Jump up to: a b c "The Vietnam Lotteries". Selective Service System. June 18, 2009. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012.
Jump up ^ Henk Tijms. "Understanding Probability". Cambridge University Press. p. 101.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Vietnam War - Vietnam War - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
Jump up ^ Chambers, John W. (1999). The Oxford Companion to American Military History. Oxford University Press. p. 180. ISBN 0-19-507198-0.
Jump up ^ 91st U.S. Congress. "AN ACT To amend the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 ..." (pdf). United States Government Printing Office. (Pub.L. 91–124, 83 Stat. 220, enacted November 26, 1969)
Jump up ^ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Richard Nixon: "Executive Order 11497 - Amending the Selective Service Regulations to Prescribe Random Selection," November 26, 1969". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Vietnam War Protests - Vietnam War - HISTORY.com". HISTORY.com. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
Jump up ^ https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/02/us/college-enrollment-linked-to-vietnam-war.html, https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1967/03/19/107186611.pdf
Jump up ^ Fisher, Anthony C. (1969). "The Cost of the Draft and the Cost of Ending the Draft". American Economic Review. 59 (3).
Jump up ^ Ifill, Gwen (13 February 1992). "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: New Hampshire; Clinton Thanked Colonel in '69 For 'Saving Me From the Draft'" – via NYTimes.com.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e Rosenblatt, J. R.; Filliben, J. J. (1971). "Randomization and the Draft Lottery". Science. 171: 306–08. doi:10.1126/science.171.3968.306.
Jump up ^ "How the U.S. Draft Works". HowStuffWorks. 2001-10-18. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
External links[edit]
Landscaper.net (2009). The Military Draft and 1969 Draft Lottery for the Vietnam War. Last modified 2009-03-24. Confirmed 2011-05-26. — contemporary news stories, images of Official Orders (call to physical exam, call to report), lottery results, Draft Board classifications, Vietnam troop levels, induction statistics 1917–73.
David Lane (2003). Introduction to Graphs: Clearing Up the Draft with Graphs. Connexions. 18 July 2003. Confirmed 2011-05-26. — list of draft ranks, additional analysis.
Selective Service System (2009). The Vietnam Lotteries. SSS: History and Records. Last updated 2015-09-19.
Norton Starr (1997). "Nonrandom Risk: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Journal of Statistics Education 5.2 (1997). Confirmed 2011-05-26. — The online edition includes instructions for getting the data online and a lesson plan for statistics class using the 1970 and 1971 draft lottery data.
Fienberg, S. E. (1971). "Randomization and Social Affairs: The 1970 Draft Lottery". Science. 171 (3968): 255–261. doi:10.1126/science.171.3968.255. PMID 17736218.
Rosenbaum, David E. (4 January 1970). "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random". New York Times. p. 66.
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