9781422279205

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Brrrr!

This overhead view of a portion of the Arctic coastline shows well the flat plains of sea ice that ring the heavier concentrations of glaciers and ice masses.

The Arctic got its name from a Greek word (spelled “arktos” in English) meaning “bear.”That’s a reference to the constella- tion Ursa Major. Its most famous grouping of stars is commonly known as the “Big Dipper,” but “ursa” was a Roman word mean- ing “bear,” and the Greeks took their lead from that. Antarctica comes from the Greek “antarktos,” which is a combination of