‘Tis the season to talk about things like Santa Claus, holiday decorations, fruitcake, and the North Pole. So here we go – a little something on the North Pole.
What you need to know about the North Pole
In our modern time, the North Pole is known mostly as the famed residence of Santa Claus, his elves, a toy making factory, and a place for reindeer. Children’s books like The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg, and films like The Santa Clause (1, 2 and 3), starring Tim Allen, or Elf, starring Will Farrell feature Santa’s North Pole prominently.
Today, if you try to visit the North Pole, you’ll be sadly disappointed for two reasons. First, you won’t be able to find Santa’s North Pole because it is obviously hidden from plain view, especially for those who don’t believe it exists. Second, once you reach the North Pole, you’ll find yourself in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.
Strictly speaking, the North Pole is at the northern most point of the globe, at the very top. At the exact opposite end of the globe from the South Pole. This is the point where, if you remain stationary, every direction would become south. In the North Pole, the very point in question is found in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. Thus, the North Pole, as a stationary point on landmass, doesn’t really exist.
Debates have also been made to show that because of the way the earth rotates, the point of the North Pole is not fixed, but has slight changes of a few meters throughout centuries. Nonetheless, in August 2007, a Russian expedition was made under the icy surface to the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. Here, on the North Pole seabed, the point of North Pole was marked (with a small Russian flag!) for the very first time.
There have been many attempts made to journey to the North Pole by adventurers and risk-takers. Before the 1900’s, such attempts were more unsuccessful than not, often resulting in death. Part of the challenge and uniqueness of the North Pole is that for half the year, there is 24 hours of darkness, and the other half of the year, there is 24 hours of daylight.
There have been many people who have been disputed to have been the first to reach the point, but around the 1940’s is when voyagers seemed to start getting it right. Just this past summer in July 2007, a British swimmer named Lewis Gordon Pugh swam 1 km through North Pole waters to demonstrate the effects of global warming and climate change.
Today, air voyages to ice mass surfaces in the North Pole are frequent made and safe enough to make. Additionally, there are also adventure travel and tourism companies that offer such trips to the North Pole, for those who are brave enough to face the climate that can go down to -43ºC in the winter months – and where even polar bears are not often to be seen.