By Park Soo-ryoun

Nowadays, in April or May, people begin putting their long sleeve clothes in the closet and start bringing out short sleeved ones which have been packed away for several months. When summer comes, people start thinking about vacations, lying on the hot sand, looking at a sparkling blue sea, and tanning while drinking cold juice. Also, they imagine the excitement of cooling off by jumping into the water.

However, this simply does not compare to summer in the Arctic.

Some falsely believe that it is always winter in Arctic and Antarctica. The Arctic sees many changes during the summer months as it prepares to welcome guests. As the temperature rises, a mother polar bear, which gave birth to two baby polar bears during winter and raised them, emerges with an empty stomach.

During winter, she did not eat anything, only feeding her babies. She lost one-third of her weight, while the weight of her babies has doubled.

Seals also give birth over the winter. Unlike their parents with dark brown skin, baby seals usually have white fur in order to hide themselves from predators in the snow and to protect themselves from freezing temperatures of around -30C.

Also, the Arctic Wolf begins wondering around in search of prey.

Reindeer are very busy at this time of year, preparing for a long journey to the south tundra region where they will find various plants to eat. Female reindeer start first to avoid attack from wolves and to protect their children. It takes a very long time to arrive at their destination, and there are many obstacles along the way, including rivers, mountains and, more annoyingly, mosquitoes.

On their journey, mosquitoes are a major irritation. They bite the reindeer a lot more vigorously than the mosquitoes that bite you on summer days. Some may think that mosquitoes cannot live in the Arctic, but they endure the harsh winter in their eggs and hatch when summer comes. However, after the torturous journey, the reindeer arrive in their paradise, full of fresh berries and pleasant weather.

The region also welcomes two underwater guests: Narwhals and Beluga whales. Narwhals are dolphins with a 2 to 3 meter, nail-like tusk. Because of the unique tusk, they are known as the unicorn of the sea. Belugas are known for their amazing songs. Ancient sailors believed that the whales would protect them from the harsh conditions of the sea. There is also the Clione, an angel-like shellfish with small wings and transparent body, which emits a shimmering light.

Despite the natural beauty of the Arctic, scientists predict that with the current pace of rising temperature, the ice there may disappear within 50 years. Huge ice shelves are collapsing and melting at every second, and the thickness of the ice has already been reduced by 30%. Ice that previously covered an area about four times that of the Korean peninsula has already melted and disappeared. If the Arctic is destroyed, animals that there will lose their homes and become extinct. In order to save the animals and the future of mankind, it's time to listen to what polar bears say. ``Help me.''

qkrtnfus7154@naver.com

Park Soo-ryoun is a student at Daewon Foreign Language High School in Seoul.