The big idea: A cold environment is a place where low temperatures dominate the landscape and limit life. Two types matter in Option C:
Glacial environments are covered by ice — ice sheets (Antarctica, Greenland) and mountain glaciers (the Alps, the Himalayas).
Periglacial environments are not under ice but stay frozen — they have permafrost (permanently frozen ground) and an active layer that thaws each summer (much of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada).
These are extreme environments: hostile to people, with their own processes and hazards, and very sensitive to climate change.
Key terms in cold and glacial environments
- Cryosphere — all the frozen water on Earth (ice sheets, glaciers, sea ice, permafrost).
- Glacier — a slow-moving mass of ice that forms where snowfall exceeds melting over many years.
- Ice sheet — a continental-scale glacier (only Antarctica and Greenland today).
- Permafrost — ground that stays frozen for two or more years; defines periglacial areas.
- Active layer — the surface layer above permafrost that thaws in summer and refreezes in winter.
- Corrie (cirque) — an armchair-shaped hollow high on a mountain where a glacier began.
- Latitude — distance north or south of the Equator; cold environments cluster at high latitudes.
Glacial vs periglacial: Glacial = under ice now (ice sheets, mountain glaciers).
Periglacial = frozen ground (permafrost) but not under ice — a thin active layer thaws each summer.
Both are cold environments, and both are shrinking as the climate warms.
How this is tested: Paper 1 Option C opens with a data-response on a cold-environment figure — a map of permafrost or research stations, a cross-section through an ice sheet, a radial diagram of corrie aspect, or a segmented diagram of ice loss. You Describe or Identify a distribution, Estimate a value off an axis, or State / calculate a figure. Always quote the units and describe location by latitude and compass direction, never longitude alone.
Where cold environments are found
- High latitudes — the Arctic (around the North Pole) and Antarctica (the South Pole).
- High altitudes — mountain glaciers survive even near the Equator (e.g. the high Andes).
- Permafrost rings the Arctic: most of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada.
- Ice sheets today are only Antarctica and Greenland; everything else is mountain glaciers or sea ice.
| Figure | What you read off it |
|---|---|
| Permafrost / station map | Distribution by latitude + compass direction (coastal, southern half, inland) |
| Ice-sheet cross-section | Ice thickness (km) and width (km) between labelled points |
| Radial / rose diagram | A value by direction (e.g. corrie aspect altitude); subtract for a difference |
| Segmented / proportional diagram | Each sector's share (%) and the largest sector |
| Part of the cryosphere | Share of total ice lost (%) |
|---|---|
| Arctic sea ice | 31 |
| Antarctic ice shelves | 27 |
| Mountain glaciers | 21 |
| Greenland ice sheet | 13 |
| Antarctic ice sheet | 6 |
| Southern Ocean sea ice | 2 |
Estimate = a sensible read; State = the exact value: Estimate means read a value off the figure within a tolerance (e.g. about 21%). State means give the exact value shown (e.g. Arctic sea ice lost the most). For a difference, read both values and subtract.
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Whether ground stays frozen depends on how cold it is and how slowly it warms. Anything that keeps mean temperatures below freezing — high latitude, high altitude, shade, thick organic soil or snow cover — keeps permafrost intact. Anything that adds heat — a warmer climate, dark bare ground, a south-facing slope (in the northern hemisphere) — thaws the active layer deeper and can melt the permafrost itself.
Why permafrost stays frozen
- High latitude — the Sun is low, so little heat reaches the ground all year.
- High altitude — air gets colder with height, so mountain ground stays frozen.
- Continental interior — far from the warming influence of the sea, with bitter winters.
- Insulating soil / vegetation — peat and moss slow heat reaching the ice below.
- Aspect — north-facing slopes (in the northern hemisphere) get less Sun and stay colder.
Antarctica — the great ice sheet: Antarctica holds the world's largest ice sheet, in places over 3 km thick and stretching thousands of kilometres across. Its research stations cluster around the coast and on the Antarctic Peninsula, because the interior is too cold, too high and too remote to supply. The deep interior near the South Pole has almost no buildings.
The Arctic & Alaska — thawing permafrost: Around the Arctic, vast areas of Siberia, Alaska and northern Canada sit on permafrost. As the climate warms the active layer thaws deeper each summer; melting ground slumps, buckling roads and pipelines and releasing methane and carbon dioxide — a feedback that warms the planet further.
The Alps — retreating mountain glaciers: In the Alps, corries high on the mountains once fed valley glaciers. Warmer summers now melt more than winter snow replaces, so the glaciers retreat up-valley, shrinking water supplies and exposing unstable slopes. North-facing corries hold ice longer than sunnier south-facing ones.
Reason + development: For an Outline [2], name the reason then develop it. High altitude (reason) -> air is colder with height, so mean temperatures stay below freezing and the ground does not thaw (development).
Cold environments are hostile to people: Very high-latitude polar regions are among the hardest places on Earth to live and work. Extreme cold, darkness for months, remoteness, frozen or unstable ground and ice cover all limit settlement, farming, transport and construction. This is why Antarctica has only research stations and the high Arctic is thinly populated.
| Factor | How it hinders human activity |
|---|---|
| Extreme cold | Dangerous to health; equipment fails; heating and clothing are costly |
| Permafrost / frozen ground | Buildings and pipelines must be raised on piles; thaw buckles roads |
| Remoteness | Everything (food, fuel, parts) must be shipped or flown in at high cost |
| Polar darkness / short growing season | Months without Sun; farming is almost impossible |
| Ice and storms | Sea ice and blizzards cut off supply routes for long periods |
How this is tested — the extended Explain: Paper 1 Option C asks you to Explain how two factors make polar regions difficult for people. It is marked 3 + 3: for each factor, 1 mark for naming a valid factor and up to 2 marks for developing how it hinders human activity. So you must give two factors, each taken to a clear consequence — not just a list.