Winter Olympics

The Winter Games

Every four years, athletes from the world gather to compete in The Winter Games of the Olympics. The athletes, who train extremely hard, are chosen to represent their countries. The games begin with the opening ceremony, where the athletes parade in front of an audience.

The Events

The Winter Games is comprised of many different events. There are sledding events such as the bobsled and luge. There are skiing events such as snowboarding and ice hockey. There are also team events such as cross country. Every Olympics some new events are added such as alpine, which was added in the 1998 Nagano Olympics Games.

Winning

The dream of every athlete is to make it to the podium, which is where the medals are handed out. The first place winners receive the gold medal, and have the honor of hearing their countries national anthems played. The second place winners receive the silver medal and the third place winners receive the bronze medal. Often, the winners are determined by who has the fastest time. Events such as speed skating are decided this way. Other events such as figure skating are determined by a panel of judges, who give marks according to artistic and technical ability.

Polar Bears

Polar bears

Polar bears are great white northern bears found throughout the Arctic regions. Except for one subspecies of grizzy bear, the polar bear is the largest and most powerful carnivore om land. It has no natural predators and know no fear of humans, making it an extremely dangerous animal.

Polar bears have white of yellowish fur with some black skin. Polar bears have sharp teeth so they would be more able to cut meat. The paws of polar bears are large and allow the bear to walk on the ice and paddle in water. Polar bears are stocky, with a long neck, relatively small head, Rounded ears and a short tail. The male, which is much larger than the female, weighs 410 to 720 kg. It grows about 5.3 feet tall at the shoulder and 2.2-2.5 metres in length.

Polar bears live in the Arctic regions like Canada, Alaska, Russia, Greenland and Norway. Much of the polar bears time is spent on sea ice, where they hunt, rest, breed and care for their young. As the Arctics top predators, polar bear's biggest threats are humans and impacts of climate change. They even make occasional visits to the Geographic North Pole, in the middle of the Arctic ocean.

Polar bears are excellent swimmers, But their preferred habitat is on top of the ice that covers Arctic seas much of the year. This is where they mate, hunt and rear their young. They thrive in an Arctic world of ice and snow where temperatures can drop to -50° degrees. That's more than twice as cold as an average freezer. Refugia are places that polar bears may survive without ice.

Polar bears feed primarily on ringed seals, but will also eat bearded seals, harp seals, hooded and harbor seals, when available. Larger prey species such as walrus, narwal and beluga are occasionally hunted. Polar bears may attempt to find alternate prey on the shore including muskox, reindeer, small rodents, waterfowl, shellfish, kelp, berries and even human garbage. If necessary, the polar bear will also eat smaller prey like arctic hare and lemming. The polar bear will eat carrion as well.

Adult polar bears have no natural predators, though walruses and wolves can kill them. Longevity in the wild is 25 to 30 years, but in captivity several polar bears have lived more than 35 years old. Humans probably cause most polar deaths, by hunting and by destroying problem animals near settlements. The animals that eat polars bears are orcas, other polar bears and humans.

In conclusion, polar bears are truly specials animals. Despite their size and strength, they live in one of the harshest environments on Earth and face many challenges in order to survive. They are powerful swimmers, have thick layers of fur to keep warm, and have a unique, carnivorous diet