Beautiful and rugged, the Arctic and Antarctic regions have an alien charm. But as the climate warms, these polar ecosystems have become some of the most vulnerable on Earth. 

The Arctic is potentially warming as much as four times faster than the rest of the globe, partly because the region lacks a solid landmass. Instead, it’s made of perennially frozen solid ice floating above the Arctic Ocean. But as this ice increasingly shrinks, the ocean absorbs more warm sunlight, accelerating global climate change. 

Unlike its northern counterpart, Antarctica is solid land covered in snow and massive sheets of frozen freshwater. If just the West Antarctic ice sheet melts, it has enough water to raise seas by more than 17 feet before the end of this century. 

What’s at stake in these polar regions are wildlife and cultures that cannot be found anywhere else. More than four million people and many indigenous communities live within the Arctic Circle. The far north is also home to wildlife such as polar bears, Arctic wolves, and migratory whales. In the south, large penguin colonies roam the cold terrain, and the waters surrounding Antarctica are thriving with phytoplankton and algae, tiny sea creatures that attract hordes of hungry whales.  

These images show the natural beauty of life at the poles—and the few who dare to live there. 

Wind-blown snow swirls past abandoned buildings in Dikson, Russia. Located within the Arctic Circle, the settlement is Russia’s northernmost port. Populations here are declining, but melting Arctic ice may create shipping lanes that draw more workers back to Dikson.
PHOTOGRAPH BY EVGENIA ARBUGAEVA, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A crack emerges from a snow-covered glacier on Booth Island. The island is found just off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula where record-breaking heat waves have been recurring over the past few years.
PHOTOGRAPH BY JASPER DOEST, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Alaska natives set out for an annual bowhead whale hunt in Utqiagvik. While most commercial whaling is banned, the International Whaling Commission recognizes the importance of these substance whale hunts for local food supplies and cultural tradition.
PHOTOGRAPH BY KATIE ORLINSKY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
The Batagaika crater located in eastern Siberia is the world’s biggest permafrost crater. Permafrost is permanently frozen ground that contains thousands of years’ worth of dead plant and animals, but as the Arctic rapidly warms, this ground is thawing. In addition to destabilizing the ground, melti…Read More
PHOTOGRAPH BY KATIE ORLINSKY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
In Nunavut, Canada, sea ice melts into turquoise pools of water beneath the June summer sun. These melt pools accelerate the rate of warming in a region already warming faster than anywhere else on Earth.
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN SKERRY, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Adelie penguins march across Dundee Island in the Weddell Sea, just east of the Antarctic Peninsula. Western Antarctica is warming more rapidly than the rest of the continent, and Adelie populations there struggle to survive. But populations and environmental conditions have remained stable i…
PHOTOGRAPH BY JASPER DOEST, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A leopard seal charges toward the camera, baring its sharp teeth in a display of threat. They’re one of Antarctica’s most formidable predators, preying on krill, fish, penguins, and other seal species.
PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL NICKLEN, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
Chinstrap penguins waddle across an iceberg in Antarctica. Icebergs are made of solid freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier. Ice that has been compressed in a glacier is often bright blue.
PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANS LANTING, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
A team of explorers aboard the ship the Polar Sun travel through Arctic waters to trace the route of Sir John Franklin, a British naval officer who led a doomed expedition through the Canadian Arctic in 1847. 
PHOTOGRAPH BY RENAN OZTURK, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION