Tundra
Thanks for joining us!
This episode was written by Jean and voiced by Kara and T.
Episode art was drawn by Jean.
It was originally released in April 2025.
— Check out these pieces on polar bears,
an animal of the tundra —
Click on each photo for a link to the book on our Bookshop.org account
— Learn more from National Geographic —
— Tundra Episode Summary —
There is a biome called tundra, where it’s always cold —
Our planet Earth has so many amazing and different kinds of places where animals live and plants grow. Some are warm, some are cold. Some have many kinds of plant life, and some allow only a few kinds of plants to grow. Some have thousands of animals living there, and some have only a few.
One way we’ve figured out how to explain these different areas on earth is by creating groups for these places called biomes. A biome is an area where the weather, animals and plants are specific to that place.
The types of animals and plants that can live there thrive because of the type of weather and land there is.
Tundra is a biome which is cold, often with lots of snow and ice, and no tall trees.
There are two very different places that have tundra on our planet earth: Alpine tundra and Arctic tundra.
The Arctic tundra —
In the Arctic tundra, the soil is always frozen. The temperatures are so cold that there’s a layer of permanently frozen ground below the surface called permafrost. Which affects the kinds of plants that can grow there, and the kinds of animals that can live there.
Even in the summer, when the northern region of earth is tilting towards the sun, it is colder there than the other places on Earth. The temperatures might feel like winter to many people who live in warmer places.
And in that summertime, the sun never sets, so it never gets dark! Can you imagine a day when even at nighttime and you are in bed trying to sleep, it could still be light outside? Incredible!
In the summer, the sea warms up and warm air currents travel over the land. The warm air makes the top layer of soil thaw, which means the snow and ice melts. The ground becomes soggy, and the tundra is covered in marshes, lakes and streams. The permafrost thaws enough to let plants grow, but the soil below it is still frozen, so water can’t go any lower.
Summer is the time for plants to grow in the tundra. Because it can be very windy, the plants stay low to the ground. There are no tall trees. There are shrubs and grasses, mosses and lichens. Many kinds of berries can survive in the tundra. These plants are hearty, with leaves or needles that can stand the wind and cold temperatures. The soil has the nutrients they need to grow, and the ground is so soggy, they have the water they need. A few flowers bloom, such as the Arctic poppy, which turn their blossoms towards the sun to catch the warmth and light.
Animals who can live in tundra —
Because plants grow on the tundra in the summer, animals go there to find food to eat such as berries, grasses and seeds. Animals migrate there from other places. Migration means animals travel from another place looking for food and warm places to have their babies.
Millions of birds migrate to the tundra. Reindeer travel to the Arctic tundra searching for food and water.
But summer in the Arctic tundra is short. Winter comes quickly and lasts a long time. When the North of the earth starts to tilt away from the sun, there is less warmth and less light and winter comes. From October to February, the sun never rises. It is dark most of the day. Then, it is really cold. Animals leave, plants go to sleep.
The only animals who stay all year round have special traits that allow them to live in this hard environment. This is called adaptation. Over the many many many years, these animals have adapted to have traits that help them survive.
The animals that can survive there are very interesting and special.
The polar bear might look cute and fluffy in pictures, but they are wild animals whose job is to survive in a very harsh environment.
Its body has special traits that help him survive. Its fur is thick and waterproof, meaning water cannot stay on it which would make it wet and cold. It has a layer of fat under its skin that helps keep it warm inside. Its large feet have bumps on the bottom to help it grip the snow.
Its white fur his fur hides it in the snow, so it won’t be seen by its prey – it’s camouflaged. Also, each of its strands of fur has air pockets in them, which helps to keep it warm.
Polar bears hunt for smaller animals to eat. They mostly eat seals, which they have to catch in the water or as the seal goes onto the ice for a rest from swimming. They will eat berries and smaller birds if they are very hungry. It may be hard to hear about animals hunting others, but, in nature, that is how animals live.
It is difficult for people to live in the Arctic tundra. The weather conditions are hard. A long time ago people built their houses from ice blocks, which were called igloos. They wore animal skins and furs for clothing and got food from hunting and fishing. In these modern times, the people of the Arctic Circle live in modern houses in a town. They can get food and supplies from stores. Some still hunt reindeer, but use snowmobiles to herd the animals.
What is alpine tundra —
Another kind of tundra on Earth is Alpine tundra, which is on the tops of very high mountains all around the world.
There, it is too cold, snowy and windy for tall trees to grow. Plants that can live there are low to the ground such as woody shrubs, grasses, mosses and lichen. In the short summer days some plants form flowers. It is rocky in the Alpine tundra and some plants can grow in between the rocks where it can be warmer and be sheltered from wind.
Summer is short and cold winters are long, lasting 6 to 10 months of the year. The growing season is only about 180 days (aka 6 months).
Some animals do live in the Alpine tundra. Mountain goats have hooves that help them climb along the rocky mountainside. They are covered in two layers of wool to keep them warm and dry. And since they are herbivores, only eat plants, they graze on grass and ferns and moss other tundra plants. Marmots are small animals like squirrels. They also are herbivores, eating the plants where they live. Their strong legs and big claws help them dig for food and dig their homes. They live under the ground in burrows and hibernate during the harsh winter months. Some other interesting animals of the tundra are snow leopards, yaks, and chinchillas.
Tundra is unlike anywhere else —
The word tundra comes from the finish word tunturia, which we’ve seen translated as meaning “barren or treeless hill” and “treeless plain”.
We’ve heard how different the tundra is from most other places on planet Earth. It is a place that is always cold and it is hard for plants to thrive. Some animals can live there but they need to have bodies that are adapted to the harsh environment. Some plants can grow there but must have adapted too.
There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra.