{"id":260705,"date":"2026-01-31T08:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260705\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T08:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T08:35:08","slug":"in-high-arctic-villages-the-sun-is-returning-explorersweb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/260705\/","title":{"rendered":"In High Arctic Villages, the Sun is Returning \u00bb Explorersweb"},"content":{"rendered":"

After months of darkness, the sun is returning to communities in the High Arctic. Many villages celebrate the glorious event: They\u2019ve been in shadow or darkness since at least November.<\/p>\n

The Arctic Circle is defined as the region where the sun does not rise for one day each year. The farther north you travel, the longer the sun disappears (and, conversely, the longer the summer midnight sun lasts). In the High Arctic, the first sunrise of the year isn\u2019t until late January or early February.<\/p>\n

The Inuit hamlet of Clyde River, on Canada\u2019s Baffin Island, is just above 70\u00b0 north and celebrated the sun\u2019s return on January 19. More than two degrees closer to the North Pole, Pond Inlet \u2014 Clyde\u2019s northern neighbor on Baffin \u2014 had its first sunrise at 12:02 pm on January 28. The sun set again less than an hour later. Several of the world\u2019s most northern communities are still eagerly awaiting the sun\u2019s first brief appearance.<\/p>\n

\"Sunrise<\/p>\n

A pink sunrise over Pond Inlet. Photo: Parks Canada Nunavut<\/p>\n

Even farther north<\/p>\n

Resolute Bay, a Nunavut hamlet well-known to polar adventurers because it is the last stop for jets from the south, will continue to experience the Arctic night until February 4. It is about another two degrees further north than Pond Inlet, and its Inuktitut name, Qausuittuq, means \u201cplace where the sun doesn\u2019t rise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nunavut\u2019s northernmost civilian settlement, Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island, has to wait even longer. Their roughly 144 citizens will see the sunrise on February 10. At over 76 degrees north, Grise Fiord\u2019s Arctic night started in early November. The days aren\u2019t completely without light, though: Even in the depths of winter, a faint orange glow is visible to the south at noon.<\/p>\n

The longer the polar night, the faster the transition to polar day. By April 1, Grise Fiord\u2019s nights won\u2019t be dark enough to see any stars. From April 22 to August 20, the sun won\u2019t set at all.<\/p>\n

\"Qaanaaq<\/p>\n

Qaanaaq, Greenland, shortly before the polar night sets in. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Leaving Nunavut for Greenland, a few communities will wait even longer for their sunrise. In Qaanaaq, 77\u00b028\u2032 north of the equator, the polar night ends on February 17. Though it is the largest of Greenland\u2019s far north towns, Qaanaaq\u2019s population of humans, around 600, is outnumbered by its sled dogs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In these small High Arctic settlements, the return of the sun is a time for celebration. Many communities hold festivals or ceremonies, like Pond Inlet\u2019s February 9 Return of the Sun Festival. In Qaanaaq, many elders take off one mitten and hold their bare hand (briefly) up to the sun when it first appears.<\/p>\n

Though the sunshine is welcome, it typically signals even colder temperatures, with the bitterest Arctic weather occurring in the weeks after polar night ends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After months of darkness, the sun is returning to communities in the High Arctic. Many villages celebrate the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[13473,273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-260705","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-arctic","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}