regions of the Arctic, there are areas in which 70 percent or more of the ground is made of ice – which means thawing has correspondingly dramatic [...] Given its smaller overall land mass, there is less permafrost in the Southern Hemisphere. Although the Antarctic offers the constant low temperatures needed, the amount of land where the soil could permanently freeze is limited; much of it is covered in ice, which insulates the ground from the cold air, often preventing the formation of permafrost. Facts and Figures