Sometimes, when watching movies, TV series, or documentaries featuring the Inuit people, we see them dressed in thick fur clothing, standing beside an igloo a house made of ice.
This often raises a common question: How can anyone live inside a house made of snow?
After all, it's well known that polar regions have extreme cold temperatures, and snow itself is freezing.
However, when we learn that these houses are actually built to provide warmth, it might seem strange and even illogical. But let me assure you, this is completely normal!
These snow houses, known as igloos, are real and not just fictional structures. The Inuit and other polar region inhabitants still build and use them to this day.
How Is an Igloo Warm on the Inside?
The Arctic region is one of the most extreme environments on Earth, stretching from the coasts of North America to northeastern Siberia.
Despite the bitter cold and harsh climate, one resilient group of people has managed to survive and thrive in this challenging environment for thousands of years the Inuit people.
The Inuit, who inhabit the Arctic, are deeply connected to their way of life and have no desire to leave their homeland.
This is despite the absence of cities, infrastructure, or any signs of modern civilization.
All that surrounds them is endless snow and an incredibly harsh way of life.
The Inuit people dislike the term "Eskimo" and often feel offended when they hear it.
The word Eskimo means "strange people who speak a different language" and is also used to describe those who eat raw or uncooked meat.
Instead, they prefer to be called "Inuit", which simply means "the people" in their language.
The Inuit live in icy regions where winter temperatures can drop to -50°C. Anyone living in such extreme cold naturally seeks shelter whether a house made of brick, metal, or even wood.
Unfortunately, the Arctic region lacks all of these materials there are no bricks, no metal, and barely any trees or forests.
As a result, the Inuit people had to learn how to build their homes using the only available resource snow.
For thousands of years, the Inuit have been constructing dome shaped ice shelters known as igloos.
But this raises an important question: How do these ice or snow houses keep them warm?
How Do Igloos Keep the Inuit Warm?
Physically, snow can naturally provide warmth while also helping to maintain body temperature.
To better understand how this works, let me tell you a story about an animal called the sea otter (Otter).
The sea otter feeds on fish and marine creatures, which means it must live in cold waters.
However, unlike other marine animals, it doesn’t have thick skin or a fat layer (blubber) to keep it warm. So, how does the sea otter manage to stay warm?
It uses something surprisingly unique air molecules. The otter's fur is dense and incredibly soft, but the real secret to its warmth lies in the inner structure of its fur.
The otter’s fur is finely tapered, allowing it to trap air molecules within its layers. At the same time, this trapped air acts as an excellent thermal insulator, preventing the body heat from escaping easily.
Because of this layer of trapped air, the otter retains its body warmth, even when exposed to extremely cold temperatures, without feeling the cold.
Now, dear reader, you might be wondering: What does the sea otter have to do with this topic?
Simply put, the key takeaway is that air is an excellent thermal insulator. This is crucial because when a specific type of snow contains a good amount of trapped air, it becomes ideal for building an igloo.
The Inuit people have extensive knowledge about different types of snow and their properties. For instance, if I asked you, "How many types of snow do you know?", your answer would likely be "Just one snow is snow."
The Inuit people have a vast vocabulary in their language dedicated to describing different types of snow.
They can express its condition and characteristics using dozens of distinct words and phrases, carefully crafted to accurately describe the current state of the snow.
How Does an Igloo Stay Warm Inside?
This is because snow is the most abundant material in their surroundings, and they have a deep understanding of its properties.
One specific type of snow, known as "hard, compacted snow," consists of approximately 10% frozen water and 90% air.
This type of snow forms layers on the ground in icy regions and is ideal for constructing igloos due to its strength and durability, thanks to its high air content.
As mentioned earlier, air is an excellent thermal insulator, making this snow perfect for insulating the igloo’s interior. As a result, the igloo retains heat inside, preventing it from escaping through the walls.
This insulation is crucial for warmth, ensuring that body heat or heat from inside the shelter does not escape into the freezing environment.
It is worth noting that the floor of an igloo is not completely flat; instead, the interior is dug out and designed with multiple levels.
- The entrance is built at a lower level, allowing cold air to settle there.
- A slightly higher level is designated for tasks like cooking and other daily activities.
- The highest level is reserved for sleeping.
This tiered structure is intentional and serves an important purpose. In nature, hot air rises because it is lighter, while cold air sinks and remains at the lowest point.
By designing the igloo in this way, the coldest air stays near the entrance, while the warmest air remains in the upper sections, ensuring a more comfortable and insulated living space for the inhabitants.
Thus, the heat inside the igloo, whether from a small fire or simply from the body heat of the inhabitants, rises to the top and circulates around those in the upper sleeping area.
At the same time, the walls of the igloo act as insulation, preventing heat from escaping. As a result, all these factors work together to create a relatively warm environment inside the snow house.
The temperature inside an igloo can range between 10°C to 15°C (50°F to 59°F).
If this still sounds cold, consider that the outside temperature in the Arctic can drop to -50°C (-58°F). Compared to the extreme cold outside, the temperature inside the igloo is actually quite comfortable!
An experienced Inuit individual can build an igloo alone in just three hours. However, for larger igloos that accommodate multiple people, such as a family, the construction can take two or more days.
Surprisingly, despite the advancements in architecture and construction, no one has discovered a better way to build an igloo than the traditional method used by the Inuit people.
The spiral construction and dome shaped exterior make the igloo extremely stable, with no sharp edges or wasted space.
Anyone familiar with engineering would recognize that this design distributes vertical loads efficiently, transforming them into horizontal forces that are absorbed into the ground.
This ensures that the igloo remains stable and resistant to strong winds and blizzards.
Thus, we have answered the question: How does an igloo stay warm inside despite being made of ice?