Being in the United States, daylight savings can hit pretty hard. All of a sudden the sun starts setting at 5:00 p.m. E/T. Still, that struggle does not even compare to what Utqiagvik, Alaska will be experiencing during its ‘polar night’.
Starting on Nov. 19, 2020, Utqiagvik (formerly known as Barrow) began what can be appear to be an endless night. The town will be without sunlight for 66 days, meaning the next time the sun will rise in the region will be Jan. 23, 2021.
The polar night is a result of the way the Earth tilts on its axis. And because of how northern Utqiagvik is, it is susceptible to experience this yearly occurrence.
According to good old Google search, Utqiagvik has a population of 4,383 people. Thankfully for me, I am not one of those 4,383 people.
I really do not know how anyone would be able go about their day for more than two months without sunlight. Like I started this blog post, daylight savings hit me hard. I think I would go crazy if I went without an ounce of sun for that long of a time.
I don’t know if I have seasonal depression, but there is definitely a part of me that feels a little down come wintertime. It is cold, dark, and pretty gloomy. I can’t go outside and throw a football, shoot hoops, go for a walk, et cetera. So the fact that the residents of Utqiagvik deal with this amount of darkness every single year is bonkers to me!
I won’t rule out visiting Utiqiagvik in my lifetime, but my magic 8-ball says the outlook is, “not so great”. Still, there are some pretty cool things to do at the top of the world. These ice hotels up in Alaska look amazing!
