MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS Correspondent Viktoria Melnikova/. People living in Russia's eight northern regions cannot see the sun for 40 to 80 days. The phenomenon has a poetic definition – the polar night. However, the beautiful name veils bad moods, fatigue, and even blurred vision. On the other hand, the polar night has certain advantages, about which the locals say laughing – those are the response to artificial intelligence.
All cats are gray in the dark
The polar night regions are Chukotka, the Krasnoyarsk, Yakutia, Arkhangelsk, Murmansk, Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets, and Komi. In Chukotka, the polar night stays for about 50 days.
It is a little shorter in the Murmansk Region and in the Krasnoyarsk Region's Taymyr – about 40 and 45 days, respectively. The luckiest are those who live in Vorkuta with about 11-days polar night, and the least lucky are those in Dikson, as they have to remain in the darkness for 80 days.
Polar night for those living on the mainland – that's how the northerners refer to everything south of the Arctic Circle - is an unusual and mysterious phenomenon. This is what people say if they have never been to the Far North, said nurse Galina Tishenina from Pevek (Chukotka).
"As for me, I've come here from Novorossiysk (a city on the Black Sea) and was sure that the polar night was something incredibly beautiful. Living without the sun for a couple of months was not a big deal, I though. A challenge. In reality, there's nothing poetic about it. Just the darkness day and night. Everything around you is gray and inexpressive," she said.
The locals simply realize that the polar night is a logical natural phenomenon, said Vasily Batagai, a native of the north, a Dolgan, the chief methodologist of the Taymyr House of Folk Arts in Dudinka.
"It's like falling leaves to you. I have lived in the tundra for many years and have never seen falling leaves. When an adult, I found myself in Moscow and could watch that beauty. For people living in the central part, it is only logical - leaves fall in autumn. To us, it's logical that winter brings the polar night. This is normal. During the polar day (when the sun does not set below the horizon for days) I can sleep for just four hours, and that's enough for me. People can get used to everything," he said.
Director of the Taymyr House of Folk Arts Leila Landina shared this opinion.
"I was born in the north, and my family had lived here. I must say we've got used to it. Besides, there is a lot of artificial light in the city, so the polar night is easier to live through. I think it's more difficult for the older generation to tolerate the lack of sun," she said.
Children, on the contrary, cope with the problem quite easily. "Especially now that we are organizing a lot of interesting events for them before and during the polar night. We tell them how the indigenous peoples are preparing for this phenomenon. The kids enjoy it," she added.
The number of crimes goes up during the polar night, said Marat Domozhakov of the Taymyr Investigative Committee.
"The harsh Arctic climate affects both physical and mental health. Work and life in the harsh conditions of the Far North require physical and moral strength, and not always people manage to cope with the stress of no sun or no daylight. Thus, during these periods of the year we register more crimes," he said.
Moody and sleepy
The phenomenon's explanation is simple: this is the part of a year when the sun does not rise above the horizon due to the earth axis' tilt. Its duration increases towards the pole.
"As you may understand, it's not exactly pitch black. I would say those are gray nights, without the sun. In my town, Potapovo, the polar night begins from about November 28, and with every day it will get darker and darker (until mid-January). The darkness peak comes when there is no light at midday," said Elena Dobrova, director of Potapovo's Secondary School No. 12 on the Taymyr Peninsula.
According to Olesya Volkova, Director of the Education, Psychology and Sociology Institute at the Siberian Federal University, Doctor of Psychological Sciences, the polar night affects the human body negatively.
"Limited sunlight is stressful for regulating the biological clock and for normal rhythms of human life. It affects emotional conditions, the quality of sleep, the ability to fall asleep, immunity, and exacerbates chronic diseases. As for psycho-emotional conditions, they are directly influenced by production of serotonin and melatonin - the hormones that determine our emotional background. Thus, violated rhythms of producing those hormones cause mood deterioration and develop higher sensitivity to external stimuli. Generally speaking, irritability increases, and there appears a feeling of social isolation, associated with sunlight rhythms," the scientist said.
Galina Tishenina agrees with her. When in the north for the first year, she lived over the polar night on the southern "fuse". "There is a lot of sun in Novorossiysk, where I used to live, so during my first year in Pevek I passed the polar night well. Must have been due to the earlier accumulated vitamin D. However, later on, it became unbearable. I wished I could make it to spring. On second thought, I decided to take a vacation and travel from the polar night season," Chukotka's resident said.
The immune system is directly affected by vitamin D deficiency, which cannot be replenished naturally due to a lack of sunlight, Olesya Volkova explained.
"We know that vitamin D is responsible for our immune system, and it builds up our resistance to infectious diseases. It is directly related to how work the receptors that regenerate body functions, and, accordingly, its shortage may cause an exacerbation of chronic diseases," she said.
Another threat from the polar night season is loss of visual acuity. "The eyesight in many children and adults deteriorates faster. Visual acuity is deteriorating. Many start wearing glasses. The thing is that during the polar night the strain on the eyes is stronger, and this is evident. When walking along streets in the dark, people have to look closely and strain the eyesight," Elena Dobrova added.
Change the clock and eat cranberries
Olesya Volkova, having worked with people who lived in the polar night conditions, could see that the long absence of daylight and clearly defined time limits have a destructive effect on the human body.
"People say that this is one of the reasons why they decide to flee the regions where the long polar night affects life's ways and rhythms," the psychologist said.
What could be a solution for those unwilling to move or for those who cannot have a vacation over the two-month darkness? Vasily Batagai told us reindeer herders in the tundra do a clock trick to fool the body.
"We have stopped changing to summer or winter time, while those living in the tundra are switching clocks to winter time. They say it's easier that way survive the polar days," he said. Another trick is to use a "pseudo-sun". Almost all cities and towns to where the polar night comes, now have a lot of artificial light – lamps, illumination.
One more key aspect to be observed during the polar night, Olesya Volkova said, is to follow the daily routine: go to bed and wake up at certain times, having at least eight hours of rest.
"Sure, the gadget detox before bedtime is necessary for falling asleep well. About two hours before bedtime, it is necessary to stop using any devices that may overexcite the nervous system. Another thing is to ensure a pleasant wakeup. For example, a delicious breakfast, maybe some morning rituals, listening to enjoyable music, or doing some light exercises," she added.
Doctors advise taking vitamins or fruits and vegetables. "They are easily available now. You can buy many fruits, even if their cost is huge. In the past, when there were problems with them in the north, especially in the tundra, the locals ate cranberries. My mother-in-law comes from a family of reindeer herders. She said that lacto-fermented cabbage was a true chic. They normally would cook it in advance and then ate it throughout winter. It contains a lot of vitamins," she continued.
Northern response to AI
Vasily Batagai is confident the polar night has one advantage that justifies the phenomenon's entire ambiguity.
"It is the time when we can stay at home, chat with our loved ones, do crafts – make jewelry, work with kamus (deer skin, used to make unty – traditional footwear – TASS) to make unty," Neli Evai said.
He remembered how they used to spend evenings in the tundra: children were outdoors as long as they could - sledding, playing with dogs; their mother was sewing or cooking; their father was reading newspapers, which he had brought to the reindeer camp.
"I know many people live this way nowadays. This is largely why our crafts and traditions have not died. If you like, this sincerity is our response to artificial intelligence," Batagai laughed.
Craftswoman Neli Evai agrees with him. For many years, she has been making jewelry, using the technique of the Ents (an indigenous people of the Krasnoyarsk Region's north) - pendants and brooches with fur, beads, and iron.
"The polar night is the best time for work. No one's bothering, you're focused. My grandmother used to do so, too. In the summer, they stored materials for clothes, jewelry, and utensils, and during the "big night," as she called it, she could do the work."
Another indisputable advantage of the polar night is the northern lights. All the experts told us this beauty is worth a few months of darkness.
"You know what? During the northern lights, get outdoors and shout something very loudly, and the lights will positively 'answer' - the lights would be waving from the sound, the colors would be shimmering. Now, tell me, where else can you experience this?" Elena Dobrova smiled.