Most of us know there’s more than one version of English. What English people call a tap, Americans call a faucet; New Zealand’s jandals are Australia’s thongs. As well as British English, there are regional versions of Australian English, New Zealand English, and a significant number of other versions of English.
There is also a distinct vocabulary of polar English. It is so recently recognised, most of its words are not yet in the most comprehensive record of English, the Oxford English Dictionary.
In a time of climate change, these words are increasingly entering everyday use in the English language. As underlying permafrost (permanently frozen ground) melts and Arctic islands slip into the ocean, polar words – including permafrost – explain the change we are seeing.
