The North Pole has been notoriously difficult to reach.

In winter the pole is cold and frozen in full darkness.

In the mild days of summertime, the snow softens and becomes littered with ponds and potholes, limiting transportation to the most expensive and difficult modes, such as helicopters and ice-breaking ships.

The web cam images give us the first summer-long view of conditions at the pole.

Prior to the webcams, the United States gathered summertime data only four times, in 1957, 1958, 1975 and 1998.