Automated instruments can either record data for later retrieval, or even send data directly to a laboratory via a satellite link. Another modern method for studying the Arctic relies on creation of computer-based models of the Arctic atmosphere or ocean for example, and then perturbing these models to see how the natural system might respond. For humans that live in the Arctic, conditions there dictate lifestyle to a very great extent. Residents must cope with very low temperatures and constant darkness in the winter, and temperatures above freezing and constant daylight in the summer. In warmer weather, transportation is based on small boats on ice-free coastal waters and flowing rivers.
Most indigenous people live along the coast or on river banks.
The harsh climate limited European immigration in many Arctic areas, and the indigenous people have continued a non-market, subsistence economy even today. However, conditions are changing. Recent discoveries of oil, minerals, and diamonds in Arctic areas, and a growing interest in Arctic tourism are bringing many non-indigenous people to the Arctic to live or visit. For humans that live in the mid-latitudes, impacts from the Arctic come mainly in the form of weather and climate. Wintertime outbreaks of cold Arctic air are responsible for unusually cold or persistent low temperatures, high winds, and blowing snow that are frequent characteristics of mid-latitude winters.