What major thing (aside from the extreme cold) differentiates the
North Pole in January from lower latitudes?

Hi esands428-ga,

During January the North Pole is in a state of permanent night.

At lower latitudes the sun rises and sets daily.

I don't think you could find a more major differentiation than that,
but in case that's not it please request clarification and I will look
into it further.

Some background information is included within this page:

"Curious About Astronomy"
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=121

Regards,
eiffel-ga


Google Search Strategy:

"north pole" "night for * months"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22north+pole%22+%22night+for+*+months%22

The amount of daylight?

The almost complete absence of shopping malls.

What differentiates the North Pole from all "lower" (i.e., more
southerly) latitudes is that there are no latitides to the north of
the North Pole. This is true in January... :)

I'm thinking polar bears.

To expand on Paf's comment, the dearth of Starbucks. In DC there is a
two block stretch of Connecticut Avenue with three of them.

I'd say the crime level is rather low. Surprisingly, the police
presence is low as well. Maybe the rest of the world has it all wrong?

The deviation of the magnetic pole from true north is much greater
than it is further south.