To fully understand the extent of climate-related dangers the Arctic – and our planet – is facing, we must focus on organisms too small to be seen with the naked eye.
Sea ice floes off the coast of Spitsbergen island, Svalbard.
Realimage / Alamy Stock Photo
Deonie Allen, University of Birmingham; Melanie Bergmann, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, and Steve Allen, Dalhousie University
Arctic sea ice algae contaminated with microplastics have serious consequences for ecosystems and the climate.
Kivalina sits on a narrow barrier island on the Chukchi Sea.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
In the years since the Supreme Court rejected Kivalina’s appeal on May 20, 2013, the community’s search and rescue team has faced increasing climate disasters: ‘We just can’t adapt this fast.’
Rainier winters make life more difficult for Arctic wildlife and the humans who rely on them.
Scott Wallace/Getty Image
In 1867, the US bought Alaska from Tsar Alexander II for a tidy sum of $7.2 million. Trump probably wouldn’t be able to get that kind of bargain for Greenland.
Melting on top of sea ice off northwestern Greenland, June 2019.
Steffen M. Olsen/Twitter
Greenland’s ice made headlines in June, as warm weather made for unseasonably widespread melting. And though this summer is still unfolding, the human fingerprint on Greenland’s ice can’t be denied.
Extreme climatic events are harming plant communities in the Arctic. The resulting colour change is bad news for the region’s carbon storage.
2016’s warm winter meant not enough snow for the start of the Iditarod sled dog race in Anchorage, so it was brought by train from 360 miles north.
AP/Rachel D'Oro
For everyone from traditional hunters to the military, the National Park Service to the oil industry, climate change is the new reality in Alaska. Government, residents and businesses are all trying to adapt.
The Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent sails past a iceberg in Lancaster Sound in 2008.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
New shipping opportunities are opening up in the Arctic as sea ice continues to recede. But travel is still dangerous and the region isn’t equipped to deal with more vessel traffic.
The end of 2016 has brought balmy Arctic temperatures and record low ice extent for the time of year. It’s a freak event even by modern standards, and climate models point the finger firmly at humans.
China’s capacity to participate in Arctic affairs is still weak.
Anna Filipova/Reuters
China has been very quiet in negotiations over fisheries regulations for the central Arctic Ocean. Why is the country’s behaviour there so dramatically different from what it pursues in Antarctica?
At 11.40pm local time on the cold, moonless night of 14 April 1912, the crow’s nest lookouts on board the RMS Titanic sighted a large iceberg only 500m ahead. Despite quick action, the iceberg still struck…
Breaking through the ice in Antarctica.
Mark Brandon/Flickr
Strong winds linked to climate change and the hole in the ozone layer are driving a steady increase in Antarctic sea ice, even as Arctic levels continue to shrink dramatically, a new report shows. While…