Sea lions, otters and birds were some of the many wildlife species that were hit hard by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Oil spills like these expose the wildlife to new contaminants and can be fatal.
(AP Photo/Jack Smith, File)
The Arctic Council was the world’s primary forum for cooperation among the eight Arctic nations and a channel for diplomacy – until Russia launched a war.
Permafrost and ice wedges have built up over millennia in the Arctic. When they thaw, they destabilize the surrounding landscape.
Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Mark J. Lara, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Ground is collapsing and massive lakes are draining in a matter of days. Thawing permafrost is having profound effects on the region and its infrastructure.
Changes in vegetation and temperature affect wildlife and humans, as well as the climate.
Lisa Hupp/USFWS
Winters are getting warmer, yet Bostonians were digging out from nearly 2 feet of snow from a historic blizzard in late January. Why is the Northeast seeing more big snowstorms like this?
Arctic strategy: a Russian military drill in Shukozero in Arctic Russia.
Lev Fedoseyev/TASS/Alamy Live News
Sea ice is thinning at an alarming rate. Snow is shifting to rain. And humans worldwide are increasingly feeling the impact of what happens in the seemingly distant Arctic.
New climate simulations show that there will be more rain and less snow falling in the Arctic by the end of the century, particularly in the fall and winter.
A rainy day in Baffin Island, northern Canada.
Petr Kahanek / shutterstock
A closer look at how ice cover changed through the months offers some important insights into the role of climate change and why every year isn’t a record.
Promoting dialogue among Arctic states and peoples has been a great success, but the council must now adapt to tackle new and emerging challenges in this fragile region.
A harp seal pup on pack ice, Quebec, Canada.
Blickwinkel/Alamy Stock Photo
Nearly 60 years after a radiation-leaking reactor was removed from a US Army base on the Greenland ice sheet, the military is exploring portable nuclear reactors again.
Arctic char dries in the sun in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
The Arctic and sub-Arctic regions are no longer exempt of industrial contamination. Researchers have found high blood levels of potentially harmful chemicals in people living in the North.
All 129 men who embarked on the Franklin expedition died. DNA analysis is being used to identify the remains.
(Shutterstock)
129 officers and crew died during the 1845 Franklin Northwest Passage expedition. DNA analysis from their remains of members can reveal the identity of the men who perished during the journey.
Chief Investigator for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes; Deputy Director for the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science, Australian National University