06/05/2025 | Julia Hager
West Antarctic Ice Sheet near tipping point – the next few years are critical
The West Antarctic Ice Sheet could reach its tipping point with only minimal additional ocean warming – with long-term consequences for global sea levels. But a small window of time remains to take countermeasures. “With every decade we wait, with every (currently two tenth of a) degree of additiona
06/04/2025 | Camille Lin
“If the military doesn’t understand the livelihood, they don’t understand the losses and damage their activities cause to the Sámi, either”
Military activities in the Arctic are intensifying without any real consultation with the Sámi. Despite their rights to these lands, their governance is poorly integrated, threatening a subsistence-based culture such as reindeer herding. Finnish social scientist Laura Junka-Aikio provides some insig
06/03/2025 | Administrator
Antarctica’s sea ice is changing, and so is a vital part of the marine food web that lives within it
Jacqui Stuart, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Natalie Robinson, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)As Antarctic sea ice forms later and thinner, a hidden ecosystem is shifting: microalgal diversity is declining, disrupting a key food source for marine
06/02/2025 | Polar Journal AG Team
The Polar Retrospective – An Arctic Bird Fossil Discovery, AI helping caribou migrate across sea ice, and wildfires in Canada
This week's Polar Retrospective takes a look at ancient arctic birds that lived with dinosaurs, AI that helps protect migrating caribou across fragile sea ice, and wildfires in Canada. The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at
05/30/2025 | Julia Hager
Marine sanctuaries – hope for whales & dolphins in captivity
Three organizations have taken an important step toward a more species-appropriate life for whales and dolphins in captivity: They are developing the world’s first ocean sanctuaries as alternatives to keeping them in concrete tanks.Orcas are found in oceans around the world, travel hundreds of kilom
05/28/2025 | Administrator
Improving Arctic food security through DNA science and respectful collaboration with Indigenous Peoples
As food insecurity greatly affects Inuit communities, community workshops bringing together Elders, hunters, and scientists were held to discuss how to use DNA for Arctic wildlife and food security.Indigenous Elders, community members, hunters and trappers, regional tourism representatives and scien
05/27/2025 | Gastautor
France welcomes (quietly) Greenland
Despite its unprecedented nature, Greenland Minister Vivian Motzfeldt’s visit to France in May 2025 went almost unnoticed. French polar policy expert Arthur Amelot explains this discreet diplomatic gesture. Yet it is rich in symbolism, and could mark the beginning of a strategic rapprochement betwee
05/27/2025 | Camille Lin
NATO gains altitude in Bodø
Last Thursday in Bodø, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Norwegian Prime Minister Gahr Støre made official the creation of an air base north of the Arctic Circle. A strategic turning point in the face of Russia, which rekindles tensions over the militarization of the Arctic and the question of r
05/26/2025 | Polar Journal AG Team
The Polar Retrospective – A route to East Greenland, bowhead whales losing their icy habitat and Inuit-led cruises
This week's Polar Retrospective takes a look at the setting course for Iceland and Scoresby Sound by the crew of Moscatel, new research warning of vanishing summer habitat for bowhead whales and Inuit-led cruises in Nunavut. The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s pol
05/23/2025 | Mirjana Binggeli
Penguin poop, the secret weapon against global warming?
A study highlights the role that penguin droppings play in cloud formation and their potential impact in reducing the effects of global warming.Anyone who has ever been near a penguin colony probably remembers the overwhelming smell that emanates from it. However, it would appear that penguin droppi
05/22/2025 | Julia Hager
Loss of polar glaciers unlikely to be reversed after 1.5-degree overshoot
Even if humanity succeeds in slowing global temperature rise after temporarily exceeding the Paris climate target and bringing it back below 1.5°C in the long term, the world’s glaciers will continue to shrink for centuries, or even millenia.The Fjortende Julibreen (14th of July Glacier) on Svalbard
05/21/2025 | Camille Lin
Will the Trump administration’s budget cuts have an impact on Antarctic protection ?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is cutting funding for polar research in the USA. Could these disruptions to Antarctic research have an impact on Antarctic protection? In an interview, Evan Bloom, a former US diplomat specializing in polar affairs, explains the implications of the US