The Russian shuttle oil tanker Mikhail Ulyanov is navigating through thick sea ice in the Arctic. The tanker, which is around 257 metres long, was specially built for year-round oil transport from the Prirazlomnoye field in the Pechora Sea and can cope with ice conditions, in some cases without the
Artist’s impression of the future Canadian polar icebreaker CCGS Imnaryuaq in Arctic pack ice. The 158-metre-long vessel is being built at the Seaspan shipyard in North Vancouver and is set to be deployed from the early 2030s for research, supply voyages and rescue operations in the Canadian High Ar
Polar Bear Week was established to raise awareness of the threats polar bears face in a warming Arctic. (Image: Alan Wilson / CC BY-SA 3.0 / cropped)Halloween is not the only thing to be excited about this weekend. Polar Bear Week is coming too. From 1 to 7 November, everyone can learn more about po
The map shows the planned Arctic Way fibre-optic cable system (turquoise) between Bodø, Jan Mayen and Svalbard. The existing submarine cables to Harstad are shown in yellow. The new connection is set to improve communications security in the Arctic from 2028. (Illustration: PolarJournal)Norway is in
Nordatlantens Brygge, the festival’s main venue, stands on Copenhagen’s historic waterfront in the Christianshavn district. (Image: Manuel Cazzaniga / CC BY 2.0 /cropped)For one weekend, the Danish capital will become a meeting place for Arctic voices, ideas and traditions, uniting culture, science
A Basel BT-67 operated by the Canadian airline Kenn Borek Air at Williams Field in Antarctica. The aircraft, fitted with skis, was used on behalf of the US National Science Foundation. From 2027, aircraft of this type are also set to investigate Arctic glaciers as part of NASA’s Snow4Flow mission. (
A humpback whale lifts its mighty tail fin out of the water in Disko Bay on Greenland’s west coast. The calls of these marine mammals produce sound waves which, in future, are to be recorded using fibre-optic cables laid on the seabed. (Photo: Giles Laurent / Wikimedia Commons)A new monitoring syste
The Greenlandic prawn trawler Bingo III (GR 2-122) navigates waters dotted with icebergs and ice floes off Ilulissat on Greenland’s west coast. The prawn fishery is one of the country’s most important economic sectors, but has been under pressure for years. (Photo: Gordon Leggett / Wikimedia Commons
Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent of the year on 10 September 2025, at around 4.60 million square kilometres. The yellow line shows, for comparison, the average minimum sea ice extent for the years 1981 to 2010. (Graphic: NASA Scientific Visualisation Studio)Over the decades, the summer melt
Dense kelp forests made up of large brown algae provide vital habitats for fish and numerous marine invertebrates. Such underwater forests also grow in the coastal waters of Svalbard. Rising water temperatures and grazing by sea urchins are increasingly altering their living conditions. (Illustratio
The Port of Nuuk is Greenland’s most important commercial port and is set to become the central hub for closer maritime cooperation with Nunavut. Together with planned deep-water ports in Qikiqtarjuaq and Grays Bay, a new Arctic port network could emerge. (Photo: Quintin Soloviev / Wikimedia Commons
The expedition cruise ship MS Fram, operated by HX Expeditions, amongst massive icebergs in Greenlandic waters. The remote cruising areas and challenging ice conditions place high demands on rescue services in the event of a potential shipping accident. (Photo: Heiner Kubny)Greenland is attracting m
An Atlantic cod, whose Northeast Arctic stock is one of the most economically important in the Barents Sea. (Image: Wilhelm Thomas Fiege / CC BY-SA 4.0 / cropped)The two countries hold their first in-person annual fisheries negotiations in seven years and reach an agreement on catch quotas for 2027.
The historic British research station Port Lockroy on Goudier Island on the Antarctic Peninsula lies beneath a thick blanket of snow. Built in 1944, the building now houses a museum and the world’s southernmost post office. Increasing precipitation and heavy snow loads are taking their toll on the h
PONANT’s Le Commandant Charcot in the Arctic pack ice off Greenland. A dinghy is navigating between the ice floes. The photograph was taken on 23 June 2024 during the multinational Operation Tugaalik. (Photo: Cmdr. Krystyn Pecora / U.S. Coast Guard)Greenland, Svalbard and the Canadian Arctic are bec
Hundreds of Adélie penguins gather on the ice-covered beach at Brown Bluff on the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Whilst some birds make their way into the sea between the ice floes, others wait on the shore. (Photo: Heiner Kubny)Thousands of dead Adélie penguins on the remote Danger Island
Reindeer in Lapland, Finland. (Image: Simo Räsänen (Ximonic) / CC BY-SA 3.0 / cropped)Reindeer leave more than hoofprints where they graze. Recent findings contribute to understanding the effects of grazing in Finland’s boreal forests.Reindeer grazing changes the vegetation we see above ground, but
The map shows where Antarctica’s floating ice shelves are losing or gaining ice at their undersides. Particularly significant changes are occurring in West Antarctica and on the Antarctic Peninsula. The map is based on satellite data from NASA’s Terra and Aqua missions. (Graphic: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UC
Sigbjørn Skåden, winner of the 2026 Nordic Council Literature Prize for Láŋtdievvá / Planterhaug. (Image: Knut Åserud / Cappelen Damm / press use)For only the second time in its history, the Nordic Council Literature Prize has gone to a Sámi-language work. What earned this year’s winner such recogni
The Monacobreen in Liefdefjord in north-western Svalbard. This glacier, which flows into the sea, is one of those whose front has retreated particularly rapidly over the past two years. (Photo: Andreas Weith / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)Spitsbergen’s sea-outlet glaciers have retreated at an exc
A Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) glides through the cold water beneath the Arctic sea ice. These extremely long-lived sharks grow very slowly and can live for several centuries. (Image: AI-generated / PolarJournal)The Greenland shark can live for several centuries and is one of the most m
Silje Waaler takes a water sample from the glacial stream at the end of the Svalbreen glacier on Spitsbergen. Researchers have found elevated concentrations of methane in such meltwater. The methane originates mainly from ancient rock layers beneath the ice and is transported out of the glacier with
An artist’s reconstruction of an Antarctic landscape around 90 million years ago: during the Cretaceous period, the climate near the South Pole was significantly warmer, with dense forests and wetlands. Charcoal particles in sediments show that this vegetation was repeatedly affected by forest fires
Icebergs and pack ice off the Jakobshavn Isbræ on Greenland’s west coast. This massive outlet glacier transports large amounts of ice from the Greenland ice sheet into the Ilulissat Icefjord and is one of Greenland’s fastest-moving glaciers. (Photo: Heiner Kubny)Greenland has lost more than six tril
