The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at a new map of Alexander Island, a new Canadian inuit-owned fishing vessel, and a new viral threat for Arctic foxes on Svalbard. The Polar Retrospective is a collaborative effort by the e
While Chinese scientists issue urgent pleas to limit Arctic shipping to protect the region from the environmental impact, Chinese shipping companies plan on sending more and more vessels into the Arctic As Arctic sea ice continues to decline, new shipping routes are opening up, offering potentially
Ice, fishing, education, municipal elections, Greenlandic independence and the tourist economy are all subjects that cross the mind of the director of the Icefjord Center, a resident of Greenland’s third-largest city.The index finger points to Karl Sandgreen’s old fishing boat. Image: Camille LinThe
The economic dynamism of Canada’s north did not go unnoticed by Business Index North researchers when they looked at economic development in the Arctic.Hope Bay gold mine, Nunavut region. Image: TMAC Resources “Canada’s northern territories are emerging as growth leaders, with Nunavut and Yukon expe
At the 43rd meeting of the CCAMLR Commission, the divergence of vision between environmental conservation and sustainable fishing came face to face to the extent that no agreement was reached on the future of krill fishing. On the one hand, a project for a marine protected area around the Antarctic
The Beringovsky mine has been operated since 2016 by an Australian company, which withdrew from the project this summer. The company avoided Western sanctions thanks to a complex set-up of Cyprian and Russian companies, but none of this would have been revealed had the mine not been the scene of an
The pan-arctic map illustrates the extent of human activity at night. Color coding: black – unlit, orange – lit, yellow – increasing illumination, purple – decreasing illumination. Map: Cengiz Akandil, University of Zurich; Natural Earth The area affected by oil and gas production and mining in the
Safety is an issue for shipping in the Arctic, where emergency infrastructures are rare. Over the last ten years, the distance covered by the Polar Code has doubled, and the number of ships has increased. Image: Air Force / Joint Arctic CommandThe challenges of maritime safety in polar zones were d
The Antarctic season start at Port Lockoy will kick off soon. (Photo: Michael Wenger)The Polar Retrospective looks at stories of the past week that are related to the Arctic and Antarctic and focuses on one or more aspects. This week will look at the start of the Antarctic tourism season along the A
A sea port in Tiksi photographed in 2019, when Olga Povoroznyuk visited the remote Siberian town. Photo: Olga PovoroznyukA research project at the University of Vienna is attempting an, at the moment, difficult task: to conduct anthropological research on the Russian Arctic. Preliminary results show
From whaling to whale watching, our relationship with these animals has improved considerably, but they continue to suffer from infractions or the absence of rules. Image : Michael WengerThe attraction and curiosity about whales can be mutual if all the conditions are met. But when economic attracti
The area around Nanortalik is characterized by numerous skerries – one of which was the Adolf Jensen’ s undoing. Photo: Wikipedia/Jensbn The passenger ship Adolf Jensen ran aground and sank off Nanortalik in southern Greenland last week. All passengers and crew members managed to evacuate and are sa
The dam that Arctic Water Bank plans to build is still years away. This photo of a small hydropower dam at another location in South Greenland. Photo: Claus Andersen-Aagaard, Creative Commons The Government of Greenland sees the permission to exploit a river in South Greenland as part of a larger st
The Ilulissat Icefjord is an impressive sights for tourists, but recently disagreements arose over how the money they spend should be divided. Photo: Michael WengerArctic cruise ship operators have faced headwinds in Greenland this summer, but AECO, an organization representing the interests of expe
The Arkhangelsk Arctic Forum came to a close at the beginning of August. Russian regions and central administrations are trying to attract foreign investors to develop the Northern Sea Route. Experts, however, are more critical. Year-round opening of the Northern Sea Route depends on icebreaker esco
The northern sea cucumber has been fished comercially in eastern Canada for 20 years. Here, the valueable species is on the way to an industrial plant. Photo: J.-F. Hamel / Mercier LabA seemingly endless demand in Asia has opened the eyes of fishers in the Arctic where seabeds can be covered with se
While soot and pollutants are transported from the south to the Arctic, substances bound in the permafrost are now being transported back to the south by the tundra fires. The fires in Russia, Canada and Alaska send smoke and pollutants far into non-Arctic regions, where they can cause health proble
Over the past year, Chile has taken steps to enforce its Antarctic Law, adopted in 2020, by including behaviors prohibited in Antarctica in the list of acts subject to sanctions, defined in a 2023 law on economic crimes. Interview with Catalina Sepúlveda, Antarctic law expert. The Antarctic, visited
Leaking tanks and pipelines, diesel and cyanide pollution of soil and water have been going around in the Arctic in recent weeks. The Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 is still considered the worst environmental disaster in the Arctic, when 41 million liters of heavy oil leaked from the damaged oil tan
The age of the oldest toothfish specimen in Australian naturalist collections has been estimated at around sixty years. Image: Christophe Delpont / TAAF The project to extend the marine park of the Australian archipelago closest to Antarctica has just been opened to public consultation, and the ques
NASA’s Artemis program has a goal of establishing a permanent base on the moon before 2040. “I hadn’t realized how soon these plans were scheduled to take place,” Bent Olsvig Jensen, who is now selling anorthosite to NASA, said. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsTo build anything on the Moon, a mineral found
The Madrid Protocol gives priority to scientific research in Antarctica – a natural reserve dedicated to peace and science – but it does not have exclusivity. Photo: Michael Wenger The growth of tourism in Antarctica is not without concern for the Treaty’s Consultative Parties. In a press release is
The ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen with a handball on the International Space Station in August, 2023. In the background are the three flags from the Danish Realm which he represented, including the Greenlandic Erfalasorput (on the left). Photo: Rumrejsen2023.dkFive unique factors could help Greenla
It is not unusual for complex buildings such as airports to occasionally experience delays. However, it is special if the commissioning is canceled just on the evening before. The urgent expansion of the new Nuuk airport is still dragging on. (Photo: Kalaallit Airports) With tourism on the rise, Gre
