The Arctic is warming four times faster than any other place on the planet. As sea ice melts, new shipping routes between continents are opening up, and the yearly window for navigating through these freezing waters is expanding. But there is a heavy toll that comes with increased traffic in the Arctic – a fragile environment that is rapidly collapsing.
When a Russian gas tanker sliced through the icy waters of the Arctic in the middle of winter four years ago, it became clear global shipping routes would be forever changed.
The Christophe de Margerie vessel, named after the former CEO of French oil company Total, made its way from eastern China through the Bering Sea, eventually docking at a remote Arctic port in Siberia in February 2021.
For the first time in history, global warming caused by humans allowed a ship to navigate through Arctic winter ice.
Shipping seasons are also being prolonged as a result of the warming climate.
But with more traffic comes more environmental degradation. The consequences are dire, particularly for climate heating, loss of biodiversity and pollution. And since the Arctic is a key regulator of the Earth’s climate, what happens in this region can be felt thousands of kilometres away.
A vicious cycle
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