Tropical Storm Ophelia takes on New York

Parts of New York City are underwater as record rains have led to life-threatening flooding. Brooklyn received more than a month's worth of rain within three hours. By nightfall on Friday 29 September, Queens recorded... READ MORE

Arctic Sea Ice Minimum Declared

The National Snow and Ice Data Center has just announced that the 2023 minimum Arctic sea ice extent occurred on 19 September and is the 6th lowest on record.... READ MORE

The World Above 1.5°C: Flooding Disasters from Libya to Hong Kong

Global temperatures have slightly decreased after a  summer with 36 consecutive days above any previous record, a phenomenon not seen in at least 125,000 years. However, the two consecutive months above 1.5C provided a... READ MORE

Polar Tipping Points Hub in WEF Global Collaboration Village

This week, the Polar Tipping Points Hub was launched in the Global Collaboration Village, a metaverse built by the World Economic Forum in partnership with Accenture and Microsoft, with scientific support from Arctic... READ MORE

Arctic Basecamp Plays Significant Role in New Polar Metaverse by World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum (WEF) launched the Polar Tipping Points Hub, a groundbreaking virtual reality experience in collaboration with Accenture and Microsoft, yesterday at UN Climate Week in New York... READ MORE

COUNTDOWN

CO2 Budget Depletion

UN SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SDG 10 - REDUCED INEQUALITIES

 

Extreme weather is 5 times more likely to displace low- and middle-income populations, and to disrupt employment In the Arctic, Alaskan communities threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion are left without government aid, increasing Indigenous inequalities.  

GLOBAL

Climate change increases exposure of vulnerable groups, affects peoples’ susceptibility to damage, and reduces their ability to cope with and recover from the impacts of climate hazards, all of which exacerbates existing inequalities. Disasters disproportionately affect women and children as well as poor and marginalized communities, which have done least to cause climate change. In the event of extreme weather, populations across low- and middle-income countries are estimated to be five times more likely than people in high-income counterparts to be displaced (Oxfam America, n.d.). Arctic change will increase existing inequalities and climate impacts globally. 

ARCTIC

Arctic climate change is a fundamental threat to Indigenous communities and culture. For over a decade, the Sámi have been facing the “limit of resilience” (Furberg, Evengård and Nilsson, 2011). As the Sámi’s rights continue to erode, and without robust mitigation and adaptation in sight, Indigenous inequalities will increase. Similarly, 31 Native Alaskan communities are threatened by sea level rise and coastal erosion, both of which the U.S. government has long claimed to be avoidable and therefore not meeting the criteria for federal aid or disaster relief (Faheid, 2021). While funding is still relatively inaccessible and does not cover ecological restoration, in April 2022, the U.S. Department of the Interior declared that the country would invest US$46 million in climate impacts and challenges faced by Indigenous communities (Reyna, 2022). Climate vulnerable regions in the Arctic deserve compensation for loss and damage from current climate impacts. 

While equality has improved across the Arctic, women residing outside of Reykjavik in Iceland still earn 38 percent less than men for the same job. In the Russian Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, women only earn 74 percent of the average man’s salary (Arctic Council, 2021).  

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ARCTIC RISK INDICATORS

The following gauges show up-to-date data regarding key indicators in the Arctic. These indicators clearly point to the crisis at hand.

Greenland rate of ice loss
13 million l/s
on average
13 million tonnes/s
on average
Arctic Sea Ice Extent
2,404,499 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 01-Oct-2023
928,377 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 01-Oct-2023
Arctic Amplification
4 times
faster than global average
Arctic 66N+ Wildfire emissions
24,925.36 megatonnes CO₂e
CO₂e emissions in 2023 so far
Arctic Air Quality (PM2.5)
4.07 microgram per cubic meter
on 02-Oct-2023
Global mean Sea Level
3.4mm/year
since 1993