Cyclone Michaung wreaks havoc in Southern India

Cyclone Michaung wreaks havoc in Southern India as it intensifies into a severe storm. Warmer oceans are the primary reason for the storm which is closely linked to Arctic Sea ice... READ MORE

Confirmed: 2023 set to be the warmest year on record

The WMO provisional State of the Global Climate report confirms that 2023 is set to be the warmest year on record, regardless of the final two months of... READ MORE

Colossal Antarctic iceberg, five times larger than New York City, breaks free and drifts away from region

On November 24th, scientists from the Bristish Antarctic Survey (BAS) were astonished to observe an iceberg measuring around 4,000 square kilometers (more than twice the size of Greater London) drifting away from the... READ MORE

World surpasses critical warming threshold for the first time

On November 17th, global temperatures reached 2.07°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time on record.... READ MORE

Unexpected disintegration of ice shelves in North Greenland

Alarm bells ringing as rapid disintegration and weakening of ice shelves in North Greenland is observed!... READ MORE

COUNTDOWN

CO2 Budget Depletion

UN SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT GOALS

SDG 14 - LIFE BELOW WATER

 

The Arctic Ocean is key to ocean health around the planet as it has the biggest impact on the worldwide oceanographic circulation systems, and is thus responsible for water and food security around the world. Since 1980, the amount of summer Arctic sea ice has halved, changing the entire global marine biome and circulatory patterns.  

GLOBAL

Oceans cover 70 percent of our planet, thus what happens to them inevitably affects all of us. In fact, the livelihoods of 3 billion people across the world – nearly half of the global population – depend directly on marine ecosystems (Jurkschat, 2020). As a natural carbon sink, oceans absorb roughly one-third of anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, this CO2 is causing our oceans to acidify significantly, destroying coral reefs throughout the world’s shallow waters. 

ARCTIC

Despite being key to the survival of our planet, the Arctic Ocean rarely receives attention. Out of our seven oceans, the Arctic is most vulnerable to change while undergoing the most rapid change. Since 1980, the Arctic Ocean’s summer sea ice has halved, from seven to roughly three million square kilometers (Carmack et al., n.d.).  

 A warming Arctic will affect life in the Arctic Ocean, destroying the ecosystems of some sea organisms such as narwhals, polar bears, walrus, Saimaa ringed seals, orcas and Beluga whales (WWF, n.d.). Fisheries are moving northward, creating tensions between states, while also presenting new opportunities for exploitation, such as the case with snow crabs in Svalbard, Scandinavia and Russia (De Pooter, 2020). 

The loss or degradation of delicate Arctic ecosystems can put marine life – as well as communities, livelihoods and cultural practices that depend on it – under immense pressure. Aquatic species, such as Arctic char, abundant in Arctic Sweden and Norway, are declining due to warming waters, affecting Sámi fishing practices and food security. By 2100, Arctic char populations could be reduced by 73 percent (Jonsson, 2020).  

Having found up to 11,000 particles of microplastics in a single liter of melted sea ice, scientists identify marine microplastics as an emerging threat and conclude that the Arctic Ocean has the world’s highest microplastics concentrations out of all ocean basins in the world (Carmack et al., n.d.). 

 As new Arctic shipping routes open, oil spills and noise pollution become larger threats, further damaging fragile ecosystems. In 2020, Russia admitted to having caused the “world’s largest” oil spill in the Arctic, in Norilsk, totaling at roughly 21,000 tons of oil (The Moscow Times, 2020). The oil spill contaminated 350 square kilometers and bled into the Daldykan River, where the clean-up is estimated to take up to 10 years due, in part due to the lack of infrastructure (BBC, 2020).  

WWF has developed ArcNet, an Arctic Ocean network of priority areas for conservation, to protect marine biodiversity across the Arctic.

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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
1,398,749 km²
below 1981-2010 average on 03-Dec-2023
540,057 mi²
below 1981-2010 average on 03-Dec-2023
Arctic Amplification
4 times
faster than global average
Arctic 66N+ Wildfire emissions
25,092.70 megatonnes CO₂e
CO₂e emissions in 2023 so far
Arctic Air Quality (PM2.5)
1.09 microgram per cubic meter
on 03-Dec-2023
Global mean Sea Level
3.4mm/year
since 1993