Everything polar one click away

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world's polar regions. This week we look at the impact of bird flu south of the Antarctic Peninsula, the results of the major dog race in Alaska, and Antarctica under the ice cap.

Study tracks male Sperm whales over thousands of kilometers

Male sperm whales in the North Atlantic spend much of the year in Arctic waters, migrating south only for mating. For the first time, a research team has demonstrated that these migrations do not follow a fixed schedule.

Culture

Arctic basic education - a self-serving gift

Everyone wants a piece of Greenland. To avoid losing its access to the Arctic, Denmark has to keep digging deep into its pockets. Its latest expenditure is for military training for young Greenlanders.

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Guest article

Nukannguaq visited Greenland’s first inhabitants in Peary Land

Research assistant Nukannguaq Mathiesen came closer to understanding the climate and people of northernmost Greenland 4,500 years ago.

Around the polar world

A wind turbine on Norway's Troll Antarctic Station

According to the Norwegian Polar Institute, a wind turbine was installed on March 6 in Antarctica on the Norwegian Troll station. It will be tested in extreme conditions over the coming months. In a way, this is the first stone in the reconstruction of Troll, which has already been announced in 2023. Completion of the NOK 15 million project is scheduled for 2032.

industryradar.com

Solar radiation less reflected on the Antarctic Panda transect

The albedo produced by the ice on the transect known as Panda - between the Zhongshan station and Dome A in Antarctica - tended to decrease between 2004 and 2023. This was shown on March 7 by a team of climate change researchers from Beijing in the review "Atmospheres", illustrating an "ongoing darkening process".

agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Maximum withdrawal of summer sea ice off Antarctica

The summer surface of the Antarctic sea ice has reached its 2nd lowest value since records began, a ranking shared with the end of the summers of 2022 and 2024. The year 2023 remains the lowest.

nsidc.org

Confidence in closing the hole in the ozone layer

The hole in the ozone layer is closing. These are the findings of a team of American researchers published in "Nature with 95% statistical confidence. Since the discovery of the hole in 1986 and the measures taken under the Montreal Protocol - limiting the use of chlorofluorocarbons - measurements have never been that significant.

www.nature.com

Escorted maritime shipment for McMurdo

At the end of February, the cargo ship 'Ocean Gladiator', with the escort of the US Coast Guard icebreaker 'Polar Star', delivered 321 containers to McMurdo, filled with equipment and food for a year's operations. The cargo ship will leave with waste and used equipment.

gcaptain.com

Politics

A Dragon in Antarctica - Part Two

This year, China celebrates th 40th anniversary of its first Antarctic station, the Great Wall (Chángchéng). IN this tow-part series, Polar Historian and book author Jean de Pomereu presents an exclusive view on the Chinese Antarctic Program and its scientific and political value from the past to the present.

The Demokraatit party must forge alliances

At a press conference held at the International Press Centre, Rasmus Leander Nielsen, professor at the University of Greenland, discusses the potential coalitions that Demokraatit could form.

A right turn for Greenland

The Demokraatit party wins Greenland's March 11 elections. A turnaround in the island's politics.

A Dragon in Antarctica - Part One

This year, China celebrates th 40th anniversary of its first Antarctic station, the Great Wall (Chángchéng). In this two-part series, Polar Historian and author Jean de Pomereu presents an exclusive view on the Chinese Antarctic Program and its scientific and political value from the past to the present.

Science

Adult-Themed Cruise to Antarctica: Theme Park Tourism or Isolated Incident?

Dr. Michael Wenger

An unusual event in Antarctic tourism unfolded in January 2025, prompting discussions about the evolving nature of travel to this unique region.

From bone to wood, 100 years of techno-economic acceleration among the Inughuit

A dog sled from London's British Museum bears witness to the economic development and technical ingenuity of Inughuit society in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Polar Retrospective - A grounded iceberg, Health survey in Tromsø, and US tariffs in the Canadian Arctic

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world's polar regions. This week we look at the iceberg A23a keeping South Georgia company, a Norwegian cross-generational health study, and at the impact of US tariffs in the Canadian Arctic.

Large methane leaks discovered in Antarctica

A recently concluded expedition to the continental shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula, where methane hydrates are hidden in the seabed, revealed that the greenhouse gas methane escapes there.

Society

The Polar Retrospective - Erased graffiti, an updated map, Arctic killer whales, and a Finnish inconvenience

This week we look at a mission to clean up a graffitied building in Antarctica, a new South Orkney Islands map, an increase in Arctic killer whales, and rising tourism prices in Finland.

"Did it pass too close, was it too late to reverse?"

Hervé Baudu, professor of nautical sciences at the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime and member of the Académie de Marine, talks about the collision of the 50 Let Pobedy and the polar seminar of the Arctic Council's Working Group on the Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME), co-organized with the International Maritime Organization.

The Polar Retrospective - Plastic in Antarctica, Nunavut renewable energy and Belgium polar heritage

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world's polar regions. From last week we chose: the discovery of microplastic around the Union Glacier, a renewable energy project in Iqaluit and the 'Belgica' pennant classified as part of national heritage.

Hunting, fishing, nature and gathering, a dependent Russian republic

From Dolgans to Evenks, Yakuts and even the descendants of 19th-century Russians, the Sakha region is still very rural and relies on natural resources for its food and livelihood.

Picture of the month

As soon as it is born, an elephant seal pup utters little cries and calls out to its mother, who breaks the umbilical cord by turning towards it. Skuas and giant petrels are waiting to feast at least on the placenta. These birds may have been the vectors of avian flu in Kerguelen for several months.

An elephant seal pup between a skua and giant petrels on the Kerguelen.

Economy

Nunavut, a bright spot in the Arctic's socio-economic doldrums

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.

Krill - "This year, unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement"

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 Peninsula, and on the other, a modernisation and increase in the allocation of fishing quotas. To find out more about this unprecedented event, we spoke to Dr. Javier Arata, executive officer of ARK, the association of companies for responsible krill fishing.

"These companies are destroying the environment and harming the local people in Chukotka"

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 environmental and human disaster. Ilya Shumannov, CEO of Arctida, conducted an extensive investigation. He told us all about it.

The Arctic is getting more light pollution due to increasing industrial activities

The area affected by oil and gas production and mining in the Arctic is growing every year, as a new study by the University of Zurich shows. In addition to night-time light pollution, industrial activities lead to numerous other problems for nature and the environment.

Tourism

Managing the route, from Australia to Greenland’s Arctic Circle Trail

Mirjana Binggeli

Hiking in the magnificent Greenlandic backcountry as your job? For many, this may seem like the ultimate fantasy, but for Lisa Germany it is a professional reality. Interview.

Marie-Noëlle Rimaud, islander, polar explorer and pioneer

Polar tourism in Greenland is not a subject frequently addressed in French economic and social sciences. Yet Marie-Noëlle Rimaud is now able to capture what was once just over the horizon, and observe it through her own unique lens.

Ocean Explorer during its grounding last year. The incident demonstrated the dangers of allowing cruise ships to visit highly remote fjords and may ultimately lead to changes in the law. Photo: Air Force / Joint Arctic Command

"In the Arctic, there are no small accidents"

The challenges of maritime safety in polar zones were discussed with sailors, instructors and researchers in Brest during Sea Tech Week. The workshop was organized by Anne Choquet, a lawyer specializing in polar areas, and Roberto Rivas Hermann, a researcher at the Center for Northern Logistics, who came to Brest from Bodo, Norway, for a residency.

Podcast Radio Arctic - Tourism Trajectories