Everything polar one click away

Join us this Sunday, June 22 at NONAM. The Zurich-based museum welcomes Indigenous artists, creators, and representatives from the Yukon and Norway for a day of festivities and intercultural dialogue.

Gray whales face food shortages as the Arctic warms

Disappearing sea ice appears to be putting gray whales in the eastern North Pacific under pressure once again this year: many animals are emaciated, and the number of newborn calves is at a record low.

Culture

NONAM celebrates summer solstice with Indigenous circumpolar cultures

Join us this Sunday, June 22 at NONAM. The Zurich-based museum welcomes Indigenous artists, creators, and representatives from the Yukon and Norway for a day of festivities and intercultural dialogue.

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Guest article

Tourism in Greenland: a fragile balance, an update after the elections

Guest Author

In an article for Polar Journal AG, Marie-Noëlle Rimaud advocates "finding a way out from the top, through intelligence". The lecturer and researcher in tourism economics and management calls for the development of a win-win strategy between foreign investors in the tourism sector and the island's inhabitants, who see the importance of this sector for the future of their economy.

Around the polar world

Russia reveals plans for nuclear submarines for Arctic LNG transport

Russian transport minister Roman Starovoit presented plans for nuclear-powered submarines to transport Arctic LNG to the different markets. According to the ministry, such vessels would be able to cover the Northern Sea route in 12 instead of 20 days. However, international experts doubt that Russia can move forward with these plans due to international sanctions in place.

interestingengineering.com

Call for more competition for Canadian North airlines

The Canadian Competition Bureau recommends significant changes for the two Canadian domestic carriers Air Canada and Westjet to make air travel to the North more attractive: Changes in carrier ownership and opening the market to allow more competition. Tis could lower the prices and improve services, according to the authorities.

www.rcinet.ca

CO2 under ice

Based on observations from 2010 to 2020 in Ryder Bay (Antarctica), a study published on June 18 in Communications Earth & Environment shows that extended and prolonged winter sea ice promotes CO2 uptake (by up to 20%) by limiting the upwelling of carbon-rich deep water.

www.nature.com

Thawing Wind

Blowing snow away and exposing dark ice, katabatic and foehn winds enhance surface melting of glaciers in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica - a key factor that could intensify in the future, according to a study published on June 12, 2025, in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

www.sciencedirect.com

After the ice pack

Ice still plays a major role in phytoplankton production around Antarctica, we learn in Communications Earth & Environment on June 12, but this time it's the ice cap's meltwater that compensates for the retreat of the ice pack and becomes key in the polar marine ecosystem.

www.nature.com

Politics

Polar marine megafauna needs more than Marine Protected areas

Dr. Michael Wenger

A new study shows that the 30% global ocean protection target isn't enough for mobile marine megafauna, especially in polar regions as threats like warming, shipping & plastic demand urgent mitigation beyond MPAs for the survival of these polar dwellers.

Emperor penguin populations are declining twice as fast as predicted

Will any remain by the end of the century? Satellite data shows a 22% decline in emperor penguin populations across a quarter of Antarctica over the past 15 years, due to climate instability.

The Polar Retrospective – A French in Greenland, record Arctic heat, a new view on an old Polar wreck

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at French President's trip to Nuuk, record-breaking Arctic heat, and a new view on an famous Polar wreck.

PIQSIQ delves into Inuit 'Legends'

Inuit throat-singing duo PIQSIQ release their new album. Aptly titled Legends, this new work immerses listeners in the world of traditional Inuit storytelling.

Science

"The Sámi want to be part of the defense value chain, so to speak"

The Norwegian Sámi Parliament urges greater inclusion in defense planning, citing poor coordination and risks to their culture amid rising military activity. They call for dialogue with authorities, protection of Sámi resources, and representation in NATO planning. Martin Rimpi, senior advisor at Árran Lulesámi Center, explains the issue in an interview to polarjournal.net.

U.S. Polar Budget: Cutting Ties with an Antarctic Icebreaker

Guest Author

Antarctic geopolitics expert William Muntean explains why the Trump administration's budget cuts will negatively impact US polar policy altogether and give countries such as Russia and China an almost insurmountable advantage in Antarctica.

The Polar Retrospective - A distant love, deep secrets of the South Sandwich Islands and noise pollution

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at how polar dreams inspire passion, at newly discovered coral gardens and hydrothermal vents and the noise pollution in polar regions.

Glacier melt threatens lives and livelihoods: 2C warming is too high

Dr. Irene Quaile-Kersken

The shocking images of a glacier breaking off and covering a village in the Swiss alps highlights the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions to minimize ice loss.

Society

Those forest fires that slow an accelerating global warming

As forest fires wipe out Canada's boreal forest, a study highlights the role these fires could play in slowing global warming.

West Antarctic Ice Sheet near tipping point – the next few years are critical

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet could reach its tipping point with only minimal additional ocean warming – with long-term consequences for global sea levels. But a small window of time remains to take countermeasures.

"If the military doesn't understand the livelihood, they don't understand the losses and damage their activities cause to the Sámi, either"

Military activities in the Arctic are intensifying without any real consultation with the Sámi. Despite their rights to these lands, their governance is poorly integrated, threatening a subsistence-based culture such as reindeer herding. Finnish social scientist Laura Junka-Aikio provides some insight in an interview.

Antarctica’s sea ice is changing, and so is a vital part of the marine food web that lives within it

Administrator

As Antarctic sea ice forms later and thinner, a hidden ecosystem is shifting: microalgal diversity is declining, disrupting a key food source for marine life.

Picture of the month

He drives around icebergs and tells whale stories. Jens Lyberth Svenningsen is originally from southern Greenland, but after working in Denmark as a chef in an international context, he settled in Ilulissat and worked in the fishing industry. He is now employed by a local tourism company to run cruises in Disko Bay aboard an aluminum boat.

Jens Lyberth Svenningsen, local guide in Ilulissat.

Economy

The Polar Retrospective – An Arctic Bird Fossil Discovery, AI helping caribou migrate across sea ice, and wildfires in Canada

This week's Polar Retrospective takes a look at ancient arctic birds that lived with dinosaurs, AI that helps protect migrating caribou across fragile sea ice, and wildfires in Canada.

Marine sanctuaries – hope for whales & dolphins in captivity

Three organizations have taken an important step toward a more species-appropriate life for whales and dolphins in captivity: They are developing the world’s first ocean sanctuaries as alternatives to keeping them in concrete tanks.

Improving Arctic food security through DNA science and respectful collaboration with Indigenous Peoples

Administrator

As food insecurity greatly affects Inuit communities, community workshops bringing together Elders, hunters, and scientists were held to discuss how to use DNA for Arctic wildlife and food security.

France welcomes (quietly) Greenland

Guest Author

Despite its unprecedented nature, Greenland Minister Vivian Motzfeldt's visit to France in May 2025 went almost unnoticed. French polar policy expert Arthur Amelot explains this discreet diplomatic gesture. Yet it is rich in symbolism, and could mark the beginning of a strategic rapprochement between Paris and Nuuk, at a time when Greenland is establishing itself as a central player in the Arctic. Tribune.

Tourism

NATO gains altitude in Bodø

Last Thursday in Bodø, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Norwegian Prime Minister Gahr Støre made official the creation of an air base north of the Arctic Circle. A strategic turning point in the face of Russia, which rekindles tensions over the militarization of the Arctic and respect for the indigenous rights of the Sami people.

The Polar Retrospective – A route to East Greenland, bowhead whales losing their icy habitat and Inuit-led cruises

This week's Polar Retrospective takes a look at the setting course for Iceland and Scoresby Sound by the crew of Moscatel, new research warning of vanishing summer habitat for bowhead whales and Inuit-led cruises in Nunavut.

Penguin poop, the secret weapon against global warming?

A study highlights the role that penguin droppings play in cloud formation and their potential impact in reducing the effects of global warming.

Loss of polar glaciers unlikely to be reversed after 1.5-degree overshoot