This is out at whale camp, on the Arctic Ocean.

An ice free Arctic Ocean may happen in this century.

And things go white as we move out onto the Arctic Ocean.

No one has made a complete crossing of the Arctic Ocean on their own.

This is my studio in Brooklyn. This is the Arctic Ocean, and the butchering of the second whale, seven days later.

Expressing its deep concern over the vulnerability of the environment and the fragile ecosystems of the polar regions, including the Arctic Ocean and the Arctic ice cap, particularly affected by the projected adverse effects of climate change,

That's the Russians planting a flag on the ocean bottom to stake a claim for minerals under the receding Arctic sea ice.

Taming the Arctic Oil Rush

The Arctic Council was inaugurated in 1996 and provides for cooperation, coordination and integration among the eight Arctic States.

If the Arctic Ocean becomes ice free in summer, the melting and the snowfall will probably increase sharply. At that point, the precautionary principle might suggest that we take drastic action to stop burning fossil fuels.

Nonetheless, for all the hype about a race for the Arctic, and despite the rather icy atmosphere among the claimants, there is little reason to fear conflict. Under the terms of the 2008 Ilulissat Declaration, all of the countries bordering the Arctic Ocean agree to resolve their claims peacefully and based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

In the last three decades, its volume has shrunk by roughly three quarters. As the University of Laval s Louis Fortier puts it, we are three quarters of the way to ice free summers in the Arctic Ocean.

The vanishing Arctic sea ice also affects the atmosphere. Less ice reflects less sunlight, and more open ocean absorbs more heat, which is then released into the atmosphere, affecting wind and pressure patterns throughout the northern hemisphere.

And we could do something as arbitrary as, say, extract the story of Rony, involving the concepts of blood and whales and tools, taking place on the Arctic Ocean, at Ahkivgaq camp, with the heartbeat level of fast.

We can now go to the Arctic.

And, of course, Arctic communities are toast.

22 11 Sustainable development of the Arctic

I really, really wanted to go to the Arctic.

POTSDAM In 1845, Captain Sir John Franklin of the British Royal Navy led 128 men on two iron plated steam ships, Erebus and Terror, into the Arctic, where they eventually disappeared. The voyage was the culmination of four centuries of failed attempts to navigate the Northwest Passage a direct route from Europe to Asia across the Arctic Ocean and remains one of the greatest tragedies in the history of polar exploration.

We're finding more and more dead bears in the Arctic.

These ringed seals, these are the fatsicles of the Arctic.

A polar bear swimming in the Arctic, by Paul Nicklen.

The Arctic, Antarctica and the International Polar Year 2007 2008

The military of the Arctic nations is taking it really seriously.

North America, the Arctic, the Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe

The Arctic region has always been strategically vital for Russia, accounting for roughly 85 of Russia s natural gas production, which is based primarily in Western Siberia. The Kremlin has activated a new military command for the Arctic, and is busy reopening air bases and radar stations along its Arctic shoreline.

Russia, which three years ago used a submarine to plant a platinum copy of its national flag at the North Pole, claims sovereignty over 37 of the surface of the Arctic Ocean. The territories claimed by Russia include the North Pole and a huge oil field.

With a considerable extent of its land and territorial waters, low population density and sub Arctic to Arctic weather, Norway benefits greatly from the (mainly) United States satellite navigation system, GPS.

This is Daniel he's one of our students in Arctic Village, Alaska.

The thickness of the Arctic decreased more than 40 percent since 1960.

But seven years ago, I went to the Arctic for the first time.

A few months later they return to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.

North America, the Arctic, the Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America

Even if the Arctic Ocean becomes ice free in the summer, most of the year it is not, and icebergs from melting glaciers will become more common and possibly larger. This, together with frequent, powerful, and icy storms that appear on short notice, increases the likelihood of blowouts and other spills.

They breed in the high arctic, and they winter down in southern South America.

But they concentrate in the Gulf and then fan out all across the arctic.

This is the foundation of the whole food chain in the Arctic, right here.

Such as the Arctic we have one chance, right now, to get it right.

The major indigenous organizations in the Arctic are also permanent participants in the Council.

The 1990s were the warmest decade on record, forcing glaciers and Arctic ice to retreat.

Anybody want to come with me to Antarctica or the Arctic, I'll take you let's go.

A prompt action satellite, Ocean O , was used to obtain data on ocean parameters.

I spent time skiing across the sea ice for weeks at a time in the high Arctic.

They're found everywhere on the planet except for the Arctic and the southern tip of South America.

Nuclear, the time lag alone will allow the Arctic to melt and other places to melt more.