ARCTIC: Rapid Glacier Melting & more – 25th Feb 2025

Góðan daginn from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 25th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Glaciers are hugely important to the Arctic ecosystem and for keeping global sea levels stable, but they are melting faster than ever. According to research published in the journal Nature, on Wednesday the 19th by the glacier research group, Glambie, glaciers across the world are in decline, but nowhere worse than in Alaska, which accounted for over twenty percent of glacial melting alone.

Canada and Greenland are the second and third quickest melting regions, accounting for twenty and thirteen percent of global melting. Glaciers in the Arctic have lost around three trillion tonnes of ice, and caused global sea levels to rise by almost ten millimeters since two thousand. Especially concerning is that the melting rate is not slowing down, as the Arctic slowly loses its ice.

The changing face of the Arctic is also political. According to a story broken by the Russian news agency, The Moscow Times, on Tuesday the 18th, the Russian government is offering the Trump administration a deal on Russian natural resources and access to the Arctic. Under the previous Biden administration in the US, Russia was an adversary to be sanctioned and punished for its aggression.

However, the Trump administration is looking to make business deals in the Russian Arctic, expanding the oil and gas projects that Russia has struggled to make successful across its north coast.

Speaking of Trump, his ambition to expand oil drilling in the Alaskan Arctic is facing a hurdle. Reuters reported on Wednesday the 19th, that environmental groups have submitted a lawsuit in Alaska to block the US government from allowing offshore oil drilling in protected areas. The lawsuit alleges that Trump has no legal right to reverse the permanent protections given to areas of the coastline by former President Biden, which includes areas of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and the Gulf of Mexico.

During Trump’s first term, he attempted to reverse many environmental protections but was defeated in court. Environmental groups hope to repeat their achievements.

Shipping is another industry growing in the Arctic Ocean, with South Korea hoping to benefit. According to an article published by the news agency Arctic Today on Tuesday the 18th, the South Korean government created the Arctic Shipping Route Task Force. This group aims to turn the Korean port city of Busan into a key Arctic shipping hub.

The melting of Russia’s north coast is connecting Asia and Europe in new ways, yet China is currently the only Asian country with developed ports capable of accepting, maintaining and deploying ice-capable vessels. South Korea has recognized the Arctic opening up for access and aims to join the race for influence in the north.

As shipping accelerates in the Arctic, the need for responsible management only grows. The news agency High North News reported on Friday the 21st that the International Maritime Organization, or IMO, recently held a seminar dedicated to the future of polar shipping. Key discussions centered around improving safety measures, environmental protection, and sustainable development in these fragile regions.

The IMO is reviewing its codes and policies in the hopes of filling in the legal gaps harming the Arctic.

In the most remote areas of the Arctic, growing society and industry can be difficult because of the lack of reliable internet access. According to a statement by the Norwegian government released on Monday the 17th, In the Norwegian islands of Jan Mayen and Svalbard, the world’s northernmost subsea cable system is being built to get high-speed internet into the high Arctic.

The Norwegian Space Agency is carrying out the project, named The Arctic Way, and will cost over 250 million US dollars. It will stretch from the northern town of Bodø over 2,300 kilometers, almost 1,500 miles, to both of Norway’s Arctic island territories.

To see the details of this huge project, take a look at the link in the show notes!

However, the biggest growth industry in the Arctic might be the military. On Wednesday the 19th, the Danish government announced it is setting up a $7 billion dollar rearmament fund with the instruction to purchase as much military hardware as possible. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish Prime Minister, said at a press conference that this funding boost comes due to national security concerns about Russia, and protecting Greenland.

Since late twenty twenty-four, Denmark has doubled its defense budget to four percent of its GDP, protecting Denmark and Greenland.

In better investment news, Canada is keeping its coldest people warm. The national broadcaster CBC revealed on Thursday the 20th, that the Canada Infrastructure Bank is loaning the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the group that manages the western Inuit communities of Canada, $70 million US dollars to develop a natural gas plant that is expected to provide the region with fuel for over fifty years.

Even though this will increase fossil fuel usage in the region, Inuvik communities will no longer need to import fuel from far away. The project is expected to reduce carbon emissions by 40,000 tonnes a year. Construction has already begun, with the Inuvialuit Corporation expecting the plant to be ready in two years.

The loudest celebrations in the Arctic this week were probably coming from the northern Norwegian town of Bodø on Thursday the 20th, with the local football team, FK Bodø Glimt, recording a famous victory in the final playoff round of the Europa League, the European football competition. Bodø Glimt faced FC Twente from The Netherlands, needing to overturn a first-leg loss.

What followed was a blistering game ending with Bodø winning by five goals to two and qualifying for the knockout rounds of the competition. Bodø Glimt is the only Arctic football team to be competing in high-level continental competitions, and their next opponents, the Greek giants Olympiacos, face a trip to the far north in March.

Traditional Arctic sports have also had a major event this week. The inaugural Avannaa Arctic Games took place in Greenland last week, with the final results revealed by the Greenlandic national broadcaster, KNR, on Tuesday the 18th. Seventy athletes from Greenland, Alaska, and Canadian Inuit territory competed in thirteen traditional sports. The Nunakput team from northern Canada walked away victorious, earning almost 300 medal points. Greenland came out in second place, with about 220 points.

The Avannaa Games have been created to bring Inuit tribes from across the Arctic together to share their oldest traditions. With the first games heralded as a success by the organizers, the second edition is already being planned for twenty twenty-seven.

Greenland’s national election is coming on the 11th of March, with independence from Denmark being a key concern. The ruling party, Inuit Ataqatigiit, launched its election campaign on Thursday the 20th. In the party’s policy outline, they revealed that while they support independence, the decision will not be rushed, warning about possible economic and welfare implications.

Siumut, the second largest party in Greenland, announced earlier this month their intention to explore full independence as soon as possible, if they win the election. With independence a priority for Greenland, voters have the chance to decide exactly how their country moves into a new future.

Finally over to Iceland, where some new names have come to the country. Iceland operates a strict naming policy, with only names that fit into the Icelandic language allowed to be given. The Personal Names Committee, the government department in charge of approving names, announced on Thursday the 20th they have accepted five new names and rejected one. The names Ingirún, Yrkja, Hannah, Ástý and Stormar were accepted, but the name Kjartann was rejected because it has not been used in Iceland in over 100 years, so it is considered no longer traditional.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

In case you didn’t know, besides the Rorshok Arctic Update, we also do others! We’ve got many country updates from Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe. But we also have non-country updates, including the Multilateral Update, about the world’s major multilateral institutions, and the Ocean Update, about the 70% of the world covered in salt water.

If you want to check out the full list of updates, go to https://rorshok.com/updates/. The link is in the show notes.

Ha Det