CRYOPOLITICS - Original news, photos & maps from the Arctic

First the poles, then the peaks: From the Arctic to the Alps

An Air India flight diverted to Magadan. It took off, but sanctions are leaving Siberians without planes.

On visit to Luleå, U.S. Secretary of State touts Arctic green transition as fighter jets rumble overhead

COP27 puts ‘loss and damage’ on the agenda. Where do Arctic communities fall?

“We are trying to hand over our expertise to the Arctic”: An interview with Estonian President Alar Karis

Arctic Circle 2022: A NATO admiral, Chinese diplomat, and Faroese metal band walk into a concert hall

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Travel & Photo

First the poles, then the peaks: From the Arctic to the Alps

How Arctic exploration gave rise to Alpine mountaineering, rather than the other way around.

Russia

An Air India flight diverted to Magadan. It took off, but sanctions are leaving Siberians without planes.

A flight from Mumbai to San Francisco made an emergency landing in Magadan. While its 300 passengers eventually continued their…

Mining

On visit to Luleå, U.S. Secretary of State touts Arctic green transition as fighter jets rumble overhead

The discovery of rare earth elements at the world's largest underground iron ore mine in Kiruna promises to fuel the…

Travel & Photo

First the poles, then the peaks: From the Arctic to the Alps

How Arctic exploration gave rise to Alpine mountaineering, rather than the other way around.

Narva, Estonia: A would-be Arctic crossroads on Europe’s edge

The story of Narva is the story of the Arctic port that never was. Had it taken off as an…

Life on an Arctic farm, interrupted only by Norwegian jets

This summer, I found myself on a farm in the Norwegian Arctic solely in charge of 16 horses, 12 goats,…

Central Asia’s collapsing water tower

Remembering a trek through Central Asian highlands where glaciers look like spilled milk - and where they irrigate actual dairy…

Asia & the Arctic

A Chinese sailboat is circumnavigating the Arctic

Chinese artist-sailor Zhai Mo (翟墨) has just set sail from Shanghai to embark on a four-month journey around the Arctic…

China & the Arctic – A View to 2050 | Hong Kong and online

This symposium will leverage Hong Kong’s historic position as a meeting place between East and West to bring together social…

Musk ox diplomacy: When the US sent two Arctic animals to China

While a population of musk ox may have survived in southern Siberia and Mongolia, the animals don't seem to have…

China reveals Arctic geopolitics to be above Pompeo’s pay grade

Pompeo’s swashbuckling fantasies aside, geopolitical competition in the contemporary Arctic is not about who controls swaths of continents or oceans.…

Maps & Satellite Imagery

Could NASA’s newest satellite witness an ice-free Arctic Ocean?

Landsat 9 will continue NASA's important work documenting 50 years of changes to the Earth's surface from space. But for…

Cross-polar flights leave trails of pollution in their wake, hurting the Arctic.

Russia’s extension of US overflight rights hurts the Arctic

Every week, hundreds of flights on U.S. airlines pass through Russian airspace. Only a handful of these flights actually start…

New European satellite provides crystal-clear view of Arctic

Featured image: Ice flowing out to sea near Ilulissat, Greenland In June of last year, a satellite called Sentinel-2 rocketed into space.…

Seen from space: Canadian highway to Arctic Ocean nears completion

Featured image: The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway seen from space with NASA’s Landsat-8 satellite. A few days ago, The Washington Post ran a story…