The Arctic
Consisting of deep ocean covered by drifting pack ice and surrounded by continents and archipelagos around the Earth's North Pole, the Arctic is the planet's largest and least fragmented inhabited region.
Why the Arctic matters
Oceans and Cryosphere: IPCC Special Report
What happens in the Arctic, doesn't stay in the Arctic.
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What's new
Stories
Polar bear assessment brings both good and troubling news
Last month, the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released a new assessment of polar bears. The findings reveal the most up-to-date information for polar bear populations.
Published 18 November 2019
NEWS
61 polar bears gathered near a village in Chukotka, Russia
WWF Russia’s Polar Bear Patrol helps local communities reduce conflicts between animals and people. Over a period of four days, more than 60 polar bears gathered at Cape Kozhevnikova in Chukotka close to the village Ryrkaypiy looking for food.
Published 6 December 2019
From The Circle
Bringing a little green to Longyearbyen all year round
Longyearbyen, Svalbard is the world’s northernmost town. Although it’s part of Norway, all 46 nations that have signed the Svalbard treaty have rights there. But Longyearbyen is unique for other reasons. For three months of the year, it has sunshine 24 hours a day—followed by another three months of total darkness in winter, when it is a desolate landscape of fjords, snow and ice.