Arctic Climate Change

The average temperature of the Arctic has increased 2.3°C since the 1970s.

By 2100, polar bears could face starvation and reproductive failure even in far northern Canada.

Around 35,000 walruses came ashore on the Alaska coast in September 2014. It’s the largest ‘haul out’ ever recorded. US government agencies estimated that 60 young walruses were crushed in the crowd.

Warmer winter temperatures have also increased the layers of ice in snow, making food more difficult to dig up in winter.

Fish stocks in the Barents Sea are moving north at up to 160 kilometres per decade as a result of climate change.

The fish are sensitive to changes in water temperature. This poses a risk for commercial and subsistence fisheries that may see fish resources move away from where they can harvest them. The moving fish also change the ecosystems into which they move.

On the tundra, rising temperatures have brought a new competitor - the Arctic fox’s much larger cousin, the red fox. Not only does the newcomer colonise their dens, it can also kill the smaller Arctic foxes.

In the ocean, both scientists and Inuit say killer whales appear to be increasing in numbers, and in the length of time they stay in the Arctic. Killer whales prey on narwhals and bowhead whales.

With increased shipping comes spill risk (both fuel and cargo), “black carbon” emissions that help to speed the rate of Arctic melting, ship noise that may also affect whales, and icebreaking that can disrupt ice crossing routes for people and animals.

In 2013, a large bulk carrier transited the Northwest Passage for the first time. In 2018, the first cargo ship transited the Arctic north of Russia.

Reduced ice cover is making offshore oil production in the Arctic more commercially viable. In 2014, the first commercial development of offshore oil (Prirazlomnoye) was pumped from Russian Arctic waters.