3 21 things to watch: POLAR
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1 Climate Change and a New Arctic Climate change has created large-scale impacts throughout the Arctic, as the region is warming almost three times quicker than anywhere else on the planet. In 2020, for example, the Arctic Ocean ice pack reached its second-lowest recorded summer ice extent on record—in essence, the opening of a new ocean. The eight Arctic nations face many diverse challenges and opportunities: the impacts on communities and infrastructure from eroding coastline and degradation of the landscape; homeland security challenges and maritime-related issues, and; questions regarding the effectiveness of existing international governance structures to address the political ramifications of these changes. The Biden administration will bring renewed focus to the issue of climate change—and the Arctic will be an important component of this work.
Featured Experts
www.wilsoncenter.org/polar
Michael Sfraga, Director, Polar Institute and Director, Global Risk and Resilience Program
polar@wilsoncenter.org
David Balton, Senior Fellow, Polar Institute
@polarinitiative
Betsy Baker, Global Fellow, Polar Institute
facebook.com/thepolarinitiative 202.691.4002
Evan Bloom, Senior Fellow, Polar Institute years
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