What is the significance of the arctic

But man-made climate change means the Arctic has warmed over the past few decades — actually about twice as much as the global average. The Arctic also helps circulate the world's ocean currents, moving cold and warm water around the globe. Alongside the amazing and uniquely adapted arctic wildlife, there are 4 million people that live there.

Top of the world! Unlike the Antarctic, the Arctic is an icy sea surrounded by land. Antarctica is icy land surrounded by sea. It may seem a bit chilly for some of us, but the Arctic is home to around four million people, including indigenous communities, spread across eight countries. But their environment is changing, because of global warming. But with global warming, that ice is shrinking fast.

Scientists predict there may be virtually no summer sea ice in the Arctic within a generation. We need to stop global warming, urgently! Arctic wildlife has evolved over thousands of years to cope with polar environments — but conditions may be changing faster than most can adapt to. Warming seas are more acidic too, which is damaging for a lot of sealife.

We also work with indigenous people around the Arctic, helping them adapt to the changing environment. Yes, there may well be huge untapped reserves of oil and gas under the Arctic — but we believe they should be left there.

The environmental risks and likely damage to this remote and precious region and to the global climate are just too great. Less sea ice means the Arctic Ocean is opening up to more shipping traffic — which increases risks of pollution, collisions and other damaging disruptions for sealife.

Of these different parts, the European Arctic is undoubtedly the most active and the most challenging. Intra-regional cooperation on other issues has also flourished.

Indeed, it has been argued that these low-level forms of interaction help ensure low tension in the North, on the regional level. The emergence of the Arctic Council as the primary forum for regional affairs in the Arctic plays into this setting. The Arctic states have shown a preference for a stable political environment in which they maintain dominance in the region. This is supported by the importance attributed to the Law of the Sea and issue-specific agreements signed under the auspices of the Arctic Council.

These developments benefit the Northern countries more than anyone else, while also ensuring that Arctic issues are generally dealt with by the Arctic states themselves. This has little to do with events in the Arctic ice-melting, economic ventures, etc. True, we find some intra-regional competition, as well as investments and cooperation.

The Arctic states have limited, if any, rationale for engaging in outright conflict bilateral or regional over resources or territory—although local rivalries, like that of Norway—Russia persist. However, the Arctic will not become any less important on the strategic level, simply because the USA and Russia are already in the region, and China is increasingly demonstrating its strategic Northern interests.

This has implications for the Arctic states. Although the Law of the Sea regime ensures primacy to offshore resources, the states themselves must be able to protect their sovereign rights at sea and be present in the Arctic maritime domain.

Worryingly there are big changes in Arctic sea-ice cover , freshwater supply, nutrient availability and the underwater light climate which are taking place at an accelerated pace, with associated shifts in seawater chemistry and biological activity, and alterations to habitat and food-web structure that are affecting the entire ocean.

From this perspective, it seems inevitable that the ongoing and rapid changes in the physical environment of the marine Arctic will push existing socio-ecological systems - small and large - beyond tipping points and into new regimes.

What this means is that temperature, pH and oxygen changes lead to species extinctions, threatening fisheries and food security. Unbelievable as it may sound, the plastic soup has now reached Arctic waters. It's time for us to listen.

The authors of this article will be setting up an Arctic Basecamp at Davos Find out more here. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. I accept. Polar bears already face shorter ice seasons - limiting prime hunting and breeding opportunities.

Take action on UpLink. On all counts, the little Arctic Ocean holds its own on the global stage. Have you read? Saving the world starts with the Arctic. Here's why.