World Policy On Air is a podcast from the pages and website of World Policy Journal. As the effects of climate change pose new challenges in the Arctic, melting ice and warmer temperatures also present economic opportunities. On the latest episode of World Policy On Air, Inuuteq Holm Olsen, the first Greenland representative at the Danish embassy

By Wilfrid Greaves The United States is an Arctic nation, but the Arctic has usually been an afterthought in the making of government decisions. U.S. security policy has traditionally viewed the region as a line of defense rather than a place to be secured in its own right. However, under President Barack Obama, the Arctic

By Ingrid A. Medby Another year of Arctic conferences has begun, and first up was Arctic Frontiers in Tromsø, Norway.  With an ever-dropping oil price and the U.N. Climate Conference (COP21) fresh in mind, the most surprising thing to emerge from the week was the rhetoric of “business as usual” in the Arctic. However, while

By Erica Dingman “Necessity is the mother of invention,” says Chris Rose, CEO of Renewable Energy Alaska Program (REAP), which he founded in 2004. “We have to continue to innovate.” Indeed innovation in renewables may be critical for meeting Alaska’s future economic, environmental, and energy needs. For his part, Rose has championed the benefits of

By Frank Geisel In an era of big growth (commonly observed as massive corporate exploitation of natural resources without much thought about the intended or unintended consequences), decisions and gambles were made based on the available data and the risk tolerance of high-rollers in the oil and gas industry. Today, we have “big data” and

By Laura Strickler Mitigating climate change is a daunting task, especially in the Arctic where surface temperature is rising at more than twice the rate of that in lower latitudes. Climate change in the Arctic also has global impacts. As the Greenland ice sheet melts, sea levels rise in Florida, and permafrost thaw has serious

By Erica Dingman In a very broad sense the Arctic is predictably unpredictable. Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska rose to a high of 86 F in June 2015 on a day with a historical average of 65 F. And the highly cited U.S. Geological Survey oil and gas report states that the Arctic region accounts for

By Erica Dingman The field of science is known for expressing caution with the interpretation of its findings, but this is for a  good reason. Scientific reports are couched in terms of ‘uncertainty,’ ‘likely,’ and ‘high, medium, or low confidence’ – nothing in life is guaranteed. So I was astonished to read a statement made

By Brendan Krisel In 2008, the United States Geological Survey released the first ever assessment of Arctic Oil and Gas. According to the Survey approximately 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic ft, and 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids may be recovered in the Arctic. These figures represent 13 percent of the

By Tim Reilly With Shell obtaining its drilling license in the North American Arctic, and an increasing number of Asian countries applying for Observer status at the Arctic Council (AC), the shape and governance of the U.S. AC chairmanship is cause for both celebration and caution. Yet despite increased activity and attention being paid to