#arctic-warming

#arctic-warming

The Northeast Passage was expected to open first due to the Coriolis effect. As the world turns to the east, in the Northern hemisphere, flowing water will veer to the right. Warm, salty Atlantic water flows into the Arctic Ocean through the Barents Sea Opening between Norway and Svalbard, and the Fram Strait between Svalbard and Greenland, then bends right along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia.

Back in 2016 an article in the New York Times referred to Iceland as a mosquito-free island paradise. While nearby countries host mosquito populations during warmer times of the year, one of the going theories was that Iceland's propensity for harsh swings between thawing and freezing helped keep the bloodsuckers from getting a foothold. But that same Times piece warned that this skeeter-free status could be in peril.

High atop the Luossavaara Mountain in northern Sweden, Sami reindeer herder Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen mapped out a bleak future for himself and other Indigenous people whose reindeer have roamed this land for thousands of years. An expanding iron-ore mine and a deposit of rare-earth minerals are fragmenting the land and altering ancient reindeer migration routes. But with the Arctic warming four times faster than the rest of the planet, herders say they need more geographic flexibility, not less, to ensure the animals' survival.