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Story Publication logo August 19, 2019

A Thawing Arctic Is Heating up a New Cold War

Author:
Canadian soldiers on the ice Sheet near Little Cornwallis Island during a military operation in -57 C weather in Nunavut Canada. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2017.
English

Project

New Cold War

An examination of the ongoing geopolitical transformation of the Arctic along the old Cold War...

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Late on a gray November afternoon Marvin Atqittuq, a newly elected patrol commander in the Arctic community of Gjoa Haven, stood on the frozen sea outside town and called his troops in for a meeting. A frigid wind flicked snow in from the south, and it was about 20 below zero, cold but not that cold for the Arctic. The company of some 20 Inuit men and a few women gathered around with rifles slung over their shoulders, dressed in hand-sewn jackets of caribou hide or pants made of polar bear fur or wearing the usual store-bought stuff, which was far less warm but namuktuk, good enough for now.

Read the full story on National Geographic's website.

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Topic

Environment and Climate Change

Environment and Climate Change

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