| Summary: | This article was published in Culture and Conflict Review (Earth Day 2011), v.5 no.2 "The Arctic is changing rapidly and unpredictably. At the end of the summer of 2010, the total area of the ice in the Arctic was 1.78 million square miles, down from an average of 2.89 million square miles in the two decades of the last century. Since that period an area of summer ice five times the size of California has vanished, leaving huge expanses of open water all around the Arctic shores. No scientist thought that this would happen so fast: just five years ago ice-free summers in the Arctic were predicted for 2100, now 2030 is seen as probable. […] Everywhere around the Arctic, governments have been busy setting new policies for the High North. One theme unites them all: how to balance the exploitation of natural resources with care for the environment and the rights of Arctic residents, while ensuring the region remains at peace. The questions of how these objectives can be reached, at what forums whose voices should be heard, and who should have responsibility for what, in which regions of the Arctic, are only partially resolved. Governments, policy makers and Arctic residents need to act fast or risk being left behind as the environment changes and new commercial interests rush in to exploit the Arctic's wealth. So far, the only phrase that captures the speed of change in the Arctic, whether it's vanishing ice, thawing permafrost, rising temperatures or the opening of Russian waters to ships and oil exploration is 'faster than predicted'. International action to look after the Arctic must accelerate."
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