Rapid warming and extreme temperatures in the Arctic is leading to unprecedented seasonal sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and increasing ocean temperatures. Cascading from these biophysical changes are cultural, socioeconomic and political consequences that are widespread and largely unprecedented in human history. Changes in sea ice create safety hazards for Indigenous Peoples and northerners who rely on frozen seas and rivers for transportation between remote communities and to subsistence hunting areas. Thawing permafrost, especially that of ice-rich permafrost, creates challenges and costs for a region with low population density and a small tax base to support major infrastructure investments. Warmer ocean temperatures induce large-scale distributional shifts and reduced productivity and access to the largest North American fisheries. Ice-associated marine mammals, such as polar bears, seals and walruses, have declined precipitously with decreasing sea ice in the Bering Sea, and widespread ecosystem changes from fish through birds and marine mammal species have altered the system with uncertain outcomes for these productive ice-driven ecosystems. Newly ice-free shipping routes are increasing regional and geopolitical tensions and may facilitate novel threats like the spread of invasive species and safety hazards to local hunters and fishers. The local and regional impacts of climate change in the North American Arctic are profound and span social, cultural, health, economic and political imperatives.
IPCC
Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability
IPCC Report