Author: Over the Circle

A look at Arctic news from around the region. 'When the Ice Melts, What Will Happen to Arctic Tourism?' [Cryopolitics] 'High North- Low Tension? Norway, Russia and Securitisation in the Arctic,' [E-International Relations Students] 'IPCC Says Limiting Global Warming to 1.5 °C Will Require Drastic Action,' [Nature] 'The Icelandic Economic Crisis of October 2008 Remembered,'… Continue reading Elsewhere… →

Although evidence of the cumulative effects of climate change, including in the Arctic, has been appearing for decades now, a new study [pdf] by international specialists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), under the aegis of the United Nations World Meteorological Association (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released in Incheon, South Korea, this week… Continue reading A Countdown Appears? A New UN Report Warns of Approaching Climate Change Threats →

A new article (in Finnish) by Marc Lanteigne, editor of the OtC blog, has been published in the online journal Ulkopolitiikka (Foreign Policy) on the subject of China's expanded Arctic diplomacy. Since China became a formal observer in the Arctic Council in 2013, its interests in the far north are being seen in numerous parts… Continue reading New Article: ‘Kiina kurottaa pohjoiseen’ (‘China Reaches the North’) →

This week, the ongoing story about the planned expansion of three airports in Greenland, including the facilities in the capital of Nuuk, saw another twist after the United States Department of Defence (DoD) released a single page statement of intent confirming American interest in potential investment in Greenlandic infrastructure with an eye to improving US and Greenlandic… Continue reading Greenland’s Airport Saga: Enter the US? →

This week, China’s second icebreaker, and the first to be built indigenously, was officially launched at Jiangnan Shipyard [In Chinese] near Shanghai. The vessel expected to be fully ready [In Chinese] for its first mission at some point in 2019, after undergoing field testing and final refurbishing. The Xuelong 2 (雪龙2) or Snow Dragon 2, was built by China State… Continue reading Go for Launch: China’s Second Icebreaker Readied for its First Missions →