What are the major impacts that climate change is having on the Arctic?
Brooks: There are two kinds of impacts from climate change: direct and indirect. Direct impacts include loss of sea ice, release of water from Greenland, more water flowing into the Arctic Ocean from Russian rivers causing thermal changes in the region, etc. There are also many indirect impacts, some of which are starting already and some that are just on the horizon. Many of these are commercial and economic activities that are now taking place due to major Arctic sea ice melt. For example, we are now seeing industrial fishing in places that have always been protected by ice. Icelandic and Norwegian fishing vessels are venturing north of the Svalbard Archipelago for the first time. We’ll likely see an increase in shipping of all kinds, including trans-continental voyages. There are already increases in oil exploration and shipping in the Barents, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas. There’s been an increase in tourist boats, particularly around Greenland. There have been innumerable impacts on
