So far, yet so near...

We often imagine the Arctic and Antarctic as ethereal paradises of snow and ice, dotted with polar bears and gleaming seals, but remote from our daily lives — we could not be more wrong. As scientists alert us, the Polar regions are the foremost harbingers of climate change, both suffering it intensely and bringing this home to you and me. As the Norsk Polar Institute describes, the Earth’s axis is tilted towards the sun in such a manner, much less solar energy reaches the Poles. These areas are thus covered with ice, huge white expanses which, via the albedo effect, reflect sunlight back into space, keeping both these regions — and the planet — cool.
Yet, today, the Arctic and Antarctic are warming three times as fast as the global average. As we continue to recklessly emit greenhouse gases — the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finds carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions hit a record high of 37.4 billion tonnes in 2023 — Earth’s atmosphere warms. This is making polar ice melt — NASA finds summer Arctic ice thawing at 12.2% per decade — thereby creating dark surfaces on land and water which absorb sunlight and further increase heating. Since the 1970s, the Southern Ocean has absorbed 75% of the excess heat created by humans. This isn’t lying dormant — it is warming Arctic winds, creating a feedback loop where more ice melts — the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates the oldest, thickest ice in the Arctic has reduced by 95% — with more heat absorbed and added to the system.
All this, gentle reader, will travel back to its source — humans. As polar ice melts, the seas will rise. Over the last century, the global average sea level has risen by upto eight inches. With Arctic ice thawing, Scripps Institution of Oceanography experts posit by 2100, the seas could rise even by 23 feet — this will submerge coastal cities and small island nations, destroy farming and bear untold diseases. However, there are solutions still. As Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise, understanding how interconnected ecology and existence are is key — we can no longer afford to repose in regal ignorance, thinking of the Arctic and Antarctic as snowy fairy tales when they are, in fact, powerfully linked to our existence. These are not passive paradises to be relentlessly exploited — the Polar regions, held in awe by their indigenous communities, are icy entities capable of breathing fire upon us. It is only by learning this that we will ever meaningfully limit planetwrecking fossil fuels. Join Times Evoke in exploring the Arctic and Antarctic — and feel a cool dimension to your life.