Different Things are happening at the top and bottom of our world: Antarctica is gaining MORE ice, at the same time that glaciers are melting in the Arctic. What’s causing this strange discrepancy? The wind.

Changing wind patterns around Antarctica have caused a small increase in sea ice, as a result of cold winds off the continent blowing ice away from the coastline.
read more

The Arctic melt that has opened up the Northwest Passage again may be good for business, but it’s bad for potential terrorism against the US.

In the past, the remote gray waters of the Alaskan Arctic saw little more than the occasional cargo barge and Eskimo whaling boat, but that’s changed: There are now so many ships in the area that the Coast Guard can’t keep track of them. They have no idea what these vessels are carrying or who is on them.
read more

For the last 60 years, the Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the Earth, and some Asians business people are taking advantage of this fact. The thawing at the top of the globe gives access to incredible mineral wealth and drastically shorter shipping routes to the Atlantic through the now reopened Northwest Passage.

The Arctic waters not only contain fish, the US Geological Survey estimates that 30% of the world’s undiscovered reserves of natural gas, and 13% of the undiscovered oil, are there–as well as coal, iron, uranium, gold, copper, rare earths and gemstones.
read more