The Arctic region is rapidly changing as a result of climate alteration, political tensions and ambitions of the Arctic and non-Arctic states. Is the existing governance considered to be adequate for effective international security cooperation in the region? On the one hand, we look optimistic at the evolution of international relations in the areas of science and technology, conservation, search and rescue coordination, tourism, etc. On the other hand, there is a significantly increased militarisation of the Arctic region. The recent rise in military activities in the North has resulted in numerous regional deployments, patrols and other incidents in the maritime Arctic. In general, militarisation together with climate change are impacting scientific-commercial activities. Also, the absence of an adequate legal regime that may respond to climate change and interruption of civil activities by military exercises in a fast and effective way hampers international cooperation. This paper problematises various aspects of interaction between scientific-commercial activities and naval operations in the Arctic region.

Kuhnian’ paradigms are a commonly used method of explaining the structure of knowledge production within the social sciences; however, in some ways, they are also in opposition with Popperian’ critical thinking. The opposing approaches surmount to a comparative analytic method – Kuhn advocates undertaking science that is incommensurable, discipline-specific and ideologically and metaphysically fixed in nature; whilst Popper advocates science that is pluralistic, rebellious, interdisciplinary, and ideologically and metaphysically adaptable. This article utilises a systematic literature review of key peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and online articles from respected sources relating to Arctic scientific cooperation during and since the Cold War in order to provide a qualitative data source for comparative theoretical analysis. This article analyses key trends in Arctic environmental decision-making since the Cold War utilising a comparative critical constructivist framework based on epistemological challenges visible in the “Science Wars” between Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. By applying two of the foundations of social science (critical thinking and paradigms) to Arctic International Relations and Geopolitics, this article assesses the state of Arctic science cooperation and; the potential for Arctic science cooperation to solve wicked environmental problems. The article concludes that there are power relationships within the epistemological background to environmental decision-making which impacts science cooperation in the Arctic and; current trends in Arctic decision-making further propels the Arctic along a trajectory of environmental degradation.

On 25 June 2021, a historic fisheries Agreement entered into force: The Agreement to Prevent Unregulated High Seas Fisheries in the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO). Nine countries and the European Union agreed to refrain from any commercial fishing in the CAO and to jointly undertake a scientific effort to understand ecosystem dynamics, including fish populations. This was the first multilateral Agreement to take a legally binding, precautionary approach to protect an area from commercial fishing before fishing had begun. The Agreement is a textbook example of the precautionary principle as it works to take “preventive action in the face of uncertainty.” However, despite the precautionary principle’s popularity with natural resource academics, it is rare for countries to forego economic benefits and to adopt this approach in managing resources. So, what made this Agreement possible? And what can we learn from this Agreement that could provide guidance on other resource management challenges? This paper explores the unique conditions that made this Agreement possible and examines how success was achieved by the interrelationships of science, policy, legal structures, politics, stakeholder collaboration, and diplomacy. In summary, this paper concludes that a series of factors helped make this Agreement possible, including but not limited to: scientific breakthroughs coupled with science-based legal frameworks; proactive partnerships between industry, environmental non-profits, and government; willingness of international stakeholders to learn from prior mistakes; and a nation willing to be the first-mover in foregoing future economic profits within their own Exclusive Economic Zone to order to benefit ecosystems beyond their waters.

Two factors historically played a decisive role in the West Nordic region’s affairs: its strategic location and small societies’ long struggle for independence. The current power balance shift challenges the progress of Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland towards strengthening their independence and sovereignty. The research suggests a theoretical contemplation of the West Nordic region’s shifting practices of sovereignty in current affairs with Russia and China amid the US’ patronage. Drawing on the model of Patron-Client relations, the article considers the US as a patron state for the West Nordic region, whereas Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland are discussed as clients. The Kingdom of Denmark is regarded as a junior patron due to its intermediate position in relations with the US on the one hand and the Faroe Islands and Greenland on the other. Russia and China are addressed as patron adversaries. The research enquires as to whether any of the two US opponents advertise themselves as alternative patrons for the West Nordic region and what explains the weak or alarmist US reactions to Russia and China initiatives in the region. Special focus is on the comparison of the three great powers’ behaviour in the region. Major findings raise the discussion of customisation of sovereignty and its consequences for future relations in the West Nordic and globally.

In this commentary, I investigate the Poles differently, and in situ, rather than only as stereotypically barren uninhabited expansive places on a globe or maps. The human stories are behind the relatively white space on which few place names are marked. But the more visible ones are made and told through a male-dominated, colonial narrator and mapmaker, until more recently. Cartography, like history, has overwhelmingly documented men’s worlds, stories, dominations and accomplishments, creating a virtual whiteout of women’s and notably Indigenous women’s stories also in polar regions. In this commentary, I report on a journey into (re)mapmaking I did of women’s stories told through female place names and toponymies of women especially in the Antarctic, through a crowd-sourced project, Mapping Antarctic Women. I explore not only mapping female place names and women’s stories in the Arctic, exploring gendered, colonial and western culture mapping but also newer digital Indigenous place name mapping and also mapping of human-exacerbated changes in the ice that makes the Antarctic map.

Northeast Arctic cod, saithe and haddock are among the most important fisheries resources in Europe, largely shipped to various continental markets. The present study aimed to map the presence and distribution of larvae of parasitic nematodes in the Anisakidae family which are of socioeconomic and public health concern. Fishes were sourced from commercial catches during winter or spring in the southern Barents Sea. Samples of fish were inspected for nematodes using the UV-press method while anisakid species identification relied on sequencing of the mtDNA cox2 gene. Anisakis simplex (s.s.) was the most prevalent and abundant anisakid recorded, occurring at high infection levels in the viscera and flesh of cod and saithe, while being less abundant in haddock. Contracaecum osculatum (s.l.) larvae, not found in the fish flesh, showed moderate-to-high prevalence in saithe, haddock and cod, respectively. Most Pseudoterranova spp. larvae occurred at low-to-moderate prevalence, and low abundance, in the viscera (Pseudoterranova bulbosa) and flesh (Pseudoterranova decipiens (s.s.) and Pseudoterranova krabbei) of cod, only 2 P. decipiens (s.s.) appeared in the flesh of saithe. Body length was the single most important host-related factor to predict overall abundance of anisakid larvae in the fish species. The spatial distribution of Anisakis larvae in the fish flesh showed much higher abundances in the belly flaps than in the dorsal fillet parts. Trimming of the flesh by removing the belly flaps would reduce larval presence in the fillets of these gadid fish species by 86–91%.

This article examines China’s Polar Silk Road (PSR) and its legal implications for the future governance of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). It first discusses China’s economic and geopolitical interests in the so-called Polar Silk Road. The article then focuses on comparing Russian regulation of the NSR and Chinese regulation of foreign vessels as a coastal state. Both China and Russia are contracting parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The comparison of domestic legislations aims to provide a detailed analysis on convergence and divergence of their implementation and enforcement of the UNCLOS on issues related to freedom of navigation, especially when it comes to foreign vessels, including military vessels, within national jurisdiction. The comparative study, therefore, helps determine to what extent China could vocally shape the development the NSR regulations in an era of climate change.

Reliable access to Arctic research infrastructure is critical to the future of polar science. In cultivating proposals, it is essential that researchers have a deep understanding of existing platforms when selecting the appropriate research site and experimental design for projects. However, Arctic infrastructure platforms are often funded as national assets, and choices for what would be the best platform for the project are sometimes at odds with a researcher’s ability to gain access. Researchers from Arctic and non-Arctic nations are poised to benefit from reducing barriers and increasing cooperation around transnational access to Arctic infrastructure, allowing scientists to successfully execute the research that is most needed rather than what is just logistically feasible. This commentary provides a summary of findings from a workshop held at the 2021 Arctic Science Summit Week to discuss navigating “transnational” or “cross-border” access to national research infrastructure. This workshop brought together users and operators of Arctic infrastructure platforms with the three goals of identifying challenges, best practices, and possible next steps for improved collaboration.

Supplemental food from anthropogenic sources is a source of conflict with humans for many wildlife species. Food-seeking behaviours by black bears Ursus americanus and brown bears Ursus arctos can lead to property damage, human injury and mortality of the offending bears. Such conflicts are a well-known conservation management issue wherever people live in bear habitats. In contrast, the use of anthropogenic foods by the polar bear Ursus maritimus is less common historically but is a growing conservation and management issue across the Arctic. Here we present six case studies that illustrate how negative food-related interactions between humans and polar bears can become either chronic or ephemeral and unpredictable. Our examination suggests that attractants are an increasing problem, exacerbated by climate change-driven sea-ice losses that cause increased use of terrestrial habitats by bears. Growing human populations and increased human visitation increase the likelihood of human–polar bear conflict. Efforts to reduce food conditioning in polar bears include attractant management, proactive planning and adequate resources for northern communities to reduce conflicts and improve human safety. Permanent removal of unsecured sources of nutrition, to reduce food conditioning, should begin immediately at the local level as this will help to reduce polar bear mortality.

The article analyses the experience of international scientific cooperation in the Arctic in organising and conducting an academic Swedish–Russian Arc-of-Meridian expedition to the Spitsbergen archipelago in 1898–1901. This was one of the largest projects of its kind in history. The military and naval government agencies of the two countries were extremely interested in measuring the meridian arc near the Geographic North Pole. The fulfilment of this task made it possible to more accurately determine the shape of the Earth as a geoid. This was the significant and fundamental result of testing the hypothesis of the Newton–Huygens spheroid and was of applied importance. Funding for the expeditionary activities was carried out on a parity basis from the budgets of the two nations. The study of archival documents from the collections of the Russian Academy of Sciences Archives enabled an understanding of the unprecedented financial and physical costs of preparing and carrying out expeditionary work. Analysing inter-academic research of the late nineteenth – early twentieth centuries is valuable for understanding the potential interactions between the government and academic structures of international scientific cooperation in the Arctic during the modern era.

When Sir John Franklin’s expedition ships, lost since 1845, were found in the Arctic in 2014 and 2016, respectively, they were referred to several times in the media as ghost ships. However, such a comparison is not new. In 1862, an article linking the disappearance of the Franklin expedition to that of a ghost ship in Antarctic waters appeared in a newly founded German geographic journal aimed at a general audience. The story of the ghost ship Jenny in the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica would probably have been long forgotten had it not appeared again in this journal in English translation a century later. Since then, the story has appeared again and again in publications about mysterious phenomena, without succeeding in answering the question of whether such a ship ever existed at all. Instead of continuing to look for evidence of the actual existence of the ship, the following article not only presents the sources of the 1862 journal article but also examines how the story itself might have originated. In addition to a well-known legend about a ghost ship in the Arctic waters of Greenland, which will also be analysed in greater detail, oral tales and tradition about two almost forgotten voyages into Antarctic waters and a well-known one have probably also been incorporated into the tale of the ghost ship Jenny. All translations from German are by the author.

Topographic diffusivity is an often-used metric of regolith mobility. It accounts for the collective effects of climate, substrate, fauna, flora, and other factors on hillslope degradation and is used to model natural lowering in landscapes. The present study assesses where temporal variations in diffusivity derived from known past climate fluctuations have occurred. We also determine where significant differences might result when modeling landscape degradation if a long-term constant diffusivity is applied instead of diffusivity that varies through time. A space-for-time substitution approach was implemented. Through use of a transfer function that correlates current diffusivities with air temperatures, we mapped the relative diffusivities globally at a 500 yr temporal resolution for 21 ka. The analyses spanned all land areas from the tropics to the poles with a spatial resolution of 3.70° latitude by 3.75° longitude using paleo-temperature data from the TraCE-21ka global paleoclimate model. The results show Arctic and subarctic regions with the highest relative maximum diffusivities and largest variance from current values. The results suggest strong surficial dynamics in the Arctic and subarctic regions driven by local and spatially transient deglaciation and long-term stability in the tropics that correlates with relatively stable climate there through the past 21 ka.

The Russian Arctic regions have a significant geographical, historical, and economic connection with the Northern Sea Route (NSR); the successful implementation of Russia’s geo-political and geo-economic strategies in the Arctic is mainly dependent upon the socio-economic situation in these regions. Population migration is a determinant of the current and future labour potential of the supporting regions; compared to natural growth, it has been a key driver of population and an indicator of the quality of human resources. The research herein considered the factors and impacts of migration on the quality of human resources in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF). Russian population census data for 2002 and 2010, and statistical materials were analysed by age and migrant education to characterise the quality of human resources. To identify the causes of migration, the quantitative data analyses were supplemented with results from sociological studies and expert assessments. An index methodology was used to compare the quality of life and human capital development of the Arctic regions. Accordingly, most of the analysed Arctic regions showed high indicators of human development, which were higher than the national average in education, but significantly lower in longevity. Further, most of the Arctic regions occupied lower positions in Russian regional quality of life. It was concluded that the AZRF regions hold high quality of human capital; however, since high-quality living conditions are lacking, they serve as donors of human capital to other parts of the country. These regions would require external labour resources in the near future due to the planned large-scale projects for the development of the NSR, concurrent reduction and ageing of labour resources, and demand changes in the labour market. The government’s socio-economic policies would determine the scale, dynamics, and direction of migration, as well as their impact on the demographics and labour potential of the supporting regions of the NSR.