The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of February 1, 2021
Indigenous Communities in Northern Territories Leading Canadian COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
On January 31, Reuters reported that the northern Nunavut, Yukon and Northwest Territories have achieved much higher COVID-19 vaccination rates than other more populous provinces in Canada. The vaccination of almost 17 percent of these predominantly Indigenous areas compared to a country-wide average of two percent comes on the back of a federal government initiative to prioritise the vaccination of First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. This was facilitated with a dual outreach initiative to both reduce vaccine hesitancy and increase dose-shipments to the geographically remote provinces. Even as Canada deals with vaccination shortages, all three Arctic territories are still on track to be at least 75% vaccinated by April, compared to the September target set for the rest of the country. (CBC.ca, Reuters)
Take 1: The multitude of challenges posed by COVID-19 are only amplified by the long-standing inequalities that exist to this day in Canada. Understanding both the specific colonial histories and contemporary priorities of Indigenous communities across the Arctic and beyond is essential for addressing this current global pandemic. For many Indigenous Peoples, COVID represents the latest in a series of devastating infectious diseases threatening cultural as well as physical wellbeing since initial European contact. Systemic health, racial and social disparities continue to leave Indigenous Peoples especially vulnerable to the disease. This also poses challenges unique to vaccine distribution, with the often geographical remoteness of the Arctic communities compounded by high rates of vaccine hesitancy and institutional mistrust caused by a legacy of medical neglect. In the face of these factors, the unprecedented resilience of these communities has been a welcome victory, with some applauding what has been described as a step towards reconciliation. The remarkable initial low impact of the disease is largely the result of community-led prevention strategies. The Canadian government only provided dedicated funding after the declaration of a national state of emergency by the Assembly of First Nations. The success of tackling COVID-19 in these communities therefore needs to be clearly articulated as the result of Indigenous innovation and authority as well as external assistance. In addition to spotlighting the existing disparities in both healthcare and beyond, the COVID pandemic highlights the necessary potential of Indigenous sovereignty for dismantling them. (Arctic Council, Canadian Journal of Public Health, CTV News, The Week)
Siberian ‘Zombie Fires’ Burning Despite Below Freezing Temperatures
On the 27th of January, The Siberian Times reported wildfires had been sighted by locals in the Yakutia region of Northern Siberia. Multiple video recordings show active plumes of smoke despite the -60 degrees fahrenheit temperatures. After a year of record-setting wildfires in the region, the fires are thought to be an example of smouldering peat fires, also known as ‘overwintering’ or ‘zombie fires’ due to their tendency to smoulder underground over the winter before resurfacing and reigniting. (The Moscow Times, The Siberian Times)
Take 2: As a consequence of climate change, wildfires are increasing in frequency, seasonality, scale, and intensity; and in a self-compounding cycle, megafires further enabling these conditions. According to the EU Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by Arctic wildfires just during the summer of 2020 was already 35% higher at 244 megatonnes than the emission-record already set by the entirety of 2019. Scientists speculate these records are a partial result of the shift towards ‘zombie fires.’ As opposed to the typical canopy-fires that characterise stable Arctic fire regimes, smouldering surface fires can not only cause an earlier and more northerly start to wildfire seasons, but burn previously fire-resistant carbon-rich ancient peatlands and accelerate permafrost melt. In the past these fires have not been extensively studied, and researchers relied on satellite detection which remains mere speculation without on-the-ground confirmation. As CAMS has called for, the new video footage therefore offers critical physical evidence for scientists to confirm a changing Arctic fire regime that has the potential to both destabilise local infrastructure and increase global greenhouse gas emissions. (BBC, Copernicus, EOS.org, Nature, The Moscow Times, Washington Post, WWF)
Reason for ‘Dark Zone’ Expansion on Melting Greenland Ice Sheet Revealed
Attracting attention by science communication websites this week, research from a team at the University of Leeds published on January 25th in the journal Nature Communications has identified wind-blown mineral dust as the driver of increasingly large algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Using ice-samples, the scientists determined phosphorus as the primary nutrient for the algae causing the large stretch of dark-gray glacial pigmentation also known as the ‘dark zone.’ With the cause in the growth in these blooms since the start of the 21st century until now unknown, the team showed that intensified local dust-transport is caused by increased atmospheric temperatures causing the dry-out of mineral-rich rocks and exposing them to stronger winds. (EcoWatch, EurekAlert!, Livescience, Nature communications)
Take 3: The release of this research coincides with a study urgently suggesting that the Greenland ice sheet, the second largest in the world, will likely start losing more mass than it gains every year already by 2055. However, this study is significant in elucidating the mechanisms of this permanent retreat. Ice sheet darkening caused by algal blooms is not just a mere visual indicator of climate change, but a concerning cause of up to 13% of surface melt. Glacial darkening reduces albedo (the amount of sunlight reflected back to space), and instead causes increased ice sheet heat absorption. With the increase in this ‘dark zone’ a former mystery not considered in climate models, this study is a breakthrough in our understanding of how biophysical processes can compound rising temperatures, enabling more accurate predictions of future ice sheet melt and sea-level rise. (ScienceDaily, The Barents Observer, The Guardian)
Confirmation of Japan-Russia Cooperation over Northern Sea Route
As reported in the Moscow Times on the 26th of January, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti has announced that following a Japanese draft proposal, Russia has agreed to develop a road-map for increased commercial and economic cooperation in the Russian Far East and the Arctic. Central to the discussion is Japan taking a more “active part in the development” of Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR) project through industrial activities including fish processing, and port and transport infrastructure. With Japanese companies already transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) through the NSR, the launching of a regular container service is also considered. (Arctic.ru, The Moscow Times)
Take 4: As sea-ice continues to rapidly retreat in the Arctic due to the multifaceted effects of temperature rises, it also opens up new economic opportunities in the form of previously inaccessible transoceanic trade routes. Among these, the NSR is touted as a 40% faster alternative to traditional sea routes between Europe and Asia. Although the maritime route has attracted major interest among foreign shipping companies, desirability has nevertheless been limited by uncertainty. Winter transits were deemed technically and economically infeasible due to thick sea-ice only a decade ago.However, the current groundbreaking LNG shipments by nuclear ice-breakers promise the advent of year-round shipping. Japan’s rapid response indeed suggests that this has now been deemed realistic. Even as several European and American companies have pledged not to exploit this route out of concern for the environmental impact that increased shipping would have on the Arctic’s fragile ecosystem, it seems that other non-Arctic states such as China, Saudi Arabia, India, and South Korea who have made no such promises will now not hesitate to follow Japan’s lead and capitalise off this frontier of opportunity. (The Barents Observer, The Diplomat, The Diplomat, The Moscow Times).
Lukewarm Response to Recommendation to Invite Russia back to Arctic Security Forums
According to High North News, a September report on conflict and cooperation by the Newport Arctic Scholars Initiative came into the spotlight on February 3rd when the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs refused to comment on the recommendation of reinstating the Arctic Chiefs of Defense Forum and Arctic Security Forces Roundtable with the explicit invitation of Russia. The report, sponsored by U.S Naval War College (NWC), looked at measures to mitigate security challenges in the Arctic through increased dialogue. When asked about the conclusions of the report during the ongoing Arctic Frontiers Conference in Tromsø, Norway, the Foreign Minister redirected to the Ministry of Defence and referred to the success of other forms of Russian non-military cooperation. (High North News)
Take 5: As sea-ice retreats providing new pathways for economic activity, security has become a dominant feature of the Arctic (and indeed global) political agenda for some time. There is a dilemma to this dialogue, defined by alarmist discourse of militarisation and resource wars despite the mandate of dominant Arctic governance structures to exclude military security. Although the Norwegian Foreign Minister’s comment may seem off-hand, it speaks to how Arctic stakeholders such as the U.S and Russia publically refer to a peaceful era of cooperation while covertly asserting themselves against “increasingly aggressive foreign intentions” by forging partnerships with allies and actively matching military presence. For instance, as recently as September of 2020, ministers from the Nordic countries came to an agreement to strengthen defense cooperation at the Russian border. At the same time, Russia is excluded from Arctic security forums such as the Arctic Security Forces Roundtable as a result of Western sanctions. The latest development therefore draws critical attention to the irony of heightened Arctic securitisation as a self-perpetuating double-bind of authority display and dialogue avoidance. On a larger scale, this suggests that insistence of international Arctic diplomatic structures to avoid confrontation are self-defeating in the face of the tensions caused by climate change, and that furthermore, the acceptance of a firm security framework in the Arctic will not happen eagerly. (High North News)