The Arctic to Become Ice-free by 2027, New Research Warns | Vantage with Palki Sharma

now let's talk about the Arctic the northernmost region of the earth home to Polar Bear seals and walruses it is a unique habitat and it covers a vast area about 16 million square kilm every year the Arctic Witnesses a seasonal event winter comes and layers of Frozen sea water build up this forms a thick ice cap it peaks in March about 3 months later summer comes and the ice begins to melt finally by September it is gone now this is a natural process and it has been this way for thousands of years but in recent

decades this event has changed dramatically thanks to climate change it is warming the world including the Arctic its sea ice is declining by more than 12% every decade that's about 80,000 Square km of ice roughly the same size as Austria or the Czech Republic that's how much ice the Arctic is losing every decade so this White Wonderland is quickly turning blue in fact this ominous Milestone is coming sooner than expected an alarming new report is out it says that the Arctic will have its first ice free day in 2027 this is unprecedented when winter comes

some ice will return but this pattern wouldn't continue for long within the next two decades the Arctic will be completely ice free and the world will witness the demise of this frigid pole scientists say this is inevitable so what does it mean for us an ice free Arctic what does it mean to answer this let's first understand the climate emergency here the Sun never sets in the Arctic during summer it is constantly heating the region but the ice reflects the sunlight into space and it acts as a the great heat shield for the planet but

this ice is depleting 90% of the old Arctic Ice is gone what we have today what we have now is ice that is five or more years old plus new ice is declining every year in its place there is more ocean and ocean does not reflect sunlight it absorbs and it creates a vicious spiral of heating less ice means more Heating and more ice melting this is speeding up global warming and it is it is warming the Arctic even faster about four times faster than the rest of the world this means more climate disasters a

fragile ecosystem Vanishing habitat and Brewing geopolitical tension today if we were to ask you which regions pose the biggest foreign policy challenges you may say China or Russia but believe it or not soon it will be the Arctic look at the eight Arctic IC States they're part of the Arctic Council they have long collaborated on scientific research but after the war in Ukraine their meetings have reduced cooperation with Russia has taken a hit and this has hampered progress on the Arctic emergency it has turbocharged militarization in the region Russia represents 53% of the Arctic Coastline

all the other Arctic states are part of NATO the North Atlantic Treaty Organization so it's Russia plus NATO here and all of these countries have Arctic Ambitions as the ice melts NATO borders are expanding and Moscow fears encirclement this could lead to Future conflict so nations are jockeying for political influence here and economic position as well that's the other dimension you see international waters do not just have do not have any jurisdiction it's like first come first serve and everyone wants in not only the Arctic Nations even countries like India and China as the ice

melts new roots are opening up these new routs are cutting down travel time for ships they're connecting East Asia to Europe and North America plus this Arctic region is rich in oil gas and minerals so more accessibility will lead to more commercial exploitation long story short a melting Arctic is not one issue it it affects every facet of life scientists say we can delay it if we if we cut carbon emissions dramatically that is a small window of Hope but let's face it it is unlikely to happen because when politicians look through that window they

see more Arctic Treasure more power more money they rarely see a planet in crisis for