Indigenous peoples regularly regard international law as a very important tool for the advancement of their political goals. This is most likely because in many nation-states their opportunities for influencing political development are rather limited. Even though international law seems to be an important means for indigenous peoples to advance their goals, these peoples should be aware of its inherent limitations. One such shortcoming is that international law seriously restricts indigenous peoples' opportunities to participate in the international law-making processes; that is treaty and customary law. The contention in this article is that the recent norm-making method of soft law provides indigenous peoples with a better opportunity for influential participation than is afforded them by traditional methods. If these peoples are to benefit from this opportunity, however, we must appreciate the revolutionary potential of the concept: a potential that is suffocated if the concept is understood only from the perspective of international law. A good example of indigenous peoples gaining a better standing in inter-governmental co-operation is the Arctic Council, which based its work on the soft-law approach from the outset. There would seem to be good prospects for adopting the Arctic Council's approach in other regions of the world in order to improve indigenous peoples' international representational status.

Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Cape Dorset, Nunavut. Located on an island of the same name off the southwestern coast of Baffin Island, the strong Hudson Strait currents prevent extensive ice formation around the community. Nevertheless, sea ice remains an important travel and hunting platform, enabling access to Baffin Island, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Cape Dorset since October, 2003, we present the results of 30 semi-directed interviews, 5 sea ice trips, and 2 focus groups to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, floe edge, and tidal cracks), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, break-up, and cracks/leads), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation, and movement), and current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Cape Dorset that are not captured in regional scale studies of Hudson Bay and/or Hudson Strait. Results have the potential to inform future research efforts on local/regional sea ice monitoring, the relationship between Inuit knowledge, language, and the environment, and addressing community interests through targeted studies.

This paper outlines an emerging post-colonial engagement with Antarctica. Although ‘post-colonialism’ is a term that covers a great diversity of theoretical and political perspectives, it is generally agreed that it is united in its critical evaluation of colonialism and associated practices. Antarctica, thus far, has not attracted a great deal of attention from post-colonial scholars. By drawing on the limited engagement with Antarctica thus far, it is proposed that there are the intellectual resources for a deeper interrogation of polar colonialism and associated practices such as territorial claiming and base construction. The paper is intended to be a starting point for a more sustained and potentially unsettling engagement with post-colonial Antarctic projects.

Aerial reconnaissance and photography were used in the Ross Sea sector of Antarctica to determine the breeding locations of Adelie penguins Pygoscelis adeliae, and to count the numbers of nests occupied during the early incubation period. From 1981 to 1987, all islands and sea coasts between 158°E and 175°E were searched, and 11 previously unreported breeding rookeries were discovered. Thirty-eight Adé1ie rookeries are now known from the region, with a total of about 1,082,000 breeding pairs — almost half the world population. Some rookeries were photographed in all, or most, of the seven seasons to study the pattern of natural fluctuations in Adelie populations, and comparisons have been made with earlier counts. Populations at nearly all rookeries have increased in size over the last 10–20 years. Possible reasons for this, and for annual fluctuations in numbers breeding, include seasonal variations in. sea ice and weather conditions, and longer-term climatic change.

Arctic sea routes have for long been of interest for shipping because of much shorter distances between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Sea ice prevented real development of significant traffic, but did not prevent research from trying to assess their economic viability. With the melting of sea ice in the Arctic, this effort at modeling the profitability of Arctic shipping routes has received a new impetus. However, the conclusions of these studies vary widely, depending on the parameters chosen and their value. What can be said of these models, from 1991 until 2013, and to what extent can a model be drawn, capitalising on twenty years of simulations?

The future is uncertain for Antarctica, with many possibilities – some more plausible, others more preferable. Indeed, the region and its governance regime may be reaching (or may have reached) a crossroads moment as a result of a series of challenges, including the changing Antarctic climate and environment, increasing human activity, shifting values among Antarctic states and a low-cost, somewhat benign governance regime (the Antarctic Treaty System). Within this context there are a number of interdependent drivers that are likely to influence Antarctica's future over, say, 25 years: global environmental and socio-economic developments; Antarctic governance; Antarctic research, including national Antarctic programme operations; and Antarctic tourism. The research presented here involved a thorough examination of Antarctic literature on current Antarctic developments and challenges, and an assessment of global trends. Scenarios were developed through a facilitated workshop process. From these, four future scenarios were developed based on interactions between these drivers. The resulting scenarios provide a dynamic, evolving possibility space to be explored as a means of understanding where Antarctic issues might evolve, depending on the growth or diminishing importance of drivers. In turn these suggest that more structured polar futures are needed based on formal quantitative and qualitative data.

An ice shelf is a floating ice sheet, attached to land where ice is grounded along the coastline. Nourished both by surface snow accumulation and by glaciers and ice sheets flowing off the land, ice shelves can reach a considerable thickness, varying from up to 1 300 m when the ice starts to float to 200 m or less at the seaward edge (known as the ice front). Nearly all the world's ice shelves are found in Antarctica, where they cover an area of about one and a half million square kilometres. The two largest are the Ross Ice Shelf and the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf, each with an area of about half a million square kilometres. Smaller ice shelves fringe other parts of the Antarctic coastline.

Recent analyses of anthropogenic impacts on marine systems have shown that the Ross Sea is the least affected stretch of ocean on Earth, although historical effects were not included in those studies. Herein the literature is reviewed in order to quantify the extent of extraction of biological resources from the Ross Sea continental shelf and slope from the start of the 20th century. There was none before that time. An intense extraction of Weddell seals Leptonychotes weddellii by the expeditions of the ‘heroic’ period and then by New Zealand to feed sled dogs in the 1950–1980s caused the McMurdo Sound population to decrease permanently. Otherwise no other sealing occurred. Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus intermedia were extirpated from waters of the shelf break front during the 1920s, and have not reappeared. Minke whales B. bonaerensis probably expanded into the blue whale vacated habitat, but were then hunted during the 1970–1980s; their population has since recovered. Some minke whales are now taken in ‘scientific whaling’, twice more from the slope compared to the shelf. Other hunted cetaceans never occurred over the shelf and very few ever occurred in slope waters, and therefore their demise from whaling does not apply to the Ross Sea. No industrial fishing occurred in the Ross Sea until the 1996–1997 summer, when a fishery for Antarctic toothfish Dissostichus mawsoni was initiated, especially along the slope. This fishery has grown since then with effects on the ecosystem recently becoming evident. There is probably no other ocean area where the details of biological exploitation can be so elucidated. It appears that the Ross Sea continental shelf remains the least affected of any on the globe. However the same cannot be said of the slope.

Sea ice has been, and continues to be, an integral component of life in the Inuit community of Igloolik, Nunavut. Located on an island of the same name off the northeastern coast of Melville Peninsula, extensive ice formation occurs in Fury and Hecla Strait. This creates an important travel and hunting platform, and enables access to Baffin Island, the mainland, moving ice, hunting and fishing grounds, and nearby communities. With the combined importance, dynamism, and continuous use of this frozen ocean environment, local Inuit elders and hunters have developed a detailed and nuanced understanding of sea ice conditions, freeze/thaw processes, and the influences of winds and currents on ice conditions. Working collaboratively with the community of Igloolik since February 2004, we present the results of 24 semi-directed interviews and 4 sea ice trips to provide a baseline understanding of local freezing processes (near-shore, open water, sea ice thickening, landfast ice, tidal cracks, floe edge, and moving ice), melting processes (snow melt, water accumulation and drainage, and break-up), wind influences on sea ice (wind direction and strength affecting sea ice formation and movement), and, current influences on sea ice (tidal variations and current strength affecting sea ice formation, movement, and polynya size/location). Strong emphasis is placed on Inuktitut terminology and spatial delineations of localised ice conditions and features. Therefore, this paper provides insights into local scale ice conditions and dynamics around Igloolik that are not captured in regional scale studies of Foxe Basin and/or Fury and Hecla Strait. Results have the potential to inform future research efforts on local/regional sea ice monitoring, the relationship between Inuit knowledge, language, and the environment, and addressing community interests through targeted studies.

Temperature and precipitation series from Svalbard for the period 1912–2000 were analysed. There was a statistically significant warming from 1912 to the 1930s, a cooling from the 1930s to the 1960s and a warming from the 1960s to present. There was a positive trend in the annual mean temperature during the period 1912–2000, but it was not statistically significant. Spring was the only season when a statistically significant warming was found. For precipitation, statistically significant positive trends during the period 1912–2000 were found on an annual basis and in all seasons except winter. Empirical downscaling was applied on the results from a global climate model to produce scenarios for monthly temperature and precipitation in Svalbard. The 2 m temperature was applied as predictor for temperature. For precipitation, a combination of temperature and sea-level pressure was used. The temperature scenario indicates a warming of about 1°C per decade in winter, and 0.3°C per decade in summer from 1961 to 2050. The projected increase in annual mean temperature is about five times the average warming rate from 1912 to present, and highly significant. The precipitation scenario also indicates that precipitation will increase significantly until 2050. The maximum increase was projected in spring precipitation; however, the trends in seasonal precipitation are quite uncertain.

This article is an exploration and description of the inter-subjective character of human and non-human relationships. Recent research into animism shows that at present there is emerging a new ontology that breaks down barriers between human beings and animals, culture and nature. This new animism predominantly discusses how human persons relate to the world. The culture of many indigenous groups is animistic meaning that nature is alive and there is a social space for humans and non-humans to interrelate to each other. In this article, an attempt is made to describe in detail how Sami reindeer herders perceive their environment and how the interplay and dialogue with nature is integrated in the overall activities of Sami within this relationship.

A living being co-exists within certain environmental conditions and is dependent on all other beings with which she/he is in relationship. In this sense one can speak about ‘inter-subjectivity’ meaning direct subject-to-subject sharing of presence. It will be shown that the relationship between humans and non-humans is highly context-bound. Furthermore, the relationship between humans and non-humans within the Sami cultural circles is based on the mutual caretaking, respect and conditioning within different groups. For instance, the reindeer give themselves to humans and humans give shelter to them. According to the Sami world view, there are many different kinds of persons, such as humans, animals and spirits. To be a person in an animistic sense is a very flexible way of existence and one has to learn to know what the different personhoods are about. In this context, it is important to understand the role and function of the landscape and certain places and features within the landscape in specific areas. This is because within these places, communication, and what will be referred to as mythic discourse, takes place between humans and non-humans, and this dialogue is known to be of benefit to human beings in their daily lives and activities.

The north coast of Ellesmere Island is the location of the only known ice shelves in the northern hemisphere. Present Arctic ice shelves are as much as 40–50 m thick and occupy sheltered fiords and embayments. These thick floating ice masses are remnants of the once-extensive Ellesmere Ice Shelf that has disintegrated since 1876–1906, when Aldrich and Peary respectively travelled along the coast. Reasons for the disintegration are not clear, but it has created many ice islands that have been known to circulate in the Arctic Ocean for 35 years or more. Both ice islands and ice shelves are readily distinguished from their surroundings by an undulating surface topography of parallel ridges and troughs up to 300 m apart. The undulations probably owe their origin to the effects of wind and meltwater. Since 1952 these large ice masses have been the subject of considerable research. Ice shelf growth began about 4000 BP, when glaciers flowed off the land and remained afloat in fiords and inlets, and sea ice grew thick and remained fast to the coast. The glacier and sea ice acted as platforms for further thickening both by surface accumulation of snow and ice and by undersurface accretion of fresh, brackish and saline ice. Although much has been learned about the growth, structure and behaviour of arctic ice shelves, questions still remain concerning ice island calving mechanisms, bottom freezing, thick sea ice growth and origins of the ridges and troughs.

This article examines current economic practices of the Inuit of Nunavik and the consequences of these practices on social relations. In western societies, recourse to market and increasingly frequent use of money have been identified as major factors related to a decline in household production. These practices are also associated with a reduction of interpersonal dependency and with the emergence of instrumental rationality. In Nunavik, like in many Arctic regions, money and commodities represent an increasing portion of the economic resources of Inuit households. Household production also contributes substantially to their resources. An examination of the Inuit household budget shows a diversity of lifestyles supported by various economic activities and strategies that aim at satisfying material needs of family members. These strategies demonstrate that Inuit are economically rational and make use of monetary calculation. This rationality does not influence all economic behaviours, which are also motivated by traditional values and customary obligations. However, the emergence of diversity in lifestyles indicates the existence of a greater margin of self-determination for individuals.

Prince Gustav Ice Shelf, situated between James Ross Island and Trinity Peninsula at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, West Antarctica, has retreated rapidly between 1989 and 1995. This paper re-examines historical accounts of the area and plots the position of the ice shelf at various times, from 1843 onwards. These results show that an episode of rapid retreat between 1957 and 1959 preceded the recent rapid retreat, and that the ice shelf has been retreating for most of the period since 1843. The mechanisms underlying the two periods of rapid retreat are considered.

Most of the world's tropical and sub-tropical oceanic islands were settled by man, and their floras and faunas modified by his activities, some centuries before the development of any scientific interest in them. The original vegetation and fauna of islands like Ascension, the Azores, Bermuda, St Helena or Mauritius cannot now be described with any degree of certainty, while the native communities of many others have been markedly changed. Consequently the few remaining undisturbed oceanic islands are of great scientific importance, and many of these lie in the southern temperate and sub-Antarctic zones.

The study of marine life from the bottom of Arctic and sub-Arctic seas has long been a topic of scientific interest, and such work represents an important part of contemporary biological research in the polar regions. Contributions to this field have been made through the collective efforts of investigators from many nations over the years and include findings of considerable significance for life science studies as a whole, as well as for specific polar problems. Together with contemporary research on the pelagic and planktonic biota of northern waters, current work on the bottom fauna (benthos) offers much potential for developing our fundamental knowledge of biological processes in the Arctic seas.

During the thirty years since the Amery Ice Shelf was first sighted there has been a steady accumulation of information, first on the ice shelf itself and later on the interesting mountains and glacier systems which lie to its south. The ice shelf occupies the head of a large embayment consisting of Prydz Bay and Mackenzie Bay, which deeply indents the coastline of the Antarctic mainland near the borders of MacRobertson Land and Princess Elizabeth Land. An associated valley runs south from the bay, between the Prince Charles Mountains and the Mawson Escarpment, and it is occupied by one of the world's largest valley glaciers, the Lambert Glacier. (In fact, recent findings by Soviet parties suggest that the Lambert Glacier is considerably longer than the Beardmore Glacier.) The exploration, survey and subsequent mapping of the ice shelf, and the mountains and glaciers of its hinterland, by Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions in recent years has been a major contribution to Antarctic geography.

Creative remediation schemes have been implemented with success at petroleum-contaminated sites in Alaska and Canada during the past decade. Contaminated media have been landfarmed, amended with fertilizers, augmented with microbial products, and manipulated with engineered systems. Phytoremediation developments and use of biodegradable synthetic and polymeric resins for potential use with petroleum and xenobiotic contaminants are on the horizon. Treatment of supra-permafrost water and melt-water runoff with permeable reactive barriers and partitioning bioreactors is now possible. Cost and time limitations will likely continue to drive remediation decisions in the Arctic. Environmental policy, environmental constraints, and cost will dictate what technologies are appropriate for Antarctic clean-up, although the pressure of time is less acute because land transfer and liability are not drivers. This paper discusses some recent advances in remediation engineering for use in polar regions. Conceptual models are presented, and case study treatment costs and durations are highlighted to aid environmental decision-making.

McMurdo Sound is well known as an area comparatively free from fast ice during the middle and late summer. Although closed to its discoverer in February 1841 by contrary winds, pack ice and new ice (Ross, 1847), the sound provided easy access to high latitudes in January and February on at least ten occasions between 1902 and 1916. Since 1955, icebreakers have assisted shipping movements in November and December, and possibly helped in dispersing the winter fast ice by cutting wide channels from Cape Bird southward. However, northerly swells and south-easterly gales are sufficient in most years to disperse fast ice from the southern end of the sound by mid or late February (Heine, 1963).