In less than 50 years from now, the north-west passage through the Arctic should be open to suitable vessels for a short time every other year, scientists have calculated.
The gifts you’ve already been given in 2012 include a struggle over the fate of the earth. This is probably not what you asked for, and I wish it were otherwise—but to do good work, to be necessary, to have something to give: These are the true gifts.
Melting ice caps are the canaries in the coal mines for the probable and impending global climate catastrophe. Arctic ice sheets endured record-breaking melt this summer with the annual thaw of the region’s floating ice reaching the lowest level since satellite monitoring began more than 30 years ago.