The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of 17 November, 2025

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US Finalizes ICE Pact Agreement 

The Hill reported on November 18 that US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem signed an agreement with Canada and Finland under the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort (ICE Pact) to build 11 new icebreakers over the coming years. Noem stated the partnership aims to secure the Arctic’s strategic position and natural resources, warning that adversaries are racing to claim the region. American workers will receive training from Canada and Finland on icebreaker construction, with a recently purchased Texas shipyard designated for future US production. (The Hill)

Take 1: This ICE Pact implementation marks critical progress after the July 2024 announcement produced no tangible results for over a year. The agreement to actually build 11 icebreakers addresses America’s severe Arctic capability gap – the US currently operates only two aging icebreakers compared to Russia’s roughly 40, including nuclear-powered vessels and newly deployed combat icebreakers. The US dependence on Finnish expertise and Canadian training exposes America’s lack of polar shipbuilding capacity, but the Texas shipyard purchase and workforce training program recognize that an Arctic presence requires domestic production rather than continued foreign reliance. This operationalization also reflects resolution of Jones Act complications – legislation prioritizing domestic maritime businesses that historically prevented foreign collaboration in icebreaker construction. A 2021 congressional report confirmed the Jones Act doesn’t apply to icebreakers, allowing presidential authorization for foreign construction that previous administrations avoided pursuing. The emphasis on preventing adversaries from claiming Arctic resources reflects mounting alarm about Russian and Chinese expansion into the Arctic. For Arctic security, this trilateral model demonstrates how Western allies can pool expertise to address individual capability shortfalls. (Reuters, The Wilson Center)

Growing Homelessness Crisis in Greenland

High North News reported on November 17 that new statistics show approximately 1 percent of Greenland’s 56,000 inhabitants are homeless. Professor Steven Arnfjord from the University of Greenland stated that the consolidation of 18 municipalities into four has contributed to the problem. Greenland currently has no guaranteed shelter rights, with emergency shelters available only in select towns and no facilities for individuals with active substance abuse problems. (High North News)

Take 2: Greenland’s homelessness crisis reveals how rapid Arctic urbanization dismantles traditional social structures without creating adequate alternatives. The municipal consolidation pushed many Greenlanders toward urban centers where housing shortages create impossible situations with Nuuk having a 7.5-year waiting list for rental properties while lacking any guaranteed shelter rights or services for those with substance abuse problems. This reflects broader Arctic patterns where centralization policies force Indigenous populations into expensive cities where homelessness becomes likely while eliminating opportunities in smaller communities. The disproportionate impact on Indigenous populations across Alaska, Canada, and Greenland suggests systemic failures in how Arctic development affects traditional communities. Alaska’s 40.8 percent homelessness increase demonstrates this isn’t unique to Greenland but represents systematic failures across Arctic regions. The crisis is compounded by Arctic-specific challenges that make housing solutions extraordinarily expensive – construction costs in remote communities, energy expenses in areas off major grids, and climate change causing infrastructure damage through permafrost thaw and flooding are significant expenses. (Alaska Beacon, Anchorage Daily News, Arctic Today)

Russia Asserts Rights in Svalbard

The Barents Observer reported on November 18 that Yuri Trutnev, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Arctic envoy, chaired a meeting of the Governmental Commission on Svalbard, where he emphasized the importance that Russia not lose any rights acquired under the Svalbard Treaty. Trutnev praised state company Arktikugol for opposing Norwegian authorities and noted over 900 million rubles have been allocated from the federal budget to support the company. Trutnev also stated that Russia “remains open for international cooperation” in the Arctic. (The Barents Observer)

Take 3: Russia’s assertion of its rights in Svalbard exposes fundamental challenges in Arctic governance when international treaties grant equal access to nations with conflicting interests. Trutnev’s emphasis on opposing Norwegian authority while claiming treaty protections reveals Russia’s strategy of exploiting international agreements to maintain strategic Arctic presence. The willingness to commit substantial federal funding to Arktikugol demonstrates that Russia’s Svalbard settlements serve geopolitical rather than purely economic purposes. Arktikugol plans to reduce coal production in Barentsburg from 120,000 to 40,000 tonnes by 2032, shifting focus toward tourism and scientific cooperation with BRICS nations. This transition suggests Russia is repositioning its Svalbard presence for long-term influence rather than solely resource extraction. The Svalbard Treaty’s open access provisions create impossible situations where Norway must accommodate Russian activities despite broader geopolitical tensions. Russia’s stated commitment to international cooperation while waging war in Ukraine and opposing Norwegian governance exposes fundamental contradictions. Given Trutnev’s statements about restoring Russian territory, the conference raises questions about what Moscow seeks in Svalbard and if it might be more than simply maintaining Arktikugol operations as a foothold in the High North. (GIS Reports, High North News)

Arctic Drones for Disaster Response

World Economic Forum reported on November 18 that researchers from the University of Southern Denmark and the Alexandra Institute conducted drone-based search and rescue tests in Nuuk, Greenland, in September. The pilot study involved 32 flights generating 250 GB of data to train AI systems for identifying missing persons in Arctic conditions. (World Economic Forum)

Take 4: Arctic regions face severe shortfalls in search and rescue capabilities that leave growing numbers of people vulnerable to life-threatening emergencies. The harsh polar environment makes establishing and maintaining traditional rescue infrastructure nearly impossible – vast distances, extreme cold, and limited accessibility prevent building adequate emergency response systems across most Arctic territories. This gap becomes increasingly dangerous as tourism and economic activity surge, with cruise ships and resource exploration bringing unprecedented numbers of people into remote areas lacking emergency services. The March 2025 Arctic Emergency Management Conference in Bodø emphasized that small Arctic communities serve as first responders despite scarce and dispersed resources, highlighting the urgent need for innovative solutions. Drone testing addresses some of these critical vulnerabilities.This innovation could make existing Arctic infrastructure far more effective by allowing helicopters to cover larger areas with drone assistance rather than requiring impossible investments in additional rescue bases across remote territories. For the Arctic region, successful drone integration represents an innovative solution to safety challenges that would otherwise require expensive infrastructure expansion across millions of square miles of harsh terrain and water. (Arctic Today, Reuters, The Arctic Council)

Climate Change Warms Deep Arctic Ocean 

Phys.org reported on November 20 that researchers from Ocean University of China and Laoshan Laboratory discovered that the deep Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean is warming at 0.020 degrees Celsius per decade, faster than geothermal heating alone can explain. The study, published in Science Advances, found that warming in the Greenland Basin, historically the Arctic’s main source of cold water, is now supplying warmer water to Arctic depths. The Lomonosov Ridge acts as a barrier preventing this warmer water from reaching the Amerasian Basin. (Phys.org)

Take 5: This discovery changes the way in which climate change pierces Arctic systems, revealing that even the deepest ocean layers are vulnerable to warming. The transformation of the Greenland Basin from a cold water source into a warming driver demonstrates how climate impacts cascade through interconnected ocean systems in ways that accelerate regional change. The 0.020 degrees Celsius per decade warming rate in Arctic depths, while seemingly small, represents heat accumulation in waters that remained stable for millennia and serves as thermal inertia that will persist for centuries. This deep ocean warming threatens Arctic marine ecosystems from the bottom up, potentially disrupting nutrient cycling and species adapted to stable cold temperatures in ways that are difficult to reverse. The Lomonosov Ridge’s role as a temporary barrier protecting the Amerasian Basin highlights how Arctic geography creates uneven warming patterns, but this protection may be temporary as warming intensifies. For Arctic science, this finding exposes critical gaps in climate models that assume deep ocean layers remain insulated from surface warming, suggesting current projections may underestimate the full scope of Arctic transformation and its global climate feedbacks. (American Meteorological Society, Science Advances, Science Direct)