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Story Publication logo August 19, 2019

A Thawing Arctic Is Heating up a New Cold War

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United states
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Canadian soldiers on the ice Sheet near Little Cornwallis Island during a military operation in -57 C weather in Nunavut Canada. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2017.
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Project

New Cold War

An examination of the ongoing geopolitical transformation of the Arctic along the old Cold War...

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Some 400 U.S. soldiers practice parachute jumps near Alaska’s Fort Greely. The multinational exercise, which includes Canadian forces, prepares troops for the rigors of large, coordinated operations in extreme cold conditions. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
U.S. soldiers eat high-calorie rations to help their bodies deal with the cold at the Northern Warfare Training Center in Alaska, where the Army conducts cold-region training. The soldiers learn tactics derived from the Winter War, fought between Finland and the Soviet Union in World War II. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
Marines simulate seizing a building in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, the northernmost city in the United States. Marine Corps commandant Gen. Robert Neller recently told senators that after years of focusing on the Middle East and Pacific, the Marines “had gotten back into the cold-weather business.” Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
Susie Hiqinit is one of many Inuit reservists with the Canadian Rangers. Groups of these reservists share their knowledge of Arctic survival with other members of the nation’s military. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
Andy Issigaitok and other reservists teach traditional Inuit techniques such as hunting, navigating, and building igloos. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
Canadian pilot Adam Schellinck has learned the proper way to cut ice blocks for an igloo. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
Canadian rangers inspect targets after practicing their marksmanship on a firing range. They carry rifles to protect against polar bear attacks—the greatest threat to human life, after the extreme weather. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
Training to survive in extreme conditions, Susie Hiqinit and the rest of the Canadian rangers in her volunteer reserve unit practice firing .303 bolt-action rifles. Nearly every community in Canada’s high Arctic has a ranger patrol. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
After using a gas-powered auger to drill holes in the ice at the north end of Cornwallis Island, Canadian rangers set nets to fish for arctic char. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
Canadian rangers pause to munch on frozen arctic char during a 12-hour snowmobile journey. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
U.S. soldiers practice climbing a hill while wearing skis at Alaska’s Northern Warfare Training Center, where troops learn a range of skills—from dressing for the extreme cold and basic snowshoeing to skiing with a rifle and towing a 200-pound sled. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
Canadian pilots and aircrew members return to a training facility near Resolute Bay after spending a week living outdoors in makeshift shelters and enduring temperatures as low as minus 58°F. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
U.S. aviators practice deploying signal flares in the event of a crash or forced landing. With millions of square miles of empty, inhospitable landscape, the Arctic presents huge logistical challenges for search-and-rescue operations. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
Canadian aviator Simon Jean stretches out in a fighter trench he has begun to dig by cutting out blocks of ice. The trenches can serve as basic shelters, and the ice blocks can also be used for building igloos. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
A Canadian ranger lies in a pool of icy slush and water during training for search-and-rescue operations on Baffin Island. His fellow rangers must quickly get him into dry clothes and raise his body temperature before hypothermia sets in. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.
U.S. Special Forces troops and Marines simulate capturing an Arctic radar station at Point Barrow, Alaska, the nation’s northern­most point. Radar stations are key tools for tracking missile launches and incursions by Russian aircraft. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
The attack submarine U.S.S. Connecticut protrudes through an ice floe in the Beaufort Sea. For decades the U.S. and Russian navies have jockeyed for position in the Arctic. Now China is ready to enter the fray, investing in icebreakers and other technology as melting opens new, potentially lucrative shipping lanes. Image by Louie Palu. United States, 2019.
Canadian soldiers build an igloo during the high Arctic phase of their training to become Arctic operations advisers. In this part of the program, they learn to travel, survive, and build shelters when they reach the high Arctic. Image by Louie Palu. Canada, 2019.

Late on a gray November afternoon Marvin Atqittuq, a newly elected patrol commander in the Arctic community of Gjoa Haven, stood on the frozen sea outside town and called his troops in for a meeting. A frigid wind flicked snow in from the south, and it was about 20 below zero, cold but not that cold for the Arctic. The company of some 20 Inuit men and a few women gathered around with rifles slung over their shoulders, dressed in hand-sewn jackets of caribou hide or pants made of polar bear fur or wearing the usual store-bought stuff, which was far less warm but namuktuk, good enough for now.

Read the full story on National Geographic's website.

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