Last week, NPR ran a special series entitled Race to the Arctic, which explores the geopolitical consequences (like new shipping routes and access to new reserves of natural resources) of the permanent loss of sea ice in the Arctic due to the warming climate. Nations like Canada, Greenland, Russia and the United States all stand to either gain or lose politically and economically moving forward this century. Below is a quick video from the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory displaying the 2010 Arctic Minimum Sea Ice Extent:
