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Almost two centuries after British explorer Sir John Franklin and his men died amid paralyzing cold and ice in pursuit of the mythical Northwest Passage, the Arctic--in response to temperatures greater than at any time in the last ten thousand years--is melting at an alarming pace. Instead of heeding this clear sign that the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent runaway warming, countries such as the United States, Russia, China, and Canada are instead racing to control newly ice-free waters and the riches in the seabed below. But by choosing short-term self-interest over cooperative action, they may be condemning the world to an uninhabitable future.

Northern Lights against POPs tells the many-faceted scientific, policy, legal, and advocacy story that led to the Stockholm convention. Unique in its perspective, scope, and breadth, it reveals the key links among environmental and health science, international politics, advocacy, law, and global negotiations. Never before have public health concerns articulated by northern Indigenous peoples in Canada and throughout the circumpolar Arctic had such a direct impact on global policy-making. Authors show how research on POPs (persistent organic pollutants) in the Arctic from the mid-1980s influenced international negotiations and analyze the potential for the convention to be effective. Contributors include elected representatives, researchers, civil servants, Indigenous people who participated in the negotiations, and scientists who provided the compelling Arctic data that prompted the United Nations Environment Programme to sponsor negotiations. Contributors include David Anderson (Minister of the Environment, Canada); Nigel Bankes (University of Calgary); John Buccini (Consultant, former chair of the Global POPs Negotiations); Sheila Watt-Cloutier (Inuit Circumpolar Conference-Canada); Barry Commoner, Paul Woods Bartlett, Holger Eisl, Kimberly Couchot (Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, Queens College, City University of New York); Eric Dewailly (Laval University); David Downie (Director of Educational Partnerships, Columbia Earth Institute, Columbia University, New York); Terry Fenge (Inuit Circumpolar Conference-Canada); Henry Huntington (Consultant, Anchorage) and Michelle Sparck (Circumpolar Conservation Union, Washington, D.C.); Harriet Kuhnlein, Laurie Chan (Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, McGill University), and Olivier Receveur (formerly Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition and Environment, McGill University); Lars-Otto Reiersen (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme Secretariat,Oslo); Henrik Selin (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); David Stone, Russell Shearer (Northern Contaminants Program, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Canada); Klaus Topfer (Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme).

Russia holds more Arctic territory than any other state, yet unlike other Arctic states it does not have a unified strategy identifying economic and political aims for the North. Russia's policies on the North are dispersed across a variety of fields from domestic migration politics to oil and gas development. This volume engages the disparate elements of Russian northern policy and illustrates how the centralized, relatively economically strong and politically assertive Russia of today defines and addresses northern spaces, opportunities, and challenges. As energy markets continue looking northward and climate change renders the Arctic increasingly accessible, the geopolitical interests of Arctic states will be brought more frequently to the forefront. These circumstances will make the disputed borders and overlapping sovereignty claims of the North an important topic in international politics. Given its geographic size and political influence, Russia is and will continue to be a key regional and global actor in the international politics of the North.

Northern Canada's distinctive landscapes, its complex social relations and the contested place of the North in contemporary political, military, scientific and economic affairs have fueled recent scholarly discussion. At the same time, both the media and the wider public have shown increasing interest in the region. This timely volume extends our understanding of the environmental history of northern Canada - clarifying both its practice and promise, and providing critical perspectives on current public debates. Ice Blink provides opportunities to consider critical issues in other disciplines and geographic contexts. Contributors also examine whether distinctive approaches to environmental history are required when studying the Canadian North, and consider a range of broader questions. What, if anything, sets the study of environmental history in particular regions apart from its study elsewhere? Do environmental historians require regionally-specific research practices? How can the study of environmental history take into consideration the relations between Indigenous peoples, the environment, and the state? How can the history of regions be placed most effectively within transnational and circumpolar contexts? How relevant are historical approaches to contemporary environmental issues? Scholars from universities in Canada, the United States and Britain contribute to this examination of the relevance of historical study for contemporary arctic and sub-arctic issues, especially environmental challenges, security and sovereignty, indigenous politics and the place of science in northern affairs. By asking such questions, the volume offers lessons about the general practice of environmental history and engages an international body of scholarship that addresses the value of regional and interdisciplinary approaches. Crucially, however, it makes a distinctive contribution to the field of Canadian environmental history by identifying new areas of research and exploring how international scholarly developments might play out in the Canadian context.

Bitter cold and constant snow. Polar bears, seals, and killer whales. Victor Frankenstein chasing his monstrous creation across icy terrain in a dogsled. The arctic calls to mind a myriad different images. Consisting of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, the United States, Russia, Greenland, Finland, Norway and Sweden, the arctic possesses a unique ecosystem-temperatures average negative 29 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and rarely rise above freezing in summer-and the indigenous peoples and cultures that live in the region have had to adapt to the harsh weather conditions. As global temperatures rise, the arctic is facing an environmental crisis, with melting glaciers causing grave concern around the world. But for all the renown of this frozen region, the arctic remains far from perfectly understood. In A History of the Arctic, award-winning polar historian John McCannon provides an engaging overview of the region that spans from the Stone Age to the present. McCannon discusses polar exploration and science, nation-building, diplomacy, environmental issues, and climate change, and the role indigenous populations have played in the arctic's story. Chronicling the history of each arctic nation, he details the many failed searches for a Northwest Passage and the territorial claims that hamper use of these waterways. He also explores the resources found in the arctic-oil, natural gas, minerals, fresh water, and fish-and describes the importance they hold as these resources are depleted elsewhere, as well as the challenges we face in extracting them. A timely assessment of current diplomatic and environmental realities, as well as the dire risks the region now faces, A History of the Arctic is a thoroughly engrossing book on the past-and future-of the top of the world.