5 Unit 5: Arctic Ice
“The History of Ice: How Glaciers Became and Endangered Species.” Mark Carey. Environmental History, vol. 12, July 2007, pp. 497–527.
Abstract: In recent decades, glaciers have become both a key icon for global warming and a type of endangered species. To understand why glaciers are so inexorably tied to global warming and why people lament the loss of ice, University of Oregon professor of Environmental Studies and Geography Mark Carey urges us to look beyond climate science—to culture, history, and power relations. By encompassing diverse meanings, glacier and global warming discourse can offer a platform to implement change in how we communicate about nature, science, imperialism, race, recreation, wilderness, and global power dynamics.
“Exceeding Beringia”: Upending Universal Human Events and Wayward Transits in Arctic Spaces.” Jen Rose Smith. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space. vol. 39, no. 1, 2021, pp. 158–175.
Abstract: This scholarly article analyzes 18th century Natural History musings that linked Arctic climate to race and human difference and demonstrates how these musings are associated with human migration and settlement in arctic places. To upend dominant Westernized narratives of arctic landscapes, Smith analyzes the 2016 poem “Exceeding Beringia” by Joan Naviyuk Kane (Inupiaq) wherein Inupiaq relations to more-than-human kin articulate arctic transit and migration as a mutual responsibility.
“Anaiyyun: Prayer for the Whale.” Kiliii Yüyan, 2019, documentary film (8 minutes).
Abstract: “Anaiyyun: Prayer for the Whale” is a short documentary film that tells the story of an Iñupiaq whaling crew in northern Alaska. Photographer Kiliii Yüyan illuminates the stories of lives bound to the land and sea. Inspired by how Indigenous and local human communities relate to the natural world, he searches for insights through different cultural perspectives. Note: the film contains images of whaling that may be upsetting.
- Supplement: “Camping on Sea Ice with Whale Hunters.” National Geographic Overheard Podcast, 21 May 2021 (24 minutes).
Abstract: National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan recounts his time living on the Arctic sea ice with Inupiaq whale hunters as he documented how climate change threatens their way of life.
“What’s Hidden in Arctic Ice.” Brendan Howard and Jessica Rogers. Directed by Denys Spolitak. TED-Ed animated film, 2023 (6 minutes).
Abstract: In June 2022, a gold miner in the Canadian Yukon working on the traditional lands of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation uncovered the exceptionally well-preserved, frozen remains of a wooly mammoth calf that died 30,000 years ago. And this find isn’t the only of its kind. In this short, animated documentary, Brendan Rogers and Jessica Howard uncover secrets buried in the Arctic permafrost.
“Sea Ice, Extremophiles and Life on Extraterrestrial Ocean Worlds.” Andrew Martin and Andrew McCinn. International Journal of Astrobiology, vol. 17, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1–16.
Abstract: The primary aim of this article is to highlight that sea-ice microbes would be capable of occupying ice-associated biological niches on Europa (a moon of Jupiter) and Enceladus (a moon of Saturn). In future, these sea-ice organisms will likely play a significant role in defining the constraints on habitability beyond Earth and developing a mechanistic framework that contrasts the limits of Earth’s biosphere with extra-terrestrial environments of interest to astronomers.
“United States Army Research and Development—Progress Report Number Six— Camp Century.” United States Department of Defense, 1964 (31 minutes).
Abstract: This government-created documentary tells the story of the construction of Camp Century, Greenland’s city under the ice. After U.S. Army engineers selected the site in May 1959, needed supplies were delivered to the work camp in a remarkable logistical operation across the icecap. Camp Century is now an Arctic Research Center.
Case Study: Science-inspired Art
“Arkhticós Doloros”. Jessie Kleemann. Vimeo, performed 20 June 2019 (12 minutes).
Abstract: Greenlandic artist Jessie Kleemann creates work that explores Greenlandic identity, colonial history, myth and the Arctic environment. The performance piece “Arkhticós Doloros” took place on the Greenland Ice Sheet at an area known as the Blue Lake where unprecedented glacier melt is taking place. The elements seem to have a will of their own here as Kleemann enters into a dance where the power shifts continuously from her body to the wind and ice. The performance was created for an academic workshop on the political ecology of ice.
“Greenpeace Holds a Historic Performance with Pianist Ludovico Einaudi on the Arctic Ocean.” Ludovico Einaudi. YouTube, 19 June 2016 (3 minutes).
Abstract: Using his music to communicate about science, acclaimed Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi performs one of his piano compositions on a floating platform against the backdrop of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier (in Svalbard, Norway), adding his voice to the chorus of people worldwide demanding greater protections for the Arctic.
