The Arctic Circle is a region north of 66° 33′ 39” latitude, containing land claimed by several countries. It has low temperatures and few population centers, but indigenous people have lived there for thousands of years. Global warming has opened up shipping routes and potential oil fields, and the region has military significance. The future is uncertain due to climate change and the fragility of the ecosystem.
The Arctic Circle is a large region in the northern part of the world. It is currently defined as all the area north of 66° 33′ 39” (66.56083°) latitude. This definition shifts slightly over time, as a result of the Earth’s tilt changing slightly, shifting the lines of latitude by very small increments. The region within the Arctic Circle is referred to as the Arctic and contains land claimed by several countries, most notably Canada, Finland, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
The Arctic Circle is determined based on the existence of polar night and polar day. Inside the Arctic Circle, at least once a year there is one full day when the sun is always visible and one full day when the sun is never visible.
Temperatures within the Arctic Circle are incredibly low, and the land in the Arctic is inhospitable to humans. As a result, there are very few major population centers within the boundaries of the Arctic Circle. There are two cities in Russia that fall within the Arctic Circle and have over 100,000 inhabitants, one with just over 85,000 and one in Norway with just over 60,000 people.
The indigenous people, however, have lived in the Arctic Circle for thousands of years. These cultures are often based on a subsistence-level existence, depending on seals, whales and fish as sources for everything from food to clothing to fuel. In modern times indigenous groups have often clashed with Western governments over land use rights for mineral extraction, as well as the limitations placed on their traditional ways of life.
Historically the land inside the Arctic Circle has not been particularly desirable, and therefore countries have made no claims to it. Some whaling and sealing have taken place in these extreme northern latitudes, but other than that there has been little reason for people to visit. In recent years, however, global warming has begun to free large expanses of ice, revealing previously blocked channels.
These new channels open up the possibility of important shipping routes through the Arctic Circle, which could become one of the shortest routes between major trading nations such as China and parts of Northern Europe. At the same time, recent oil exploration has demonstrated the potential for massive seabed oil fields beneath the Arctic ice. While breaking the ice would be cost-prohibitive, if the ice retreats and this seafloor is exposed, the Arctic Circle could become a major source of oil in the coming decades.
The Arctic Circle has also historically been of military significance, particularly during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Submarines constantly patrol the waters of the Arctic Circle, and a modern upsurge in military defense in the region has led to the construction of a number of land-based bases to protect mineral-mining facilities and to provide missile launch platforms.
The future of the Arctic Circle is uncertain, with predictions of the consequences of global warming on the region ranging from fairly optimistic to downright apocalyptic. Models of climate change in the region, of melting ice and the effect this will have on local flora such as seals and polar bears, are evolving rapidly. One thing becomes apparent with each passing month, however, and that is that the ecosystem of these northernmost latitudes is incredibly fragile and tenuous, and may not survive much more drastic change.
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