The Need for an Arctic Treaty

Abstract

In the spring of 2010, I was camped on a fragile ice floe close to where the North Magnetic Pole once was before it continued to drift toward Russian territory. During the time I was there, the wind-chill temperature never rose above −30 degrees Fahrenheit. Sleep did not come easy in a tent that was forever flapping in the wind, nor did the eating of meals I lined up for in the steamy air of a frozen Quonset hut. The one shower I had was little more than a spray of water that was made warmish by the exhaust of groaning diesel generators.