The Arctic is undergoing changes that scientists are still working to understand. In the East Siberian Sea, researchers are monitoring possible underwater volcanic activity near remote Bennett Island. Satellite imagery has detected plumes over the ocean that appear similar to volcanic emissions, and the seafloor in the area has shifted by roughly 3 to 40 feet over nine years. These signs suggest that something is moving deep below the surface, although no eruption has been confirmed.
If an eruption or strong earthquake occurred during an ice-free period, it could generate a tsunami. A similar event took place on July 30, 2025, near the Kuril Islands, when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake produced waves that flooded parts of Paramushir Island and prompted evacuation orders for more than two million people across the Pacific. The scale of that event has raised questions about whether the Arctic region is prepared for a comparable scenario.
Scientists have noted that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet, but regular scientific expeditions to the area remain limited. Researchers often rely on older data that may no longer reflect current conditions. In 2022, a research team reached Bennett Island by inflatable boat to study the area, a trip that underscored both the difficulty of working in the region and the need for more frequent monitoring.
Beyond the immediate concerns about volcanic activity, the broader Arctic region has become a focus of global attention for other reasons. Canada’s Arctic, which spans Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, holds significant deposits of critical minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earth elements. These minerals are essential for electric vehicles, satellites, and advanced electronics, and demand for them is rising sharply.
Canada has known about these deposits for decades, but low prices, difficult terrain, and limited infrastructure kept them largely undeveloped. In 2022, the Canadian government introduced a critical mineral strategy with billions of dollars in funding and tax incentives to encourage mining. The plan also includes building roads, ports, and power lines to reach remote deposits. The goal is not only to extract raw materials but also to establish domestic refining and processing facilities.
China currently refines more than 90 percent of the world’s rare earths, which has made many countries uneasy about relying on a single supplier. The United States, Europe, Japan, and Australia are all seeking alternative sources. Canada’s proximity to the U.S. makes it an attractive partner for building a North American supply chain. The U.S. has publicly supported Canada’s efforts, offering funding and cooperation to develop a trusted supply network.
One advantage Canada has is the use of modern technology to locate mineral deposits. Instead of drilling blindly, geologists are using artificial intelligence to analyze decades-old core samples and predict what lies underground. A pilot lab in the Northwest Territories is using AI and digital scanning to re-examine rock samples for hidden deposits. Companies like Geologic AI and Cobalt Metals are already applying these methods to identify promising sites for nickel, cobalt, and rare earths.
Still, mining in the Arctic remains expensive. Temperatures can drop to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, roads stop hundreds of miles from many deposits, and the ground is frozen for most of the year. The region is larger than India but has fewer people than a small city. Most of the land is permafrost or wilderness, and many mineral sites are on Indigenous lands. First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities have lived there for thousands of years, and projects require consultation and often consent. Some Indigenous-owned corporations are already leading development efforts in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
If Canada succeeds, the benefits could extend beyond its borders. More supply from a reliable neighbor could reduce dependence on distant producers, stabilize global markets, and eventually lower the cost of batteries, electronics, and energy storage. The supportive economic conditions remain theoretical until mining and processing are fully operational, but the Canadian government continues to move forward with infrastructure and partnerships.
Separately, researchers are studying other changes in the Arctic, including fires that can persist underground through the winter. Known as holdover fires, they burn slowly in peat layers, which are made of decomposing plant material. These fires can survive freezing temperatures for months beneath dirt and snow, then reignite in the spring. Boreal forests store large amounts of carbon, and when they burn, that carbon is released into the atmosphere. Warmer conditions lead to more severe fire seasons, which in turn release more emissions. Satellite data and artificial intelligence are being used to track these fires and understand how they start.
In addition, the Arctic’s disappearing ice has inspired a range of experimental projects. One initiative, led by a UK startup called Real Ice, involves pumping seawater onto the surface of existing ice so it freezes into an extra layer. Between January and May 2024, the team thickened ice by about 20 inches over roughly 44,000 square feet. A new round of testing began in November 2024, with ice thickening by about four inches in the first ten days. The long-term plan is to deploy 500,000 autonomous underwater drones powered by clean energy to automate the process across a large area. The estimated cost of refreezing the entire Arctic is between five and six billion dollars per year.
Some scientists have expressed doubts about the approach. Saltier ice from seawater may melt faster in summer, and altering ice thickness could affect marine life and food chains. Others argue that geoengineering treats symptoms rather than root causes. Similar proposals have been made in the past, including wind-powered pumps, reflective glass beads spread over the ice, and cloud seeding. None have been implemented on a large scale, and their effects remain uncertain.
These changes are already affecting communities. In Newtok, Alaska, erosion is removing about 70 feet of riverbank each year as permafrost thaws. Residents began relocating to Mertarvik, about nine miles away, in 2019. The move has been gradual, with schools and stores still operating in the old village while infrastructure like water and sewage systems is completed at the new site.
The Arctic landscape also features large craters that have appeared over the past decade. The first was discovered in 2014 in the Siberian permafrost, about 164 feet deep. Since then, more craters have formed. Researchers have found elevated methane levels near these holes, and they believe the craters result from pressure building beneath the frozen ground. In some areas, layers of permafrost sit above solid methane, and between them are pockets of super-salty unfrozen water known as cryopegs. When melting ice seeps into these pockets, pressure increases, eventually cracking the methane layer and causing an explosion. No signs of burning have been found, suggesting a physical rather than chemical cause. These craters appear to be specific to the Arctic, where similar conditions exist in places like the Yamal Peninsula.
One well-known formation is the Batagaika crater in Siberia, sometimes called the gateway to the underworld. It emerged in the 1970s after part of a frozen slope collapsed. Satellite images first captured it in 1991. The crater’s upper rim stands about 180 feet high, and as the ice melts, it exposes frozen soil containing fossils and ancient sediments. In 2018, scientists found a 42,000-year-old prehistoric foal preserved in the permafrost. Discoveries like this offer a glimpse of what existed in the Arctic thousands of years ago.
Greenland has also yielded surprises. Ice samples taken in 1993 and stored in a lab for three decades were re-examined and found to contain fossils of moss, willow fragments, and an Arctic poppy. These findings suggest that at some point in the past, parts of Greenland were free of ice and supported plant life. Scientists have also found a giant virus in Greenland’s ice and dark snow. It is larger than typical viruses and infects algae. By darkening the ice, the virus could reduce how much light the surface reflects, potentially slowing melting.
In 2016 and 2017, a large hole in Antarctic sea ice, known as the Maud Rise Polynya, reappeared after decades of absence. The hole, which reached more than 30,000 square miles, formed in the Weddell Sea. Researchers determined that a stronger-than-usual ocean current, combined with wind patterns, brought salty water up from below, lowering the freezing point of the surface water and allowing the hole to persist. These polynyas play a role in global ocean circulation.
Beneath Antarctica’s ice, scientists have found around 400 subglacial lakes. The largest, Lake Vostok, sits more than two miles below the surface and has been isolated for millions of years. In 2014, researchers found microorganisms in Lake Williams that use methane and ammonium for energy. Antarctica also has a waterfall known as Blood Falls, where iron-rich salty water seeps out of Taylor Glacier and turns red when it hits the air.
Some parts of Antarctica are home to unusual wildlife, including ice fish with transparent bodies and no hemoglobin, as well as giant worms and large spiders. The continent was not always frozen. Fossilized wood, tropical tree remains, and leaf impressions suggest it once had rainforests. Beneath the ice lies the Gamburtsev mountain range, which stretches for 745 miles and rises to almost 10,000 feet. The mountains are about a billion years old, and scientists believe a frozen mantle may be protecting them from erosion.
The Ross Ice Shelf, about the size of France, produces a nearly continuous seismic hum caused by wind blowing over snow dunes. Sensors detect the vibrations, and researchers are studying how the sound changes with melting and storms as a possible early warning system.
Brinicles are another feature of polar waters. These ice tubes form when super-cooled brine seeps from sea ice and freezes the water around it as it descends. When they reach the seafloor, they can freeze animals such as starfish and sea urchins in place. The first footage of a brinicle was captured in 2011. Some researchers are studying brinicles as potential environments where the building blocks of life could form, similar to conditions that may exist on icy moons in the solar system.
Sounds in the ocean have also drawn attention. In 1960, researchers recorded a repeating quacking sound in Antarctic waters, later named the bio duck. Decades of study traced it to minke whales. In 2014, a metallic twang heard in the Mariana Trench was identified as the call of Bryde’s whales. A low-frequency sound known as the Bloop, recorded near Point Nemo in the South Pacific in 1997, turned out to be caused by cracking icebergs. Some ocean sounds remain unexplained, including one called Upsweep, a series of ascending tones recorded since 1991.
Researchers in Alaska held a 20-minute interaction with a humpback whale named Twain by playing recorded whale greeting calls through underwater speakers. The whale approached the boat and responded each time, suggesting the possibility of structured communication between humans and whales. The experiment was limited in scope, but it demonstrated that contact is possible.
In Greenland, scientists discovered a large depression beneath the Hiawatha Glacier using radar. It is about 980 feet deep and nearly 20 miles wide. Researchers found shocked quartz, which forms under extreme pressure, in sediment washed out from beneath the glacier. This suggested an asteroid impact, and the crater was originally thought to be about 12,000 years old. Further analysis dated it to roughly 58 million years ago, ruling out a connection to a cold period known as the Younger Dryas. More recently, shocked quartz found in sediment layers across the eastern United States has kept alive the theory that a comet airburst may have contributed to that event.
Researchers have also studied holes called moulins, which carry meltwater from the surface of the Greenland ice sheet down to its base. In 2018 and 2019, teams descended about 330 feet into two moulins to measure their size. Larger moulins may affect how quickly the ice sheet moves toward the sea.
The Arctic and Antarctic regions continue to present questions that scientists are only beginning to answer. The pace of change, combined with limited research access, means that much remains unknown about how these environments will evolve.
