I decided to take a dive into the world of arctic shipping and the impact that global climate change has had on the industry. Polar ice continues to shrink, especially in warmer seasons such as spring and summer, and as this ice thins the opportunity to sail across the arctic becomes more feasible. This could significantly decrease the distance in shipping routes and allows people to travel through the arctic rather than taking longer routes. For example, rather than traveling from California, sailing through Oceana, and under Africa in order to go North and reach Europe, ships can simply go past Alaska and navigate their way through the Arctic towards Europe. However, these are just theories by shipping companies that want to decrease shipping time and increase profits, what is the actual impact of taking advantage of climate change like this? Not only is the loss of Arctic ice caps detrimental to the livelihoods of many indigenous peoples, it also takes away a necessary part of the Arctic habitat. Increased activity in the Arctic may also disrupt the environment and cause ecological damage. Vessels that use heavy fuel oil pose a major threat, as one wrong move could lead to an oil spill that is virtually impossible to clean up due to how the oil responds to cold temperatures, and the harsh weather of the Arctic. While the Arctic opening up to shipping is seen as an economic opportunity to many, it is of the utmost importance that we remember it is climate change that is responsible, and we must be cautious about how we proceed as to not negatively impact the Arctic environmental health and the livelihoods of the many Indigenous people that live off of subsistence hunting/fishing in the region.