Learn more: Oil and Gas Activities

Oil and gas activities pose significant threats to Arctic ecosystems and to the people who depend on them. Placing wells, pipelines and vessels in the remote Arctic creates a substantial risk of a catastrophic oil spill and there is no proven method to clean up an oil spill in the icy conditions often found in … Read more

Learn more: Climate Change and the Arctic

For most people in the United States and the world, changes caused by greenhouse gas emissions have not yet greatly affected day-to-day life. The same cannot be said for the communities, peoples and wildlife of the Arctic, where the climate is warming on average at about twice the rate of the rest of the world. … Read more

Learn more: Arctic Peoples

The Arctic is home to vibrant communities of indigenous peoples who have lived in harmony with their surroundings since time immemorial. About four million people live in the Arctic. Indigenous peoples include the Inuit (Alaska, Canada, Greenland, Russia), Saami (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia), Athabascan Indians (Alaska, Canada), Aleut (Alaska, Russia) and dozens of distinct indigenous … Read more

Arctic: Species at Risk

Some of the world’s most extraordinary animals call the Arctic home, including more than 25 species of marine mammals, dozens of species of birds and hundreds of different fishes. Many of these animals are endangered and all of them are facing unprecedented challenges as the Arctic environment undergoes rapid changes. Marine mammals migrate to and … Read more

Arctic: What Oceana Does

To best protect Arctic marine ecosystems and preserve opportunities for the subsistence way of life of Arctic peoples, Oceana is focused on addressing all of the threats together ( climate change, industrial fishing, shipping pollution, and oil and gas exploration and development). At the heart of Oceana’s approach are local communities, stakeholders and scientists. Ultimately, they are … Read more

Arctic: Overview

The Arctic is one of the most beautiful and forbidding places on Earth, where temperatures regularly plunge well below zero and the time between sunset and sunrise is sometimes measured in months rather than hours. Yet despite these difficult conditions, a Arctic peoples  and animals have adapted to thrive at the top of the world. … Read more

Protecting the Arctic from industrial fishing

After years of work by Oceana and other conservation groups, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted unanimously to prevent the expansion of industrial fishing into all U.S. waters north of the Bering Strait in order to limit stress on ocean ecosystems in light of the dramatic impacts of global climate change in the Arctic. … Read more