Climate change is affecting the Arctic faster and more severely than other parts of the world. Arctic temperatures are rising at over twice the global rate, and it is predicted that the Arctic Ocean could be largely free of summer ice by the late 2030s.1 Scientists warn that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are now impacting the Arctic’s climate, hydrological, and ecological systems to such an extent that the region is actually “shifting to a new state” – “the Arctic as we know it is being replaced by a warmer, wetter, and more variable environment”2 with “profound implications for people, resources, and ecosystems worldwide.”3