Almost two centuries after British explorer Sir John Franklin and his men died amid paralyzing cold and ice in pursuit of the mythical Northwest Passage, the Arctic—in response to temperatures greater than at any time in the last ten thousand years—is melting at an alarming pace. Instead of heeding this clear sign that the world must reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent runaway warming, countries such as the United States, Russia, China, and Canada are instead racing to control newly ice free waters and the riches in the seabed below. But by choosing short term self interest over cooperative action, they may be condemning the world to an uninhabitable future. Uniquely among books on climate change and the Arctic, Arctic Passages ties together past, present, and future, showing how historical fancies of a navigable Arctic are becoming future realities. In fast paced storytelling packed with surprising revelations, journalist Kieran Mulvaney argues that today’s emerging
