Don't look north: Tackling the ice crisis with the Arctic Angels

The first image of the Earth from space - NASA’s The Blue Marble (1972) - hung in my first grade classroom. I remember sitting in my desk, staring at the gleaming, white expanse of Antarctica.

I remember imagining the cold, infinite solitude of its glaciers, its endless frozen landscapes. I remember their unimpeachability, their profound inaccessibility. At the time, their frigid existence was a constant, a simple truth outside of time, like breathing in and out.

Now, though, I have to reconcile myself to the surreal fact that my mental image of the Earth - forever informed by that 51-year-old photograph - is wrong. The polar ice caps are melting. This is the Ice Crisis.

Polar Ice in Peril

"According to some estimations, we could have ice-free Arctic summers by 2030," said Ingrid Bååth, a Norwegian-born, UK-based climate activist and member of the Arctic Angels advocacy network.

Composed of over 50 young women climate leaders from around the world, the Arctic Angels jointly campaign for the protection of the global commons in general and Arctic sea ice in particular.

From speaking at United Nations climate conferences to galvanising their local communities, these women have made it their mission to convey the critical role polar ice plays for all life on earth - and why we all have a responsibility to defend it.

"We’re so dependent on polar ice for the albedo effect, which occurs when ice reflects heat back into the atmosphere," explained Bååth, who also supports the Arctic Angels as a coordinator. "Without it, heat will just sink into the ocean, warming it up further, and contribute not only to ocean acidification, but also to a host of other devastating knock-on effects."

Backed by Global Choices, the Arctic Angels are calling for a ten-year Central Arctic Ocean Ice Shield Moratorium that would halt any and all activity "that would further disturb the fragile Arctic sea ice and accelerate melting." Impacted by oil extraction, seismic testing, military testing, nuclear dumping, and burgeoning shipping routes, the Central Arctic Ocean is facing active degradation.

While the recent success of the United Nations High Seas Treaty in March 2023 is an absolute victory for the planet’s oceans, its ice still lacks any formal protection.

Last year, Sofia Ferrigolo, a Brazilian Arctic Angel currently attending university in the United States, had the opportunity to visit Antarctica and witness first-hand the impact of human activity in one of Earth’s most remote and vital regions. Her experience was coloured by competing emotions: awe, humility, sadness, inspiration.

"Upon my first landing, I saw the little penguin footprints on the ground right next to human footprints," she explained. "Seeing that was such a humbling, out-of-this-world experience. I was also overcome by a certain sadness because I didn't know what the future would hold - but the experience inspired me to try my best to keep it as pristine and untouched as possible."

"More Than a Network"

Beyond its progressive agenda, the Arctic Angels group also holds particular intrigue and vibrancy as a unique space for young women who share a common commitment to the planet. "It's so much more than a network," shared Bååth.

"Network feels to me the wrong word: I would rather use the word community. It's not just a place where you add your name and get an email once in a while. It's a community of young women from around the world who create safe spaces for each other to explore, converse, learn, develop skills, network, find jobs, share opportunities, and uplift each other's voices."

It’s precisely this sense of community that keeps activists going through challenging moments. "Empowered women empower other women," Ferrigolo emphasised.

"When I first joined the Arctic Angels, I definitely felt a bit of impostor syndrome, but I was quickly reminded through the supportive environment that everyone is there for a reason. The Angels inspire me to believe in myself and move forward with my activism, even and especially when things feel hard."

Perhaps most radical is that the Angels provide a space where it’s okay for things to feel hard - it’s a space where its members can feel solidarity not only in their hope, but also in their frustration and anger.

"Around the world, we are working tirelessly in our local communities," Bååth explained. "We’re just literally fed up and turning that anger and desperation into action."

Since so many young women are socialised not to express these 'negative' sentiments, the emotional safety that the Arctic Angels provide one another appears all the more crucial. Overcoming the pushback, patronising and belittling that attend being a young woman in really any public sphere - in this case, climate advocacy - the Arctic Angels demand to be heard.

Everything Is Interconnected

As they expand their influence and spread their message around the globe, the Arctic Angels are using their platform to advocate for the inclusion of marginalised communities in climate discourse. Theirs, they stress, is not just a feminist fight, not just a climate fight: "in the same way that all Earth systems are interconnected, all social issues are interconnected," notes Bååth.

Arctic Indigenous communities, in particular, are on the frontlines of climate change as the Ice Crisis worsens and sea levels rise. While these communities in Canada and Greenland mostly hunt on land ice, sea ice "is still incredibly vital to their survival because they’re dependent on species like polar bears, who rely on sea ice."

Referring to her own experience visiting an Indigenous community in the Brazilian Amazon, Ferrigolo emphasised the significance and power of Indigenous knowledge in combatting climate change around the world: "They know absolutely everything about the land: we should be learning from them, empowering them to share their knowledge about how to care for the Earth - because, honestly, we’re not doing it right."

As the land and rights of Indigenous communities in the Arctic continue to be degraded by new extractivist ventures like the recently green-lit Willow Project in Alaska, this message takes on increasing urgency.

Moving Forward as Global Citizens

While blame for this dire situation may well be placed squarely on the shoulders of the Western economic project, the Ice Crisis belongs to no single community. And although frontline communities experience its consequences most immediately, the Ice Crisis is, at its core, a global issue.

Buoyed by their common vision for a greener future and their solidarity in the face of this unfolding catastrophe, the Arctic Angels remain motivated. They remain driven.

Ferrigolo shared her perspective on the future: "I hope that in the next seven years, before 2030, we mobilise in the right way: by collaborating and moving forward with love and respect for the planet and each other as our guiding value."

In support of climate literacy, she continued: "No matter who you are or where you are, educate yourself about the climate and think about how you can be part of the solution rather than the problem."

Image by Global Choices.