The continued melting of Arctic glaciers and sea ice is causing climate scientists' brows to furrow and existential anxiety in the general public concerned about the state of the Earth—but it's also apparently causing "gotta get one last cruise in" vibes. Since 2016, cruise ships departing from the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard—described by the Washington Post as "one of the main jumping-off points for Arctic cruises"—have doubled, with debate over whether the pros of such visits outweigh the cons. "I might be the last generation that gets to see this," says one 42-year-old woman who saved for five years for her own trip, adding that she felt an "inner conflict" at visiting a place facing such dire consequences.
- Cruises' carbon footprint: One big beef that environmentalists have with such tourism is that long-distance journeys to and through the Arctic create emissions that contribute to global warming. Svalbard itself has already seen "extreme" melting of its ice caps this past summer, per NASA, and over the past two decades, ice in the Arctic is reported to have decreased by almost 600,000 square miles—"the equivalent of more than three Californias," estimates the Post.
- Advocates: Some explorer evangelists say that raising public awareness on the ice melt plight, including via cruising, can ultimately help matters. "If nobody sees a place like this, there'd be nobody to protect it," Zet Freiburghaus, a guide with expedition operator PolarQuest, tells the Post. "At least it makes you think: How can we do better?"
- The Antarctic: In early 2023, the Conversation reported that Antarctica has been similarly swamped with visitors, noting that, in addition to the greenhouse gas emissions, "in areas visited most by tourists, the snow has a higher concentration of black carbon from ship exhaust, which soaks up more heat and leads to snow melt." It added: "Ship traffic also risks carrying hitchhiking invasive species into the Southern Ocean's vulnerable marine ecosystems."
- Cruise operators: Many of those in the Arctic paint themselves as being ecologically sustainable, though some experts say that just looks like "greenwashing." "We strive [to] ... reduce CO2 emissions as low as possible," PolarQuest CEO Marie Lannborn Barker tells the Post. "But my feeling is primarily frustration that we have not come further."
Want to experience an Arctic cruise in the Svalbard region without the guilt? Read
this traveler's diary of her own experience. (More
ice melt stories.)
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