The desperate race to create a protection zone around the rapidly melting Arctic

The ice once protected the Arctic ocean from threats - but as it melts it exposes the sea to fishing, shipping, mining and pollution. Would a marine protected area help secure this fragile ecosystem or is it too late?

When the Arctic explorer Pen Hadow had to start swimming from ice floe to ice floe, rather than walking, he experienced for himself what scientists and Indigenous peoples of the north have long known: the floating sea ice, which used to reliably cover the Arctic Ocean for most of the year, is disappearing.

For Hadow - who has crisscrossed that ocean on skis, both accompanied and solo - the vanishing ice wasn't just something that made his travels difficult. He knew that the Arctic ice is home to whole ecosystems above and below the water, protecting marine life from the worst impacts of humanity, pollution and the climate crisis. The sea ice created a natural barrier," says Hadow. It's undisturbed by vessels to this point."