Mia Bennett and Klaus Dodds

Geographer Professor Mia Bennett and political scientist Professor Klaus Dodds say that the threats of climate change and global competition are felt most strongly in the Arctic and the consequences will be felt across the globe.

Bennett and Dodds are co-authors of Unfrozen: The Fight for the Future of the Arctic. They describe the thawing of sea ice and permafrost and raging of wild fires. Meanwhile, the Arctic is becoming a space for experimentation for everything from subsea technologies to Indigenous governance. Global powers such as the US, China and Russia are investing in the Arctic and competing for resources. Bennett and Dodds say the consequences of this will be felt across the world in rising sea waters, global tensions and the rights of Indigenous peoples.

Bennett is associate professor of geography at the University of Washington and founder and editor of the blog Cryopolitics. Dodds is professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway University of London and author of The Arctic: A Very Short Introduction, The Arctic: What Everyone Needs to Know, and Border Wars: The Conflicts of Tomorrow.