There is perhaps one other word which the Arctic evokes: unchanging. The thought of somewhere on earth which is outside time—a source of stability, even refuge—is appealing to the modern mind. But, again, the notion of the Arctic as unchanging is wrong. It always has been.

No one who has stood atop a mountain on Spitsbergen, or peered through the morning mists at an iceberg off Greenland, or looked down from a plane as it soars over the polar ice cap, can fail to be struck by the Arctic's inherent majesty and wish that it be protected against the depredations of mankind. But in the twenty-first century, the Arctic's historical isolation has become untenable. Its role in the major issues of our global future is unavoidable. The Arctic has become a lens through which to view the world. And this, ultimately, is why the Arctic matters. It is why we should care about the Arctic's history and why the Arctic's future, uncertain as it is, will affect all of us."