Polar regions are warming at a rate almost twice the global average, exacerbating the dramatic impacts of climate change around the world. There’s an even greater contrast here than for the rest of the world: it’s being cheered on. Polar ice melt is exposing new trade routes and allowing greater transport for countries like Canada and Russia, whose coastlines were once covered in ice. In addition, it is introducing new industry to Greenland, bringing about dreams of full independence from Denmark. This increased land use is affecting the livelihoods of several migratory species in both the North and South poles such as polar bears, penguins, harp seals and Atlantic cod. Based on results from the Arctic, scientists predict increasing global sea levels and changes in global climate and precipitation patterns, with these effects bound to be reflected in species of the polar regions.