The polar regions: Greenland, Antarctica, the Arctic and India's stations

Detail

1. Greenland — the world's largest island

• Island: a piece of land with water all around it. Australia is bigger, but it counts as a continent, so Greenland is the world's largest island.
• Location: it lies in the far north of the North America plate, between the Arctic Ocean to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and east.
• Political status: it is an autonomous (self-governing) territory of Denmark. Greenland runs most of its own affairs. Denmark handles foreign affairs and defence.
• Size (NCERT: Class 6): it is as large as India's ten largest states put together.
• Ice sheet: an ice sheet is a huge, thick layer of land ice that covers more than about 50,000 km². Greenland's ice sheet is the second largest in the world, after Antarctica's.
• If it melted completely, global sea level would rise by about 7 m. NASA puts the figure at about 7.4 m (24 feet) [7][6].
• Greenland has lost ice every year since the late 1990s. Its average loss was about 219 billion tonnes (Gt) a year in 2003–2024 [6].
• In 2024–25 (September 2024 to August 2025), it lost about 129 Gt. This was less than usual because more snow fell. More fresh snow reflects more sunlight, so less ice melts. But ice discharge (ice sliding off into the sea as glaciers and icebergs) stayed high, at about 491 Gt a year [6].

• Over a longer period, its yearly ice loss went up from about 25 Gt in the 1990s to about 234 Gt in recent years. That is roughly seven times faster [7].

• Why it matters in geopolitics:

• Rare earth elements and other minerals lie under its rocks.
• It sits on the North Atlantic and close to new Arctic shipping routes.
• The USA showed interest in buying it in 2019 and again in 2025. Greenland and Denmark both rejected the idea.

2. The Arctic Council

• Arctic Council: a high-level forum where Arctic countries work together. It was set up by the Ottawa Declaration (1996).
• What it works on: environmental protection and sustainable development (meeting today's needs without harming the needs of future generations) in the Arctic. It does not deal with military security.
• Members: the eight Arctic states are Canada, Denmark (for Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA.
• Permanent participants: organisations of indigenous peoples (the first peoples of a region), such as Inuit and Saami groups. They sit at the table, but they do not vote.
• Observers: countries from outside the region, such as India, can attend meetings and help with research.

• India has been an observer since 2013, along with China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Italy.

• After 2022: the other seven members paused work with Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022. Some project work restarted later at a limited level. Russia holds about half of the Arctic coastline.

3. India in the Arctic — Himadri station and the Arctic Policy

• Himadri: India's first Arctic research station, set up in 2008.
• Location: Ny-Alesund, on Spitsbergen Island in Norway's Svalbard archipelago (an archipelago is a group of islands), at about 79° N [5].
• It is run by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa, which comes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

• It has been the main base for Indian science in the Arctic since 2008 [5].

• Svalbard Treaty (1920): it gives Norway sovereignty (full control) over Svalbard. It also lets the citizens of all signing countries do research and some economic work there. India is a party to it, and that is why India can have a station at Svalbard.

• India's Arctic Policy (2022): released on 17 March 2022 and titled "India and the Arctic: building a partnership for sustainable development" [5]. It rests on six pillars [5]:

No.	Pillar
1	Strengthening science and research cooperation
2	Climate and environmental protection
3	Economic and human development
4	Transportation and connectivity
5	Governance and international cooperation
6	National capacity building

• Why India cares about the Arctic: Arctic warming may affect the Indian monsoon, and melting Arctic ice raises sea level along India's 7,500 km coast.

4. Antarctica — the ice continent

• Antarctica (NCERT: Class 6): a cold continent around the South Pole. Almost all of it is covered by thick ice, and living conditions there are very harsh. No people live there permanently. Only scientists stay at research stations.
• Ice and water: it holds about 90% of the world's ice and about 70% of the world's fresh water.
• Physical division: the Transantarctic Mountains run across the continent and divide it into two parts:

Feature	East Antarctica	West Antarctica
Size	Larger	Smaller
Base	Ice lies mostly on land above sea level	Much of the ice rests on bedrock below sea level
Stability	More stable	Less stable, because warm seawater can reach under the ice
India's stations	Maitri, Bharati	None
Example	—	Thwaites Glacier

5. The Antarctic Treaty system

• Antarctic Treaty: signed in 1959 in Washington by 12 countries. It came into force in 1961.
• It keeps Antarctica only for peaceful purposes and for science.
• It bans military activity, nuclear tests and the dumping of radioactive waste.

• It freezes the land claims of seven countries: Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the UK. Freezing means no new claim can be made and no old claim can be enlarged while the treaty is in force.

• Madrid Protocol (1991, in force 1998): its full name is the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It names Antarctica a "natural reserve devoted to peace and science" and bans all mining.

• Consultative party: a member country that does serious scientific work in Antarctica. Only these members vote at the yearly Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM).
• India's role:
• India joined the Treaty in 1983 and became a consultative party in the same year.
• India passed the Indian Antarctic Act 2022. It sets India's own national rules to protect the Antarctic environment and the ecosystems that depend on it, and it controls Indian expeditions and activities there [4].
• India hosted the 46th ATCM and the 26th meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP-26) in Kochi, Kerala, from 20 to 30 May 2024. MoES organised it through NCPOR [2].

6. India's Antarctic research stations

• Indian Antarctic Programme: India's scientific programme in Antarctica. It began in 1981 with the first Indian expedition. NCPOR, Goa, runs it.

Station	Year	Location	Status
Dakshin Gangotri	1983	Built on an ice shelf in East Antarctica (Queen Maud Land coast)	Buried under ice; now a supply base
Maitri	1989	Schirmacher Oasis, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica	Working station
Bharati	2012	Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica (Prydz Bay coast)	Working station
Maitri-II	Planned	Will replace Maitri	Expected to be ready by 2032 [3]

• Ice shelf: a thick, floating sheet of ice joined to the land. Snow piled up on it, and Dakshin Gangotri was slowly buried.
• Oasis (in Antarctica): an area of land with no ice cover. Rock and small lakes are exposed there. Maitri sits on such a patch.
• Maitri-II details [3]:
• It will have modern laboratories, facilities to store and process ice cores (long tubes of ice drilled out to study past climate), a biology and microbial research suite, and more equipment to observe the atmosphere.
• MoES has approved ₹29.2 crore for early work, such as the architectural design and the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
• Building it is expected to take about seven years, with completion around 2032.

7. Thwaites Glacier — the "Doomsday Glacier"

• Thwaites Glacier: a very large glacier in West Antarctica. It is about the size of Florida, and it drains into the Amundsen Sea.
• How it melts (cause → process → result):
• Cause: warm, salty deep seawater flows in under the floating front of the glacier.
• Process: the water melts the ice from below. The grounding line (the point where the ice stops resting on the seabed and starts to float) moves back inland. The bed slopes downward inland, so deeper and thicker ice keeps meeting warm water.

• Result: the glacier thins, speeds up and sends more ice into the sea.

• Evidence:

• The amount of ice flowing out of Thwaites has doubled in about 30 years [8].
• A cavity (empty space) about two-thirds the size of Manhattan and almost 300 m (1,000 feet) tall has grown under the glacier [9].

• Thwaites is one of the biggest contributors to sea-level rise from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet [9].

• Risk: if it collapses, sea level could rise by about 65 cm. Thwaites also holds back the ice behind it, so its loss could destabilise the whole West Antarctic Ice Sheet.

• Tipping element: a part of the Earth system that can pass a threshold and then change sharply, often in a way that cannot be reversed. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet and the Greenland ice sheet are both tipping elements.

8. Recent signs of polar change

• Antarctic sea ice in 2023 (sea ice is frozen seawater that floats on the ocean, unlike land ice):
• Record summer low: 1.79 million km² on 21 February 2023 [11].
• Record lowest winter maximum: 16.96 million km² on 10 September 2023. This was 1.03 million km² below the previous record low set in 1986 [10].

• The fall continues a downward trend that began after a record high in 2014 [10].

• Giant icebergs: A23a is one of the world's largest icebergs. It broke off the Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, stayed stuck on the seabed for decades, and then drifted north and broke apart. It drew worldwide attention.

• Arctic amplification: the Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the world as a whole.
• Cause: sea ice melts, so the white, reflecting surface is replaced by dark ocean.
• Process: the dark ocean absorbs more heat, which melts more ice. This is a feedback loop (a change that drives more of the same change).

• Result: the summer ice gets thinner and covers less area, and the Northern Sea Route opens up.

• Northern Sea Route (NSR): a shipping route along Russia's Arctic coast, from the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait. It cuts the Europe–East Asia sea journey by thousands of kilometres compared with the Suez Canal route. However, it is open only for part of the year, and Russia controls it.

Prelims Hooks

• Greenland is the largest island in the world (Australia is a continent). It is an autonomous territory of Denmark, not an independent country.
• Ice-sheet ranking: Antarctica first, Greenland second. Complete Greenland melt would add about 7 m to sea level [6].
• Arctic Council: Ottawa Declaration, 1996. It has 8 member states, and indigenous groups are permanent participants, not members. India has been an observer since 2013. Trap: India is not a member.
• Himadri (2008): Ny-Alesund, Svalbard (Norway). India's legal basis to work there is the Svalbard Treaty (1920).
• India's stations in order of setting up: Dakshin Gangotri (1983) → Maitri (1989) → Bharati (2012). Pairs: Maitri–Schirmacher Oasis, Bharati–Larsemann Hills. Maitri-II is due around 2032 [3].
• Antarctic Treaty: signed in 1959 (Washington), in force from 1961. Madrid Protocol: signed in 1991, in force from 1998, and bans mining. Seven countries have frozen claims. India is not a claimant.
• India and the Antarctic Treaty: India joined in 1983 and became a consultative party in 1983. Indian Antarctic Act 2022. India hosted ATCM-46 at Kochi in May 2024 [2].
• Thwaites ("Doomsday") Glacier is in West Antarctica, not East Antarctica. It melts mainly from below, by warm seawater.
• India's Arctic Policy (17 March 2022) rests on six pillars [5].
• Northern Sea Route runs along Russia's coast. The Northwest Passage runs through Canada's Arctic islands.

Mains Points

• Melting polar ice threatens sea levels (GS-III, disasters and environment):
• Greenland now loses about 219 Gt of ice a year (2003–2024 average) [6], and Thwaites alone could add about 65 cm to sea level.

• Higher seas mean more coastal flooding, salt water entering farmland and aquifers, and threats to cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and to the Sundarbans and Lakshadweep.

• Arctic geopolitics (GS-II/GS-I):

• Arctic amplification is opening the Northern Sea Route and making minerals (rare earths in Greenland) easier to reach.
• This brings US–Russia–China competition, and Arctic Council cooperation was paused after 2022.

• India's 2022 Arctic Policy balances science, climate concerns, shipping links and good governance [5].

• India as a polar science power (GS-III, science and technology):

• India works in the Arctic (Himadri), the Antarctic (Maitri, Bharati and the planned Maitri-II) and the Himalaya, often called the "Third Pole".
• The Indian Antarctic Act 2022 [4] and hosting ATCM-46 [2] show India as a rule-following consultative party.

• Polar research helps explain monsoon links and sea-level projections for India.

• Peace and conservation model: the Antarctic Treaty and Madrid Protocol (claims frozen, mining banned) are a model for managing the global commons (areas that belong to no single country). They face new pressure from tourism, fishing and the end of the Protocol's protected status being open for review after 2048.