The warning signs are clear in the Far North, where Russian and Alaskan towns are literally sinking into the ground. The hard permafrost on which their community and infrastructure were built is melting away, destroying lives and releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Western export controls against Russia, enacted after President Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, prevent access to the technology Russia could use to stem such climate change issues. Emissions throughout the Arctic have ballooned in recent years. Alaskan permafrost warmth records broke in 2024 and the region now emits more carbon than it absorbs. For Russians, the Arctic looms large: a vast frozen bulwark full of untapped potential, the development of which Putin heralded as “the future of Russia.” Putin’s speech at Russia’s Inte
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