As the North Pole’s ice cap gives way to global warming, countries bordering the formerly inaccessible Arctic are now vying to claim its untapped resources.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on the rapid rates of warming in recent years in the sub-regions of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Ice, snow and climate change are closely linked. The Global Outlook for Ice and Snow investigates those connections, the current situation of ice and snow and the global significance of changes, now and in the years to come.

NOAA has published a report on the decline in Arctic snow and ice coverage.

This report by World Wildlife Fund catalogues the damaging effects of climate change on glaciers and offers possible solutions.

With this agreement (also known as the Ottawa Declaration) the Arctic Council was established on September 19, 1996, by Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. The Arctic Council is a forum to promote collaboration among the Arctic States, Arctic Indigenous communities, and other Arctic inhabitants on issues such as sustainable development and environmental protection.

The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty "was signed in Madrid on October 4, 1991 and entered into force in 1998. It designates Antarctica as a 'natural reserve, devoted to peace and science' ".

This strategy, also known as the Finnish Initiative, was signed on June 14, 1991 by Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the USSR, and the United States, five years before the founding of the Arctic Council. The strategy aims to monitor, protect, promote sustainable development in the Arctic region and recognize the rights of indigenous peoples in relation to environmental issues.

The Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) was adopted on May 20, 1980 and entered into force on April 7, 1982.