Department of Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences

After President-elect Trump's comments about taking control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, Professor Amanda Lynch sat down for an interview with NPR's Leila Fadel to discuss the impact of climate change on these important trade routes.

Professor Amanda Lynch, who has studied climate change in the Arctic for nearly 30 years, spoke to the New York Times about president-elect Trump's calls to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal. She notes that the new trade routes created by ice melt could heighten the risk of environmental disasters. “An oil spill or some other toxic accident on that route is inevitable and could already have happened and we just don’t know it,” she said.

This week, the eleventh session of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Research Board considered critical developments in Artificial Intelligence for weather forecasting under the leadership of Board Chair Professor Amanda Lynch.

New research shows that, rather than an opening of the passage, the safe shipping season declined along several “choke points” through the Canadian Arctic, especially on the northern route. The finding matches expectations that ice will survive longest in the Canadian Arctic, noted DEEPS Professor Amanda Lynch, who was not involved with the study.

“There’s no scenario in which melting ice in the Arctic is good news,” said DEEPS Professor Amanda Lynch, the lead author on a 2022 study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “But the unfortunate reality is that the ice is already retreating, these routes are opening up, and we need to start thinking critically about the legal, environmental, and geopolitical implications.”

In response to economic isolation due to the Ukraine invasion, Russia is seeking help from China to develop shipping routes through the Arctic. Professor Amanda Lynch shared her perspective with The Wall Street Journal, including concerns about traversing the icy passages with limited emergency support options.