For as long as anyone can remember, Arctic has been considered inhospitable. However, the climate is changing and with it, the polar region defined as north of 66.5 degrees of latitude. Climate models now predict Arctic summers could be ice-free as early as 2050 or even 2040.
Presently, Misha the polar bear mom is still able to raise her daughter Flake on Svalbard. But, the ice is thawing, and the hunt for prey is becoming increasingly more difficult year after year. Researchers have equipped Misha with a GPS tracker which reveals her extensive hikes and journeys in search of food. Over the entire archipelago of Svalbard, and beyond to the ice caps of the north pole.

In North Canada over two decades climate researcher Dustin Whalen has recorded the drastic melting of permafrost, which has bound the tundra together for thousands of years. The land is literally disappearing and being washed into the sea. While marine biologist Sofia Ribeiro investigates the consequences of ice loss on marine life off the north-west coast of Greenland. The ice barrier between Canada and Greenland is threatened with collapse.

The search is on across the entire Arctic region for raw materials predestined to become more accessibly mined in the future. Russia's over-exploitation of nature, as in Norilsk, should never be repeated.

But for now, the Arctic remains one of the wildest and most enchanting regions on earth. „The Arctic - 66.5 Degrees North“

Meanwhile, the Russian icebreaker “50 Years of Victory” exclusively conveys a few dozen tourists to the North Pole twice a year. A unconventional cruise with just one goal: A once in a lifetime journey to the highest point on the globe.