The Arctic has always been the place that keeps everything else in check. White ice reflecting sunlight back into space, cold water regulating temperature, the whole system running quietly at the top of the world while everyone else got on with things.
That system is coming apart. The ice that’s left is younger and thinner than it used to be — seasonal ice that melts in summer instead of the thick multiyear sheets that used to survive it. When it goes, dark ocean takes its place. Dark ocean absorbs heat. More heat melts more ice. All gas, no brakes. There’s no natural off switch.
Scientists expect the first ice-free Arctic summer sometime in the 2030s, and like the breeze off that water this candle smells clean, crisp, open. Just missing something it used to have.
