I have had a fascination with the north for as long as I can remember. When I was growing up, I knew a pilot who regaled me with stories of bush flying in Alaska. I toyed with the idea of becoming a bush pilot and going to Alaska to live. I did become a pilot, but it was never my primary pursuit in life, and I never came close to being good enough for off-airport flying in Alaska. I took up winter sports, and we came close to attending the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. However, we got caught up in a ticket scam, and by the time all that got sorted out, there were very few tickets available for the events we wanted to see. I have dipped my toes in the North Sea off the coast of England and the Netherlands, and we have traveled as far north as Edmonton in Alberta. I’ve been talking about taking a trip to Alaska with a side trip up the Dempster Highway past the Arctic Circle, through Inuvik, to Tuktoyaktuk, to swim in the Arctic Ocean for many years. I’m fairly sure that some of my friends are wondering if I will ever take the trip, or if I’ll talk about it and never follow through. Sometimes I share their skepticism.

We considered taking the trip during one of our sabbaticals when we were still working, but we never quite managed to work it out. Other trips took us in different directions. Then we retired. The first summer was invested in moving. Since then, COVID-19, wildfires, and family obligations have combined in a way that has prevented us from traveling north. We now live on the border with Canada. There are lots of trips north that we can take with less investment of time and money than going all the way to Alaska or the Arctic Circle. We have yet to explore much of British Columbia, and the Yukon and Northwest Territories lie beyond that.

Sometimes I think I’m in love with the idea more than with the effort it takes to make the dream come true. The dream remains, however, and we are taking some solid steps with the intention of making 2026 the year of our great trip north.

Part of the attraction of a trip north for me is the sense that things are changing quickly. The Arctic is experiencing rapid warming due to global warming. The sea ice is melting at an alarming rate. Shipping in the Arctic Ocean is rapidly expanding due to the decrease in sea ice. Roads are being made and improved. More tourists travel north every year. When I started to dream of an Arctic trip, the only road to Tuktoyaktuk was a winter ice road. Inuvik was the end of the road. Now, there is a good gravel road to Tuk, and the influx of people like me, who want to see the Arctic Ocean, is shifting the character of the remote Indigenous village. Part of the lure of visiting such a remote location is the opportunity to meet and learn from the people who have made the place their home for generations. Their world has been invaded by broadcast television, the Internet, and tourists from the south, bringing problems from the outside, including severe addiction to dangerous substances. It isn’t just the ice that is shifting. The culture is shifting as well.

Although I have not yet traveled to the North Country, I have read about it more than the average person in my community. I take every opportunity I can to talk with those who have made the trip. I have friends who are on their way back home from a trip to Tuk this summer, and I’ll be peppering them with questions soon.

For decades, scientists have been developing theories and proposing experiments to slow the warming of the Arctic. Proposals for artificially modifying the climate through geoengineering continue to surface. Several feasibility studies have been conducted. Proposals, including thickening sea ice by pumping water onto the surface, fertilizing the ocean with iron to cool the water, and seeding clouds with sunlight-reflecting particles, had all been put forward. So far, it is questionable whether such proposals can be put into effect on the scale required. The Arctic is a vast area, and such projects would have to be massive and involve substantial budgets.

Beyond the scale of such proposals lies the very real possibility of unintended consequences. Humans don’t have a very good track record when it comes to the environment. Even when we are trying to correct past mistakes, we are still prone to making new ones. Scientists are seriously questioning whether such efforts should be made at all. Cooling the Arctic without addressing the broader issue of global warming may accelerate the warming of mid-latitudes and equatorial regions. That would make storm systems even more powerful, and storms might bring more heat to the Arctic, exacerbating the problem geoengineers were seeking to correct.

A majority of climate scientists agree that the key to slowing the melting of Arctic sea ice is reducing the use of carbon-based fuels. Even as they explore other options, scientists agree that decarbonization is the most feasible and crucial step for humans to take. Geoengineering as a solution is so expensive and fraught with unintended consequences that, at this point, its use is speculative. So far, it is in the same realm as my trip to the Arctic. It has been imagined, but has not yet become a practical reality.

The solution to global warming will require dedication over a prolonged period of time. I doubt that we will see a reversal of human-caused climate change in my lifetime. That does not mean that we shouldn’t try. Some of the most worthy projects humans have undertaken require multiple generations for completion. Some worthy projects will never be finished.

A trip to the Arctic, however, is a much smaller adventure. For now, I’m convinced it is one we’ll accomplish.