Freed by warming, /waters once locked beneath ice are gnawing（咬、侵蚀） at coastal settlements（村落）/around the Arctic Circle（北极圈）. In Bykovsky（）, a village of 457 people on Russia's northeast coast, the shoreline is collapsing, /creeping（爬行） closer and closer to houses and tanks（大容器） of heating oil（采暖用油）, /at a rate of 15 to 18 feet a year.
"It is practically all ice – permafrost（永久冻土） - and it is thawing（融化）." For the four million people /who live north of the Arctic Circle, a changing climate presents new opportunities. But it also threatens their environment, their homes and, for those /whose traditions rely on the ice-bound wilderness, /the preservation of their culture.
A push to develop the North, /quickened by the melting of the Arctic seas, carries its own rewards and dangers for people in the region. The discovery of vast petroleum（石油） fields in the Barents and Kara Seas /has raised fears of catastrophic accidents /as ships loaded with oil and, soon, liquefied（液化的） gas churn（作动词－搅动翻腾） /through the fisheries off Scandinavia, /headed to markets in Europe and North America. Land that was untouched could be tainted by pollution /as generators（发电机）, smokestacks（大烟囱） and large vehicles sprout（发芽、发展） to support the growing energy industry.
Coastal erosion is a problem in Alaska （阿拉斯加）as well, forcing the United States to prepare to relocate several Inuit（因纽特人/爱斯基摩人） villages /at a projected（计划的） cost of $100 million or more for each one.
Across the Arctic, indigenous（本地的） tribes with traditions /shaped by centuries of living in extremes of cold and ice are noticing changes in weather and wildlife. They are trying to adapt, but it can be confounding（不知所措、困惑）.
In Finnmark（）, Norway's northernmost province, the Arctic landscape unfolds in late winter /as an endless snowy plateau（高原）, silent but for the cries of the reindeer /and the occasional whine（鸣叫） of a snowmobile（摩托雪橇） herding（放牧） them.
A changing Arctic is fe
