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Florian Schulz

With the Sadlerochit Mountains rising in the distance, two muskoxen mosey through a scene devoid of the human touch. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest protected areas in the U.S. and one of the wildest places left on Earth—at least for now.

A polar bear and her cubs explore a spit of land projecting into the Beaufort Sea, waiting for the water to freeze enough so they can hunt seals—their main food source. The loss of sea ice caused by a rapidly warming climate has forced polar bears to scrounge for scraps onshore and has reduced the southern Beaufort population by 40 percent.

The coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to caribou in spring and summer and to denning polar bears in winter. It may also conceal billions of barrels of oil.

In spring, caribou migrate to the Arctic refuge’s coastal plain. There they spend weeks grazing on tundra, giving birth, and dodging mosquitoes and predators—including Alaska-native hunters, for whom caribou are a crucial resource.

A polar bear and her cubs explore a spit of land projecting into the Beaufort Sea, waiting for the water to freeze enough so they can hunt seals—their main food source. The loss of sea ice caused by a rapidly warming climate has forced polar bears to scrounge for scraps onshore and has reduced the southern Beaufort population by 40 percent.

The Prudhoe Bay oil field, west of the Arctic refuge, shows what oil production looks like on Alaska's North Slope. It's the largest oil field in North America, covering 213,543 acres and originally containing approximately 25 billion barrels of oil. The Brooks Range is on the horizon.</p