There are no cornfields in the Arctic, no acres of soybeans or wheat. It’s just caribou, polar bears, resilient human communities, and some of the most remote wilderness on Earth.^{1 2 3} So why are agricultural pesticides turning up in the air here? A multi-country study published in 2024 found 19 different pesticides in the Arctic atmosphere, 15 of which scientists have never recorded in the region before.^{4 5}