The Arctic is as of now hostage to global warming, with changes to the icecap, to fish stocks and to Russian and Canadian sea-routes. Huge oil and gas fields (Barents Sea), exports by land and sea of raw materials, the development of methane tankers, nuclear pollution risks (the Russian Kola Peninsula), the question of sovereignty and zones of influence, as well as the importance of the region for American missile defence, are all crucial issues in this changing geostrategic arena.
The far North, a New Geopolitical Arena
The study of the far North is an issue that needs to be addressed for many reasons. To this end it should be noted that 2007-08 has been declared to be International Polar Year (nearly 70 nations have subscribed to it).
Firstly, global warming has become an undisputed reality: climatic changes are taking place. The polar icecap has been shrinking since the 1970s: various satellite maps together with reports from both Soviet and American nuclear submarines, not to mention the captains of ice-breakers and polar expeditionary ships amply demonstrate this phenomenon. It will have great long-term effects, on the quantity of human activities, on the habitat, and on the flora and fauna.
Sea levels are rising: in the worst case, if the Greenland icecap were to totally disappear, there would be a seven-metre rise in sea level. The salinity of the water is changing: whilst the icecap is composed of salt water, icebergs are of fresh water since they come from glaciers. The great ocean currents are being affected: cold water from the melting icecap is intruding into the Gulf Stream. Fish stocks and the fishing industry are being affected: being accustomed to a certain temperature, fish are migrating and one must remember that cod is one of the largest of Norway’s resources (fish is its second largest export).(1) Glacial erosion is obvious: whilst the Antarctic is a true continent (14 million sq. km, which is 1.7 times the size of Brazil) that rises to a height of 5,140 m and remains far from civilisation (at 3,600 km from Cape Horn), the Arctic is well and truly a frozen ocean which has a multitude of glaciers and whose islands are inhabited and close to large population centres (Canada, the Scandinavian countries, Finland, Russia, etc.). The extraction of mineral resources from beneath the sea (oil and natural gas) is becoming widespread: the Americans via Alaska, and the Norwegians and Russians via the Barents Sea. Ecosystems are being transformed, affecting indigenous peoples, settlements, the economy, transportation, and tourism.
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