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October 12, 2005
Northern dimension
I've been meaning to link to a great piece the NY Times ran earlier this week (conveniently permalinked at the IHT) that describes a budding "great game" over the Arctic Ocean and its defrosting attributes:
... [T]he Arctic is undergoing nothing less than a great rush for virgin territory and natural resources worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Even before the polar ice began shrinking more each summer, countries were pushing into the frigid Barents Sea, lured by undersea oil and gas fields and emboldened by advances in technology. But now, as thinning ice stands to simplify construction of drilling rigs, exploration is likely to move even farther north.
Last year, scientists found tantalizing hints of oil in seabed samples just 200 miles from the North Pole. All told, one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources lies in the Arctic, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The polar thaw is also starting to unlock other treasures: lucrative shipping routes, perhaps even the storied Northwest Passage; new cruise ship destinations; and important commercial fisheries.
"It's the positive side of global warming, if there is a positive side," said Ron Lemieux, the transportation minister of Manitoba, whose provincial government is investing millions in Churchill. [emphasis mine]
Regular readers will be little surprised by any of this, though admittedly, it remains to be seen how much of the Arctic's promise will be borne out. Of course, the irony here is rich -- would the benefits of an Arctic thaw outweigh the other, most likely harmful consequences of global warming? I don't think we should rush to speed up the heat wave just to help our northern neighbors. At least not yet.
A couple of years ago, I attended a lecture by the Icelandic President, if for no other reason than that he was the Icelandic President. I remember he strived mightily to make the case for a "northern dimension" in international politics. It was a quaint argument, in a Scandinavian sort of way, but also a rather silly one. With temperatures rising and the ice cap melting, though, such a "northern dimension" might actually become relevant. Wily Nordics, they are.
Posted by Daniel Widome at 07:11 PM to Trans-geographical
