This would considerably worsen the climate change situation. This could release hitherto condensed carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons like methane gas. On the one hand, some scientists are worried that northern Russian permafrost (which keeps the soil looking like concrete) may start to melt. Warmer Arctic weather creates new opportunities for wealth but also new dangers and new dilemmas. Half a century ago the polar ice caps were twice as big as they are today. Second, there is the continued speculation over climate change and the potential melting of the polar ice caps. It consists of Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia Sweden and the United States. It's a high level government forum to provide a means for promoting co-operation, co-ordination and interaction among the Arctic States. Perhaps the most important of the new organisations is the Arctic Council, formed in 1996. There is a new willingness of the countries to come together to form regional fauna. A World War III would have been fought with bombers and missiles flying over the Arctic.įor the first time in its history, the Arctic looks set to play a larger role in world politics.įirst, the Cold War is over and relations between the Arctic countries are no longer so frosty. With the Soviet Union's acquisition of both long-range aircraft and nuclear missiles, the United States co-operated with its allies to create an elaborate 'early warning system' across the region.
Then the Arctic became a frontline in the Cold War. This isolation began to change in World War II with the opening up of aerial routes across the top of the Atlantic as a way for the United States and Canadian personnel and supplies to reach the Allies in the United Kingdom. Ironically its bleakness was a source of security: neighbouring countries knew that they were at least safe from land invasion from the north (even if they were vulnerable on their other fronts). The Arctic remained on the periphery of world politics. The United States suddenly became a player in Arctic politics (although Alaska remains the largest American state and the third least populated one). There was no consultation with the Indigenous peoples. The Russians sold Alaska to the United States in 1867. The Russians were rarely welcomed by the indigenous peoples. They were particularly interested in the fur of the local animals. They now control the largest single amount of Arctic territory (ahead of Canada). The Russians, for example, reached Siberia in the 16th century. The neighbouring countries gradually expanded northwards. They had minimal contact with the outside world. They tended to live a quiet, fairly nomadic, isolated, independent-minded subsistence existence. Indigenous peoples have lived within the region for thousands of years. The region is also very diverse in terms of landscape, ranging from pack and drift ice to rugged shores, flat coastal plains, hills and mountains. The line of average July temperature of 10 degrees C (50 degrees F)Īnd the Arctic Circle, which is based on the latitude of 66 degrees and 33 minutes north. Northern limits of strands of trees on land, called the treeline There are three ways of defining the Arctic's boundary: The Arctic Ocean is the planet's smallest and least explored ocean. The region contains both the mainly ice-covered Arctic Ocean and some of the surrounding land, including all of Greenland (a Danish territory) and Spitzbergen (administered by Norway) and the northern parts of Alaska, Canada, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and Sweden. Part of the Arctic's political complexity comes from the fact that the Arctic is not one single landmass (unlike, say, Antarctica). Now increasingly it is a matter of political, economic and legal interest. The Arctic used to be of interest mainly to science. This could trigger a new scramble for territory, similar to that of the 19th century's scramble for Africa. Keith Suter: Is the Arctic heading for a new era? A by-product of the speculation over climate change has been the suggestion that global warming will enable greater access to the Arctic's considerable resources. What's happening? Well, here's Dr Keith Suter from the Department of Politics at Macquarie University. And the ice which once kept people away is now letting them navigate open waters. We both note that Santa Claus just returned to his home compound at the North Pole, but he's not looking so relaxed and cheery right now, as he has in previous years. Robyn Williams: Happy New Year from me and William of Ockham.