As icecaps melt, Russia races for Arctic's resources

[Flabbergasted]

As icecaps melt, Russia races for Arctic's resources

This week, it stakes territory in an internationally administered area said to contain vast oil and gas reserves.

By Fred Weir | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
from the July 31, 2007 edition


Moscow - Call it the global warming sweepstakes.

As milder temperatures make exploration of the Arctic sea floor possible for the first time, Russia's biggest-ever research expedition to the region is steaming toward the immense scientific prestige of being the first to explore the seabed of the world's crown.

In the next few days, two manned minisubs will be launched through a hole blasted in the polar ice to scour the ocean floor nearly three miles below. They will gather rock samples and plant a titanium Russian flag to symbolize Moscow's claim over 460,000 square miles of hitherto international territory – an area bigger than France and Germany combined in a region estimated to contain a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves.

The issue of who owns the North Pole, now administered by the International Seabed Authority, has long been regarded as academic since the entire region is locked in year-round impenetrable ice. But with global warming thinning the icecaps, the question has vaulted to the front burner.

"The No. 1 reason for the urgency about this is global warming, which makes it likely that a very large part of the Arctic will become open to economic exploitation in coming decades," says Alexei Maleshenko, an expert with the Carnegie Center in Moscow. "The race for the North Pole is becoming very exciting." The US Geological Survey estimates that 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves lie beneath the Arctic Ocean. Experts at the Russian Institute of Oceanology calculate that the saddle-shaped territory that Russia is planning to claim may contain up to 10 billion tons of petroleum, plus other mineral resources and vast, untapped fishing stocks.



http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0731/p01s01-woeu.html

[whistle]

1. Russia is claiming what rightfully belongs to them

[jdlh8894]

3. And how is that?

The tip of Greenland's land mass is one hell of a lot closer to the Pole. Even give International waters, Greenland should have priority.

[Rydz777]

2. It's not fair! Santa Claus was there first. It belongs to him. eom

[MessiahRp]

4. *sigh* Every country has this whole thing wrong.

Instead of gleefully agttempting to pillage the oil from the North Pole the countries trying to claim it should be pushing for much stronger environmental laws to dramatically slow global warming and save it.

This addiction humans have for oil has gotten way out of control.

I know that if we were to pass some laws and force changes in smokestack laws, in fuel efficiency, get us off of oil altogether we really could do it rather quickly if we WANTED to.

The problem is the greedy fuckers taking money from big oil don't WANT to do a damn thing. They'd rather destroy the Earth for the money.

Rp

[RestoreGore]

6. Thank you

I agree and this shows how truly immoral these governments are. I just posted a couple of weeks ago about how Canada is upping its military defense of the area as well, with countries like Russia, Norway and the U.S. licking their chops as well. I find it appalling that instead of working to stop the warming all they want to do is take the spoils without understanding the devastation this melting will wreck on many parts of our world. It shows the true dark side of human nature and actually the ignorant side in looking to continue the very behavior that is causing the melting in the first place. But then, greed is usually morally blind anyway.

[peacetalksforall]

5. All the oil should be reserved for the poor of the planet. - NOT the

corporations and their barons.

THIS IS THE MOMENT - for the corporations to shine. They have the equipment and humanity needs to right some wrongs. Let's see if the corporations and the politicos they and the barons own are humane.

We DON"T have to assume the usual divisions - countries and oil companies. We can think humanity. The area belongs to the people and the sea life.