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Countries Plan Land Rush in Warming Arctic

Posted by michael on from the when-greenland-turns-green dept.

Noel Bourke sent in a pointer to this story about northern nations maneuvering to claim land in the Arctic. Fossil fuels, shipping lanes, and fishing are among the economic interests at stake, in an opportunity opened up by the melting Arctic ice.

3 of 657 comments (clear)

  1. A unique and amazing ecoregion by Lindsay+Lohan · · Score: 5, Interesting
    At stake, in what could be the last great territorial land-grab, is the promise of untold mineral riches
    Where humans have tread, the Arctic has suffered. Plans for a northern shipping route through the Russian Arctic could open up oil, gas, and other natural resources for exploitation. This could increase the risk of oil spills and introduce species such as rats to the ecoregion, which could have drastic consequences for nesting seabirds. The Novaya Zemlya area has a unique problem. It has been serving as a test area for nuclear weapons and suffers from elevated levels of plutonium, cesium, and other radioactive pollutants.
  2. Re:Real reason this was posted? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Should have been posted in Politics anyway. It might be international politics, but it's certainly politics when Denmark sends a oceangoing geographic team north from Greenland in the dead of winter to plant flags on every little rock they find sticking up from the ice.

    A question though- why the heck is global warming still contraversial? After all, it doesn't matter if it's man or nature caused- dealing with it is going to be everybody's concern very soon, and there's very little doubt left that it is happening.

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  3. Re:A unique and amazing ecoregion - WRONG. by kooshvt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Think of it like this: take a glass of water and put a rubber duck in it. The duck floats, yes? Now push the duck down so that it's top is even with the top of the water. What happens to the water? Same thing that will happen to our oceans when that freshwater melts.

    So you are saying that a glacier weighs the same as a duck and is therefore a witch?