Arctic Determination
No sooner do we hear that Canada is prepared to mount a geo-political military demonstration of ownership of the high Arctic, and to embark on the funding and building of military bases there, then by sheer coincidence (as it likely is, since such expeditions are planned far in advance of their mounting) Russia announces its renewed and energetic resumption of activities.
Operation Nanook, which will give a permanent presence to the Canadian Forces near Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island once infrastructure building commences, will be initiated with roughly a thousand Canadian Forces personnel taking part. A summer presentation of CF-18 fighter jets, transport and surveillance aircraft, a warship, and infantry companies from Quebec and Alberta, along with 5 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group is set to launch.
Canada is throwing its all into the enterprise. The current government is serious beyond recall about establishing the legality of its legacy in the Canadian High Arctic. It is our Far North, it is our heritage, our Inuit reservists with their culture of living off the land and their uninterrupted presence there representing living proof of ownership.
The public declaration that Russia is preparing to launch a scientific expedition with a nuclear-powered icebreaker on a mission to finalize Russia's claims to the extension of the geographic shelves, the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges, to establish their ownership boundaries is serious business indeed. Russia is looking to gain over a million square kilometres of Arctic geography.
Russia, Norway, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada all have issues and aspirations relating to the vast stores of riches on the Arctic seabed. Ore, precious metals, but above all immense energy reserves. The Arctic seabed may hold 13% of the world's as-yet-undiscovered oil reserves and 30% of the gas resources yet to be found, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The five nations contesting ownership of the Arctic have until 2012 to submit their scientific data outlining their individual claims to the United Nations, where an expert panel of scientists will examine the data and make the determination of continental shelf ownership under the Law of the Sea Treaty. After which time the juggling and contests between countries will be settled.
And the expectation that free access within the region made ice-free by global warming in several decades will bring to the fore additional issues of access and movement within territorial waters. We're not yet one big happy Arctic family.
Operation Nanook, which will give a permanent presence to the Canadian Forces near Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island once infrastructure building commences, will be initiated with roughly a thousand Canadian Forces personnel taking part. A summer presentation of CF-18 fighter jets, transport and surveillance aircraft, a warship, and infantry companies from Quebec and Alberta, along with 5 Canadian Ranger Patrol Group is set to launch.
Canada is throwing its all into the enterprise. The current government is serious beyond recall about establishing the legality of its legacy in the Canadian High Arctic. It is our Far North, it is our heritage, our Inuit reservists with their culture of living off the land and their uninterrupted presence there representing living proof of ownership.
The public declaration that Russia is preparing to launch a scientific expedition with a nuclear-powered icebreaker on a mission to finalize Russia's claims to the extension of the geographic shelves, the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges, to establish their ownership boundaries is serious business indeed. Russia is looking to gain over a million square kilometres of Arctic geography.
Russia, Norway, Sweden, the U.S. and Canada all have issues and aspirations relating to the vast stores of riches on the Arctic seabed. Ore, precious metals, but above all immense energy reserves. The Arctic seabed may hold 13% of the world's as-yet-undiscovered oil reserves and 30% of the gas resources yet to be found, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The five nations contesting ownership of the Arctic have until 2012 to submit their scientific data outlining their individual claims to the United Nations, where an expert panel of scientists will examine the data and make the determination of continental shelf ownership under the Law of the Sea Treaty. After which time the juggling and contests between countries will be settled.
And the expectation that free access within the region made ice-free by global warming in several decades will bring to the fore additional issues of access and movement within territorial waters. We're not yet one big happy Arctic family.
Labels: Canada, Norway, Russia, United Nations, United States
posted by Pieface | 7:23 PM
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