The Economic Benefits of a Melting Arctic Ice Cap
Posted by
JAC on 5/13/2011, 10:18 am
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/wikileaks-reveals-arctic-could-be-the-new-col/blog/34735
http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2009/05/09MOSCOW1346.html
Behind Russia's policy are two potential benefits
accruing from global warming: the prospect for an (even
seasonally) ice-free shipping route from Europe to Asia, and
the estimated oil and gas wealth hidden beneath the Arctic
sea floor. The shipping route would reduce the distance of a
voyage from Europe to Asia by 40 percent (if compared to a
route through the Suez Canal). These savings in shipping
costs to Russia and to Europe are potentially huge, even if
the voyage could only be made in the summer months.
The Arctic region, both within Russia's legally
clarified borders and in areas beyond, likely holds vast
untapped resources of oil and gas. While many Russian
analysts are skeptical that any of these resources will be
economically exploitable in the near future, the Russian
leadership wants to secure sovereignty over these ""strategic""
resources. |
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