Arctic race

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Chinese Tycoon to Buy Chunk of Iceland

Put critics are worried about the idea of China getting its hands on their land

(Newser) - How much does it cost to purchase 0.3% of Iceland? About $8.8 million, learned one Chinese tycoon who plans to do just that. Huang Nubo has made a provisional deal to buy 115 square miles of wilderness in the northeastern part of the country, which the real estate...

Russia Poised to Make Mammoth Arctic Sea Grab

Scramble for melting Arctic starting to heat up

(Newser) - As melting ice continues to make more of the Arctic Sea accessible every year, Russia is planning to annex an area of the sea the size of Texas and Arizona combined. The Kremlin is expected to stake its claim to the waters at the United Nations, arguing that the Siberian...

US, Canada Team Up to Explore Uncharted Arctic

(Newser) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's...

White House: US Must Assert Rights in Warming Arctic

Outgoing policymakers expect surge in region's military, commercial activity

(Newser) - With the Arctic getting warmer, the Bush administration predicts a multinational grab at resources there. To that end, it released a 10-page directive describing challenges the US faces and calling for an Arctic policy that underlines US concerns, the Washington Post reports. “The United States has broad and fundamental...

US Ship Joins Race for Arctic Resources

Mapping the continental shelf integral to oil and gas rights

(Newser) - A Coast Guard cutter will this week begin mapping Alaska’s continental shelf, Reuters reports, in a first step toward mining data that could be used to establish rights to oil exploration in the Arctic. Melting ice caps, which one scientist calls "bad for the Arctic, but very very...

Arctic Holds 3 Years of Oil
 Arctic Holds 3 Years of Oil 
Jul 24, 2008 7:24 AM CDT

Arctic Holds 3 Years of Oil

A fifth of world's untapped reserves may be under melting ice

(Newser) - Enough oil is believed to lie under the rapidly thawing Arctic to last the world 3 years, Reuters reports. The USGS released a forecast yesterday estimating the region has 90 billion recoverable barrels of oil and vast natural gas reserves. The agency's director said the information was vital in order...

Arctic Boom Awash in Green Risk
 Arctic Boom 
 Awash in
 Green Risk 
ANALYSIS
Jul 10, 2008 1:42 PM CDT

Arctic Boom Awash in Green Risk

Rush to tap vast mineral riches will tax area dearly without needed infrastructure

(Newser) - As the Arctic sea ice melts, it’s uncovering vast resources, leading to an international energy and mining rush. Companies are lining up to explore the region, and nations are reviving Arctic border disputes in hopes of tapping its wealth. But the exploitation of the area’s resources could have...

Greens Blast Arctic 'Carve Up'
 Greens Blast Arctic 'Carve Up' 
May 29, 2008 4:49 AM CDT

Greens Blast Arctic 'Carve Up'

Environmentalists rip pending 'resource grab' after nations meet

(Newser) - Environmentalists are slamming an agreement reached at a closed-door meeting among nations with Arctic claims as a resource free-for-all, the Guardian reports. Ministers from the US, Canada, Russia, Denmark, and Norway insist they simply agreed to abide by the law of the sea—but green groups charge that the nations...

EU Steels for Global Warming Conflict With Russians

Climate change will multiply trouble: report

(Newser) - The already-fraught relationship between Europe and Russia is bound to get worse in the next few decades. That's the sobering conclusion of a new European Union report on global warming and international politics, which concludes that climate change will act as a "threat multiplier," exacerbating today's problems and...

Seabed Rights Add Up to Long Division

UN team weighs international claims on underwater territory

(Newser) - The UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf has a big job. As some 60 countries rush to claim the ocean seabed—and the oil reserves beneath—the 21-person team of part-time scientists must settle disputes, relying on geology and the sometimes arcane Law of the Sea. “...

US Blunts Arctic Oil Warning
US Blunts Arctic Oil Warning
Jan 23, 2008 2:18 PM CST

US Blunts Arctic Oil Warning

Report's recommendations cut on US, Swedish objections

(Newser) - A top researcher for the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was poised this week to deliver a stern warning against the oil drilling operations sweeping the Arctic—until politicians pulled the teeth from his report, Der Spiegel reports. The report needed approval from the Arctic council that commissioned it—...

Canada Asserts Arctic Authority
Canada Asserts Arctic Authority
Oct 8, 2007 2:55 PM CDT

Canada Asserts Arctic Authority

Ice melt inflames dispute over control of Northwest Passage

(Newser) - In the wake of this summer's record-shattering Arctic melting, Canada is asserting its control over the Northwest Passage, increasing patrols, and planning to build a military base, the BBC reports. Apparently undeterred by competing claims to the legendary waterway, the head of the Canadian Coast Guard says it's "important...

Sailors Find Iceless NW Passage
Sailors Find Iceless NW Passage
Sep 13, 2007 8:40 PM CDT

Sailors Find Iceless NW Passage

As ice thaws, yachts glide through Northwest Passage

(Newser) - It's smooth sailing in the Arctic nowadays. Even in recent years, the ice was apt to claim adventurers who dared navigate the Northwest Passage. This year the passage has no ice. And with global warming claiming some 38,000 square miles of ice a year, the Journal reports, the Arctic...

Danes Join Scramble for Arctic
Danes Join Scramble for Arctic
Aug 11, 2007 1:20 PM CDT

Danes Join Scramble for Arctic

Denmark to launch expedition to Arctic to defend territorial claims

(Newser) - A Danish expedition is set to head for the Arctic tomorrow, joining the scramble to claim polar territories. A team of 40 scientists and massive icebreakers are heading north to prove that a 2,000-kilometer underwater mountain range stretching to the pole is an extension of Greenland, and accordingly belongs...

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