According to a report from the Pentagon issued last week, global warming has become much more than a worldwide threat to the environment. According to officials at the Pentagon, “a changing climate increases the risk of instability and conflict overseas.” This comes as a response to Russia’s recent claim over the Arctic—a move that prompted military and conservationist attention around the world, as the nation prepares to drill for oil at the North Pole.
The Next Saudi Arabia
On August third, the Russian Federation its revealed plans to take over a huge chunk of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole to the United Nations . If the UN complies with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new claim, this expanse in territorial control would give the nation vast economic power and influence worldwide. Long predicted to have vast and virtually untapped reserves of gas and oil– 22 percent of the entire world’s entire supply –the North Pole has been being watched by the Kremlin for quite some time now, with the hopes to turn it into what environmentalist group Greenpeace is calling “the next Saudi Arabia.”
How’d He do It?
In 1982, the UN implemented the Law of the Sea, which gives federal governments the right to claim economic territory over any land that touches its nation’s borders. This also includes submerged land that stretches out into the sea, expanding the boundaries of a country’s economic claim.
Russia has tried to use this loophole in their favor, claiming that the continental shelf that Russia sits on extends far north—as far as the Arctic shelf. These proposals have been consistently refuted by the UN, due to a lack of evidence to support their claim. However, this time Russia came prepared, using information taken from an expedition led by Artur N. Chilingarov , who piloted a submarine to the ocean floor in order to study the land masse’s measurements.
The plan is currently in review by members of the UN, with a consensus expected to be reached within the year.
A Global Battleground
Putin’s claim over the North Pole isn’t only a concern for environmentalists and conservationists around the world, concerned about the increased pollution and destruction of the Arctic, but has also caught the attention of military officials.
According to officials from the Pentagon, the issue of global warming has now extended into other issues of national and international security and stability—a perspective on the climate change debate that until now has gone relatively ignored. This concern comes as a result of conflicting claims over the North Pole, with the US, Canada, Denmark and Norway all competing for economic control over Arctic territories. Military officials from the Pentagon predict that this issue will undoubtedly lead to future conflict between all nations looking to start drilling in the Arctic.
If increased pollution and military conflict makes you uneasy, you’re not alone. Greenpeace asks you to take action on climate change by filing a petition against drilling in the Arctic, which you can fill out on their website here.
One thing we never want to do is take advantage of nature, unless it’s harmless like with Atmoph:
