The oil barons of the world - and the militaries that rely on that oil - are seeing new opportunities in the North Pole as global climate change kicks into high gear. Warming weather is leading to the Northern ice cap melting - uncovering a treasure trove of oil and natural gas reserves. Scientists believe that the Arctic is storing 13% of the world's untapped oil - and nearly a third of the world's undiscovered natural gas.
As the ice melts - access to these resources becomes easier and shipping lanes open - so now Northern nations are scrambling to stake out their chunk of Arctic resources as well as running military operating in the area should they have to fight for these resources in the not too distant future. Two months ago - military leaders from the United States, Canada, Russia, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland met to discuss security issues around the Arctic.
But Greenpeace sees what's happening in the Arctic as a tragedy for the planet. As the organization reported last year, "The terrible irony of it is that instead of seeing the melting of the Arctic ice cap as a spur to action on climate change, the leaders of the Arctic nations are instead investing in military hardware to fight for the oil beneath it. They're preparing to fight to extract the very fossil fuels that caused the melting in the first place. It's like putting out fire with petrol."
-Thom
(What do you think should happen to the Arctic? Tell us here.)
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