Page 28 - aruba-today-20190824

A28 SCIENCE
Saturday 24 auguSt 2019

Climate change turns Arctic into strategic, economic hotspot

By DAVID RISING and SETH acknowledged its impor-
BORENSTEIN tance to both nations.
Associated Press “The developments in the
TASIILAQ, Greenland Arctic region calls for fur-
(AP) — From a helicopter, ther cooperation between
Greenland’s brilliant white the U.S. and Greenland, the
ice and dark mountains Faeroe Islands and Den-
make the desolation seem mark,” she said. “Therefore
to go on forever. And the I would like to underline our
few people who live here invitation for a stronger co-
— its whole population operation on Arctic affairs
wouldn’t fill a football stadi- still stands.”
um — are poor, with a high Greenland is thought to
rate of substance abuse have the largest deposits
and suicide. outside China of rare earth
One scientist called it the minerals used to make bat-
“end of the planet.” teries and cellphones.
When U.S. President Don- Such minerals were
ald Trump floated the idea deemed critical to eco-
of buying Greenland, it was nomic and national se-
met with derision, seen as curity by the U.S. Interior
an awkward and inappro- Department last year, and
priate approach of an erst- as demand rises “depos-
while ally. In this Aug. 14, 2019, file photo, icebergs are photographed from the window of an airplane its outside of China will be
But it might also be an carrying NASA scientists as they fly on a mission to track melting ice in eastern Greenland. sought to serve as a coun-
Aladdin’s Cave of oil, nat- Associated Press terbalance to any market
ural gas and rare earth especially if the Northwest to the Arctic is an incredibly Air Force Base, 1,200 kilo- control that could be ex-
minerals just waiting to be Passage becomes a transit challenging marathon, not meters (745 miles) south of erted by a single large pro-
tapped as the ice recedes. route for shipping, which is a sprint. the North Pole. ducer,” said Kenneth Med-
The northern island and the what is happening in the The melting of the Green- After the war, the U.S. pro- lock, senior director at the
rest of the Arctic aren’t just Russian Arctic.” land ice sheet creates un- posed buying Greenland Center for Energy Studies
hotter due to global warm- In April, Russian President certainty and danger for for $100 million after flirting at Rice University.
ing. As melting ice opens Vladimir Putin put forward offshore oil and gas devel- with the idea of swapping Off Greenland’s shores, the
shipping lanes and reveals an ambitious program to opers, threatening rigs and land in Alaska for parts of U.S. Geological Survey esti-
incredible riches, the re- reaffirm his country’s pres- ships. the Arctic island. The U.S. mates there could be 17.5
gion is seen as a new geo- ence in the Arctic, includ- “All that ice doesn’t sud- also thought about buying billion undiscovered barrels
political and economic ing efforts to build ports denly melt; it creates ice- Greenland 80 years earlier. of oil and 148 trillion cubic
asset, with the U.S., Russia, and other infrastructure bergs that you have to Trump “may not be as feet of natural gas, though
China and others wanting and expand its icebreaker navigate around,” said crazy as he sounds despite the remote location and
in. fleet. Russia wants to stake Victoria Herrmann, manag- his ham-fisted offer, which harsh weather have limited
“An independent Green- its claim in the region that is ing director of the Arctic In- clearly upset the Danes, exploration. Around the
land could, for example, believed to hold up to one- stitute, a nonprofit focused and rightly so,” Hampson Arctic Circle, there’s po-
offer basing rights to either fourth of the Earth’s undis- on Arctic security. said. tential for 90 billion barrels
Russia or China or both,” covered oil and gas. On the other hand, while Greenland is part of the of oil.
said Fen Hampson, the for- China sees Greenland as mining in Greenland has Danish realm along with Only 14 offshore wells were
mer head of the interna- a possible source of rare been expensive due to the Faeroe Islands, anoth- drilled in the past 40 years,
tional security program at earths and other miner- the environment, develop- er semi-autonomous terri- according to S&P Global
the Centre for International als and a port for shipping ment costs have fallen as tory, and has its own gov- Analytics. So far, no oil in
Governance Innovation through the Arctic to the the ice has melted, making ernment and parliament. exploitable quantities has
think tank in Waterloo, On- eastern U.S. It called last it more attractive to poten- Greenland’s 56,000 resi- been found.
tario, who is now a profes- year for joint development tial buyers, she said. dents got extensive home “It’s very speculative, but
sor at Carleton University. of a “Polar Silk Road” as Strategically, Greenland rule in 1979 but Denmark in theory they could have
He noted the desire by part of Beijing’s Belt and forms part of what the U.S. still handles foreign and de- a lot of oil,” said Michael
some there to secede as a Road Initiative to build rail- views as a key corridor for fense policies, with an an- Lynch, president of Strate-
semi-autonomous territory ways, ports and other facili- naval operations between nual subsidy of $670 million. gic Energy & Economic Re-
of Denmark. ties in dozens of countries. the Arctic and the North Its indigenous people are search Inc. “It’s perceived
“I am not saying this would But while global warming Atlantic. It is also part of not wealthy, and vehicles, as being the new Alaska,
happen, but it is a scenar- pushes the cold and ice the broader Arctic region, restaurants, stores and ba- where the old Alaska was
io that would have major farther north each year, ex- considered strategically sic services are few. thought to be worthless
geostrategic implications, perts caution that the race important because of its Trump said Sunday he’s and turned out to have
proximity to the U.S. and interested in Greenland huge reserves. And it’s one
economically vital for its “strategically,” but its pur- of the few places on Earth
natural resources. chase is “not No. 1 on the that’s lightly populated,
Hampson noted it was an burner.” and it’s close to the U.S.”
American protectorate Although Danish Prime Michael Byers, an Arctic
during World War II, when Minister Mette Frederiksen expert at the University of
Nazi Germany occupied called Trump’s idea to pur- British Columbia, suggests
Denmark, and the U.S. was chase Greenland an “ab- there are better approach-
allowed to build radar sta- surd discussion,” prompting es for Washington than
tions and rent-free bases him to call her “nasty” and the politically awkward
on its territory after the war. cancel an upcoming visit suggestion of purchasing
That includes today’s Thule to Copenhagen, she also Greenland.q