The Arctic: The Final Frontier of Oil

Environmentalists have been warning us about the risks posed by global warming for decades. Perhaps the most common risk associated with a warming climate is the melting of the arctic, which would subsequently cause a rise in sea levels around the world. Often dismissed as an alarmist exaggeration or a liberal hoax, the melting of the arctic is now a reality on a large scale. While skeptics shift their denial from the existence of climate change to its cause, the vast majority of climatologists agree that global warming is the result of human activity. With the political situation showing no signs of change, the melting of the arctic will only accelerate in the coming decades.

The more cynical environmentalists argue that there are ulterior motives preventing action to counter global warming, rather than just a lack of political will. It is now known that the arctic contains vast reserves of oil and other natural resources, still untapped due to the difficulty of drilling operations in arctic conditions. However, as the arctic ice recedes, these oil reserves are becoming increasingly accessible. Plans are already being made to exploit the natural resources of the arctic, and those who would benefit from this exploitation are, undoubtedly, uninterested in or opposed to the prevention of global warming.

If the environmental cost of melting arctic ice isn't enough to cause concern, the geopolitical implications certainly are. As northern nations scramble to prepare for the newly available resources in the arctic, a legal battle is being waged for control of the Arctic Ocean. Russia was widely criticized in 2007 when they symbolically planted a Russian flag on the arctic sea floor. Many arctic nations are trying to claim ownership over the arctic through a legal technicality. International treaties define the coastal ocean territory  of a nation based on the extent of its continental shelf. If any nation is able to prove that their continental shelf extends into the center of the arctic, they could gain legal control over the vast oil reserves that everyone wants. It remains to be seen whether the United States would allow another nation, especially one like Russia, to have exclusive control over the arctic. Based on the amount of conflict there has been in other oil-rich regions, the possibility of war breaking out over the arctic is very real.