How do you fee about Russia's mission to place a flag under the Arctic icecap to claim the oil and gas .....

Question

Once the Icecap melts away because of global warming...

As the Arctic icecap thins due to global warming, a race is looming to claim ownership of the rich energy resources under the North Pole.

At present, no country is deemed by the International Seabed Authority to have geological structure beneath the pole - so no country owns it. While Russia has yet to restake its claim, news that it might has already provoked protests from Canada, the US, Norway and Denmark.

My take on this is that if we (Global community) allow this type of claim to be ratified, then what are we saying about the importance of the icecap and environment...what insentive would there be to preserving it, if the prospects of gaining Trillions of dollars for the country that can extract it.. at the cost of expaditing the melt and possibility of submerging huge swaths of low-lying regions from Florida to Bangladesh.

Answer 1

It looks like Russia is willing to do anything possible to feed its greed.  It doesn't care about international law, or global warming, it just wants money.  

Russia should be condemned by the international community for their actions.

Answer 2

I consider this to be primarily a publicity stunt.

Yes that area has been contested for years and it will contunue to be contested for many years to come.

Answer 3

Don't worry about it.  Just a silly gesture.  That may have had some meaning 200 years ago, not in this day of International Law,

Answer 4

It scares me; seems like a very bold move.

Answer 5

It has no legal status. It is just a statement of intention by the Russian Government but it does not give them any legal claim. Much like the U.S. flags on the Moon.

Answer 6

The U. S. planted a flag on the Moon several decades ago.  Does that mean that the moon belongs to America?  

The U. S. also planted a flag at the North Pole at the beginning of the 20th century, does that make it belong to America?  As far as the seabed there, our submarines were the first to cross the Arctic Ocean under the ice, but that still doesn't make it ours.

I think Russia is overstepping it's bounds and if the U.N. has any balls at all, they should "internationalize" the Arctic seabed to prevent any one nation from trying to monopolize it's resources.

By the way, FYI, if the ice at the North Pole were to completely melt, there would be NO rising of sea-level.  The Arctic ice FLOATS in and on the water (99% underwater), therefore it is ALREADY displacing it's own volume in the water and wouldn't change the existing sea-level if were to melt.  Basic physics.

Answer 7

Well, Russia has claimed the entire polar region for a very, very long time.  The USA acknowledged their claim long enough to buy Alaska from them during the Presidency of Andrew Johnson.  Canada has also claimed the same territories for at least as long, well back into their Colonial days.  The Inuit would probably say they are all full of baloney.

The competition for resources will continue, and leave the realm of discussion and enter the realm of warfare as the effects of Global Warming continue.  This is one of many such issues developing.  These things are on my list of things to watch, but pretty far down on it, unless people start nuking each other, which I doubt.