Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Warming opens Arctic to political tension
Canadian icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent makes its way through Baffin Bay.
The Future History of the Arctic
By Charles Emmerson
Public Affairs, 448 pages, $36.50
The Canadian Arctic is remote, cold and basically a big unused backyard.
According to British author and geopolitical specialist Charles Emmerson, that's all going to change: rising temperatures will mean increasing interest in the most remote region of this country, as untold wealth in natural resources becomes accessible.
The Arctic is coming of age.
London-based Emmerson, a Global Leadership Fellow and associate director of the World Economic Forum, doesn't waste a page on the debate over global warming -- for him it is a fait accompli.
He instead explores Arctic history, writing in great detail of the five Arctic nations -- Canada, Russia, the United States, Denmark and Norway, and then considers the coming impact to each and the world as the Arctic heats up and becomes strategic to energy resources and global trade.
The Future History of the Arctic is not light going, however, and the reader should be prepared to spend time with this book.
It reminds at times of the urban myth that the Inuit language has dozens of ways to say the word snow. In fact it doesn't; it relies on adjectives to describe snow just as other languages do.
Each Arctic nation's historical relationship with the harsh and remote region is heavily detailed in Emmerson's account. Russia's, as the former Soviet Union, is particularly vivid.
Emmerson writes out on thin ice somewhat, suggesting that Russia had one of the most involved and developed Arctic programs, through Siberian rail lines, quarry and mining operations well above the Arctic Circle. The downside of such development was that it was done by prisoners of the Stalin's gulag system and few got out alive.
U.S. history too comes under scrutiny, for until the purchase of Alaska in 1867, the U.S. was not an Arctic nation. Emmerson details how Canadian territory might have fallen to American expansion plans -- British Columbia and the current Arctic were both pursued by U.S. lawmakers.
Emmerson then considers the modern-day Arctic with its thinning ice cap that might one day disappear completely. He points out that scientists of the oil exploration ilk estimate there's up to 90 billion barrels of oil under the shrinking ice.
Other natural resources -- natural gas, a faster global trade route that could trim thousands of miles off of shipping lines -- could all open up as the circumpolar region becomes more accessible.
With that, warns Emmerson, will come considerable political tension between Arctic nations. The testing has already begun, as he reminds of various U.S. submarine incursions in what was considered Canadian arctic waters, and the planting of a Russian flag on the sea bed of the North Pole by Russians in a submarine.
The opening of the Arctic might even spur domestic disputes, when the future of regions such as Greenland are considered. Currently governed by Denmark, Greenland has been moving towards independence -- and management of its own mineral resources.
Emmerson believes lawyers armed with historical agreements and each country's case will eventually sort out land claims to shelves and barriers of seascape currently lying miles under snow and seawater.
Emmerson's book is very well researched and certainly educates the reader on the cold, long-ignored region to the north.
Its premise that the Arctic will soon be a global hotspot comes through loud and clear.
Jackie Shymanski is a Winnipeg-based communications consultant.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 6, 2010 H9
-
WFP Hockey
Download our new hockey app for the iPhone for Winnipeg Jets updates
-
Editor's Bulletin
Sign up for daily bulletins from editor Margo Goodhand
-
Winnipeg Jets
All things NHL on our Jets landing page
-
Twitter
Follow our reporters and our news feeds on Twitter
-
News Cafe
Check out the menu, read our blog posts or get info on coming events
-
Facebook Fanpage
Follow our Facebook Fanpage for story links, contests and special events
Ads by Google
- Back to Top
- Return to Books
Poll
Most Popular
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- RCMP receptionist told Stobbe wife was dead
- Search is on for man seen leaving the scene where two Alberta Mounties were shot
- Province rules out reports of cougar in Transcona
- Slain woman appears before jury on video
- City family donates $1 million for endowed research chair in cardiology
- Should the federal government be spending $7.5 million on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee?
- Census 2011 : Immigrant influx boosts Manitoban population
- LeAnn Rimes in pain following 'minor surgery'
- US teen gets life in prison for killing 9-year-old; called the murder "pretty enjoyable"
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Three winning tickets sold for Friday's $50 million Lotto Max jackpot
- Woman sexually assaulted during noon-hour in Exchange District
- Woman's car stolen at gunpoint at St. Vital mall, police say
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Stobbe said slaying during shopping trip 'strange': sister-in-law
- Eleven people killed after truck hits van in southwestern Ontario
- Tactical squad storms St. Vital house
- Restaurant Dubrovnik may be closed for good
- Do you smoke marijuana?
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- George Clooney's prank could end Pitt's career
- Piers Morgan blasts 'gruesome' Madonna
- Clothing chain pulls Caterpillar boots to protest closure of London, Ont., plant
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Tina Maze strips down to her sports bra to send out underwear message: 'Not your business'
- Group's speed-limit sign removed from Pembina Highway
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Two children, two women die in fire
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- Province rules out reports of cougar in Transcona
- Census 2011 : Immigrant influx boosts Manitoban population
- OMG! Candy kings back at it
- Original Joe's, Elephant & Castle expanding
- Task force to review 2011 flood
- Winnipeg software company ranked top employer
- Easy, economical, healthy soup
- Lesson about war, power told with Shaw's comic touch
- Stobbe said slaying during shopping trip 'strange': sister-in-law
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- Northern fishing lodge destroyed by fire
- Police target drivers talking on cellphones, texting
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Obama torn by conflicting allies
- Harper driven by libertarian ideology, not reality
- 'This is so silly': Mom and Dad tell story of baby Zade, born on side of Highway 59
- Time, it appears, is on Assad's side
- Woman's car stolen at gunpoint at St. Vital mall, police say
- Minor earthquake strikes near Manitoba
- Paddler Starkell was modern-day voyageur
- Driver dead after SUV goes over Disraeli Bridge
- Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal
- Local shooting spoofed on SNL
- Winnipeg mother watches as car stolen with child inside
- Canadian woman 'badly injured' in Mexico, local media report apparent beating
- Swedish bunny's sheep herding skills becomes click-monster on YouTube
- League encourages hazing secrecy
- 4 dead in northern Ontario plane crash


You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is register and/or login and you can join the conversation and give your feedback.
The Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010; View the changes. New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.