Every year the Arctic Ocean experiences the formation and then melting of vast amounts of ice that floats on the sea surface. This sea ice plays a central role in polar climate and the global ocean circulation pattern. (Photo : ESA)
The Arctic is now being claimed by Russia as the nation resubmitted their claim to the United Nations of roughly 1.2 million square kilometers of the Arctic shelf where rival nations also have territorial interests due to its mineral rich resources.
Russia's growing economy has always relied on its natural resources where the Arctic's massive oil and gas reserves are becoming more and more accessible due to new technology and the aid of ice melt caused by ongoing climate change.
This particular new source of fossil fuel has also peaked the interest of other nations like Canada, the United States and Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Denmark as global energy companies are planning huge drilling programs.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the ongoing Russian bid spans the underwater area of an estimated 1.2 million square kilometers that extends more than 350 nautical miles from the shore. The Russian government also believes that crucial scientific data that were obtained during many years of Arctic research also justifies their right to Russian claim.
However, environmentalists are concerned about this new found Arctic resource mine that entails significant climate risks. Environmental agency Greenpeace is now campaigning for protection of the uninhabited area around the northern polar region where Russia's announcement on Tuesday, August 4 was seen as an omen.
Greenpeace reveals in a statement that the rapid Arctic ice melting is now uncovering a new and vast sea filled with untapped resources however, nations like Russia and Norway are pushing to transform the region into the next Saudi Arabia.
More than 10 years ago, the United Nations had rejected Russia's original claim of the Arctic shelf where more scientific research was required to back up its claim. Ever since then, Russian president Vladimir Putin is now making this Russian claim to the Arctic region top priority by expanding their military presence in the area.
Russia declared that an underwater mountain range called the Lomonosov Ridge is part of Russian Eurasian land mass that spans across the Arctic Sea where the nation believes that the Arctic shelf reaches up to the northern polar region.
