John Sauven: 'I want to claim the arctic region for all of mankind'

[xchrom]

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/john-sauven-i-want-to-claim-the-arctic-region-for-all-of-mankind-2353171.html

It is such a novel and imaginative idea, and John Sauven mentions it so casually, that it takes a few moments for it to sink in: his organisation wants to build a wall around the North Pole.

Not a literal wall of course, on the floating sea ice of the Arctic Ocean, but a legal wall, an international prohibition which will prevent the countries surrounding the Arctic from claiming the top of the world for themselves, in order to exploit the mineral riches which lie under its seabed.

It's a novel notion because throughout human history – until now – the Pole's very inaccessibility has been its protection. But the melting of the Arctic ice, as the global climate warms, is opening up the great frozen wilderness, the world's most untouched ecosystem; indeed, this week a new record minimum for the ice is likely to be reached, surpassing even the record low of September 2007, which was such a plunge downwards it astonished polar scientists.

The average September minimum extent of the ice, from 1979 to 2000, was just over seven million square kilometres; this week it is likely to reach a new low of about 4.2 million km2, a 40 per cent drop in a decade. Vast areas of the Arctic are ice-free this week; the long-fabled Northwest Passage is open, and this week you can sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific without going through the Panama Canal or round Cape Horn.

[kristopher]

1. Given the apparatus for creating international agreements, it isn't going to happen.

I think it is a wonderful idea, but placing your hopes on international law's ability to deal with a problem like this will just break your heart.

K&R