Monday, May 20, 2013

Russia gives Canada's Arctic Ice - BBC

supply Russian proposal at the United Nations for recognition of the Arctic shelf of Russia’s territory, planned for 2014, will be in time to guide Canada’s Arctic Council. Following the meeting of the organization last week the “Times” tells the story of what the current scientific challenges exist in the Arctic.

Since its inception in 1996, the Arctic Council is actively engaged in the protection of nature and the monitoring of climate change. The second was particularly relevant in the last two decades due to global climatic transformations. According to scientists, the rate of melting of Arctic sea ice may serve as an indicator of environmental changes associated with global warming, pollution, and changes in the rate of ocean currents. In addition, the Arctic is of great interest to biologists and anthropologists who study the local flora and fauna, and the history of the indigenous peoples of the North.

countries – members of the Board are extremely concerned about the economic impact of the section areas in the Arctic, as it is very rich in mineral resources, especially oil and gas.

According to the Declaration on the Establishment of the Arctic Council, adopted on 19 September 1996, the Board established for the purpose of the organization … ?

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea spelled belonging to the landlocked state 12-mile contiguous zone. In some cases it may extend up to 200 nautical miles: then it will be referred to a special economic zone and counted directly adjacent to the border zone. Members of the board of the country’s claim to the creation of such zones. In particular, Russia in 2001 submitted an application for the recognition of being in the Barents, Bering and Okhotsk seas Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges extension of the continental shelf, which would give the country a priority right to mining operations in the area. After careful consideration of the United Nations in 2004, the application was sent back for revision. In parallel, it has been found that such requests must be submitted no later than 2014. Over the past 9 years, Russia has actively worked on the evidence base (for example, dive “Worlds” at the North Pole ). Then in the race for the territori es in question also entered Canada and Denmark.

Despite the fact that the Arctic Council is an important regional organization, its policies largely depends on the Presidency. This year, at the next meeting, which took place in the northern city of Sweden – Kiruna, the decision was made on the supremacy of the board of Canada. The focus this time was on security and search and rescue operations in the region.

The event was the biggest in the history of the organization, and was attended by over 300 delegates.

Among them stood out in particular the guest of honor – the famous Canadian historian John English, whose forthcoming book “Ice and water: the government, the public and the Arctic Council,” as the name implies, just devoted to the problems in the Arctic. Despite full of optimism statements Inglisha that the rule in the council “will be a real chance for Canada to take on the burden of leadership in the region”, many experts are seriously concerned about the future presidency of Canadians.

At first glance, the obvious reasons for concern: Canada ranks first in the world in total area of ??the Arctic region and the total length of the Arctic coast, has long ago built a chain of search and rescue stations, and the Coast Guard of the country is obliged to render assistance to any person suffering a disaster in the Arctic waters ship within 10 hours. The Canadian government also actively supports the initiative to save the rare species of flora and fauna and is seriously concerned about the problem of melting Arctic ice.

But, according to experts from the research project “Munk-Gordon” devoted to the issues of security in the northern territories, Canadian naval and air forces in the region to meet international labor standards.

By the middle of the XXI century, people did not need the Suez and the Panama Canal: more profitable to transport goods across the Arctic N. Pole

Arctic increases the permeability of

the middle of the XXI century, people did not need the Suez and Panama canals: more profitable to transport goods on the Arctic via the North Pole, which increases … ?

Search-and-rescue aircraft, for example, are too far away to be able to provide timely assistance. The main point of their home is the airport in the city of Trenton, the province of Northern Ontario, an 8-hour flight from the Arctic coast. In addition, the Royal Canadian Air Force pilots and crew rescue ships do not have enough experience in search and rescue operations, and even more so in the aftermath of environmental disasters. The report, “Munk-Gordon” also referred to a fun fact: despite the fact that the extent of Canada’s Arctic coastline is nearly 162,000 kilometers, the only country in the region has its own deep-water port.

All these factors call into question the ability of Canada to fulfill all of the items signed by members of the board in 2011, is extremely important, “Agreement on sea and air search and rescue»

And this, according to analyst Sarah French, “automatically pass these responsibilities on the shoulders of other states – members of the board, as well as local people».

However should bear in mind that it is now the most Canadian scientists are actively exploring the Arctic expanses. In 2010, Canada spent more than $ 100 million for the modernization of the four research stations, including one of the largest in the Arctic – the institute “Aurora” on the coast of the Beaufort Sea. In a recent interview with broadcaster CTV director of “Aurora” Dr. Paipa Sikkomb Heath stressed the importance of such investment, as they can really help in the study of many important issues – from the Arctic flora and fauna and the melting of the ice to ethnography of indigenous peoples. In 2010, scientists at the “Aurora” Force 75 conducted research expedition groups of more than 650 people. As a result, in particular, an important hypothesis was confirmed that due to the melting of sea ice has increased while navigating through the Northwest Passage (connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans sea route thro ugh the Arctic Ocean along the northern coast of North America through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago) .

Igor Semiletov of the research the causes of emissions carbon dioxide in the Arctic

«We can not bring in an elementary equipment»

Russian scientists have discovered that the melting of the permafrost makes a significant contribution to the emergence of global greenhouse gas emissions peak over … ?

even more active laboratory for the study of the Arctic shelf in the village of Resolute, where scientists are developing Arctic offshore drilling technology to access oil and gas fields, as well as to large deposits of methane hydrate in the Arctic coast. The willingness of Canadians to deal with environmental disasters caused by the extraction of Arctic resources, raises many questions. For example, was never developed a clear mechanism of action in the event of a major natural disaster. According to the Institute for Research of the North of Alaska, only 40% living in the Arctic regions believe that Canada is able to cope with such problems.

In this regard, it becomes urgent issue of a possible increase in the role of Russia in the Arctic Council, whose chain of 10 search and rescue stations along the Northern Sea Route should become operational in 2015, and the technology of offshore drilling far exceed Canadian.

But in this case, Russia brings lack of interest in the affairs of the region .

example, official page of the Russian Federation on the organization’s website offers to get acquainted with the three information web sites, one of which does not exist, and the other two were last updated in the late 1990s. And so, by comparison, looks

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