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How Does The Melting Cryosphere Impact On The Geopolitics And Human Dependence On Ice?
A degree level geography essay which looks at contemporary concerns in the Arctic Region
Date : 27/09/2017
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Uploaded by : Fiona
Uploaded on : 27/09/2017
Subject : Geography
Geopolitics refers to the study of the
geographical representation, rhetoric and practices which underpin world politics
(Agnew, 2003). The Arctic is disproportionately affected by global warming with
estimates suggesting that winter temperatures in the next 100 years are likely
to rise by 12 C (Osherenko & Young, 2008). Arctic warming and the subsequent
melting of the cryosphere thus make it an appropriate theatre in which to
situate this discussion as significant changes to its geography will cause a
shift in political interests resulting in a new geopolitical order constituted
by Arctic-state, non-Arctic state and non-state actors. This essay seeks to
explore this shift alongside indigenous dependence on ice, resource extraction
and the opening of a new transportationenvironment. Specifically, the
assumption that the melting of the cryosphere will inevitably lead to political
upheaval and indigenous marginalization will be problematized in light of Young s
(2009) assertion that the Arctic transformation is alarmist rather than
alarming indicating that these transitions are ongoing and their impact is yet
to be realised in relation to both biophysical and socio-political contexts.The Arctic is not a new geopolitical
flash point, but rather has long been a contentious region politically due to
its positioning between the North American, European and Asian continents
(Osherenko & Young, 2008). Arctic geography has been integral to military
and security policies of nation states since imperial expansion in the 15th
century as Norway, Denmark and Russia expanded their territories north so to project
their geopolitical influence globally and later to capitalize on the whaling
metropolis in the 17th century (Vaughan, 1994). Indeed, the
geopolitical centrality of the Arctic also came to a tangible crux during the
Cold War, as the frontal zone, which separated the two vying superpowers: the USA
and Soviet Union. Dodds (2010) outlines how both nations were heavily invested
in furthering their bathymetric and geographical knowledge of the Arctic to
enhance their surveillance techniques over the cryosphere and gain military
advantage in the event of a direct conflict in order to establish geopolitical
hegemonies in their respective areas (Nuttall & Callaghan, 2000). These
historical events emphasise the geopolitical significance of the Arctic as a
geographical focal point in international politics indicating that a crucial
change in Arctic geography with the melting of the cryosphere would have the
potential to have a considerable impact on geopolitics at a global scale. Yet, whilst the global political
significance of the Arctic s geography is indisputable, it would defy
credibility to reduce this landscape to a terra
nullius where international politics are played out, but rather the
sophisticated indigenous communities inhabiting the ice-covered landscape must
be included in this account (Nichol, 2010). Inuit culture spreads across the
Arctic surpassing national borders and extending over vast stretched of sea ice
as linkages connect indigenous groups from Greenland to Alaska (Berry et al.,
2016). The melting of the cryosphere, for this reason, would arguably have
major isolating consequences for these communities whose pan-Inuit-trails would
be disjointed by a large expanse of water. Furthermore, Inuit live in tandem
with their landscape holding intricate knowledges of environmental processes
and landscape features enabling them to successfully survive in the harsh
Arctic landscape for centuries (Aporta, 2006). Aporta s (2002) anthropogenic
study in the Nunavut region in Arctic Canada reveals that Inuit have travelled
to the sea ice camp Agiuppiniq for centuries in the winter to hunt walruses relying
on a detailed holistic understanding of sea ice incorporating wind direction,
tides and moon cycles to ensure their safety and hunting success. Hence, these
communities depend on ice for their safety and subsistence suggesting that the
melting of the cryosphere could render an end to traditional Inuit ways of life
giving way to a new sociopolitical landscape detached from nature characterised
environmental exploitation rather than environmental reciprocity.The Arctic region is renowned by states
and private corporations globally to contain a vast quantity of valuable,
untouched natural resources argued by Dodds and Nuttall (2015) to have
initiated a scramble for the poles as countries look to gather scientific
evidence to make claims to the continental shelf extending past agreed economic
export zones in line with the conditions set by the United Nations Law on the
Sea Convention which dictates that the depth or distance of sedimentary rocks
from the foot of the continental shelf must be a natural prolongation (Dodds,
2010). These claims are argued by Anderson (2009) to be of particular
importance as it is in thick sedimentary basins that oil and gas reside. Yet, currently
reserves of natural resources are expensive both the produce and transport to
markets, for instance, the exploratory oil well drilled in the Beaufort sea
cost fifty times that of the one drilled in the Gulf of Mexico as industries
must erect facilities in conditions of permafrost and restrict their operations
to certain seasons (Osherenko & Young, 2008). With the melting of the
cryosphere Berry et al. (2016) expresses concern for the contentious
geopolitics globally as well as the socio-environmental impact on the
indigenous Arctic peoples as the resources become more accessible. Not only are
these resources attractive to the Arctic-states as they offer the prospect of
secure supplies of energy as an alternative to supplies from the Middle East,
but as the Arctic has a small population and plentiful resources, foreign
investors from countries with advanced manufacturing complexes but lack raw
materials create a market through increased demand for these resources, indeed Canada
has entered in an agreement to ship Dome Petroleum to Japan (Young, 2009
Osherenko &Young (2008) Whilst it is important not make generalizations
across Arctic states as Russia strictly controls foreign investment for its
national development, claims to the Arctic sea bed are in part driven by
speculation surrounding the future accessibility of natural resources with the
hope it will be a lucrative venture indicating the melting cryosphere could
intensify geopolitics in the region. The melting of the cryosphere is also
thought to open up seasonally restricted transport routes which would create
more direct shipping links between Asia and North America again making Arctic
geography central to global politics (Bravo & Rees, 2006). Dodds (2010)
highlights how ice thinning is likely to result in seaborne activity via the
Northwest Passage and Northern Sea Route, which is argued to contribution to
neorealism whereby states are more likely to end in conflict than cooperation,
as they want to control this geopolitical hub. Indeed, whilst Canada sees the
Northwest Passage as its sovereign waters the US contrastingly sees it to be
international waters, which causes a source of geopolitical tension. Moreover,
Osherenko and Young (2008) outline how nuclear powered icebreakers and
icebreaking container ships can now move cargo throughout the year to ports,
which were until recently inaccessible for over half the year. This increased
transportation will have a large impact on the Arctic peoples as resource
companies look to use ports throughout the year to extract resources from mines,
such as the Chinese state owned mining interests in the North American Arctic, resulting
in Inuit trails across the ice becoming both dangerous and inaccessible (Berry
et al., 2016). As the Arctic ice melts making transport-shipping links viable
for more of the year there is the potential for both intensified geopolitics
and suppression of Inuit ways of life dependent on ice conditions.However, whilst increased accessibility
for both resource extraction and transportation presents the alarmist
possibility of geopolitical intensity leading to potential conflict and the
marginalization of ice dependent indigenous communities, these politics are
ongoing and future consequences far from predictable. Wood Donnelly (2016)
highlights how lessons from the whaling industry over a century ago suggest
that the passing of peak oil on the Gaussian curve, high extraction and
transportation cost, continuing technological innovations and the regulatory
environment may result in resource extraction being made unprofitable as the
price of oil drops, energy alternatives arise and regulations will make future
investments uncertain. In addition, Powell (2008) argues that there is a
contemporary clash of scientific knowledge, legal regimes and offshore
technologies creating hypothetical spatialities in the circumpolar region as
lexical slippages, speculation, innovation and legal claims depict the region
as an energy frontier when the reality remains uncertain. Furthermore, Young
(2009) argues that the growth of commercial shipping will be unlikely to spark
any considerable political tensions as it is likely that countries with
competing agendas such the US and Canada over the Northwest passage will find
pragmatic ways to solve disagreements just as Norway and Russia devised in the
1970s to manage commercial fishing in the grey zone of the Barents Sea. Indeed,
there are currently international organisations, which provide strict
regulatory regimes such as the International Maritime Organisation, which could
extend their guidelines to incorporate this newly accessible region thus
containing pessimism (ibid). International organisations are also in place to
voice and ensure the rights of the indigenous peoples meaning that their view
point of territoriality is included in international discussion enshrined in
the international law dictated by UNDRIP (Nichol, 2010). Article 26 in UNDRIP
states that indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and
resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used and
acquired . Whilst there are still ongoing debates as to how UNDRIP will be
incorporated into Arctic geopolitics, indigenous perspectives and needs will
undoubtedly be included within discussions over claims and initiatives in the
biophysical evolution of the region (ibid). Therefore, this indicates that
whilst there are uncertainties about the future of geopolitics and indigenous
ways of life in the Arctic the picture painted should not be wholly pessimistic
as the exact impact is yet to be realised.In conclusion, the impact of the melting
cryosphere in the Arctic is complex and dependent on a myriad of state and
non-state actors globally. Due to the Arctic s central geographical situation
significant change to its geography will certainly have an impact on
international geopolitics markedly in relation to transport links and resource
speculation. Indigenous populations will also inevitably be impacted, as they have
to adapt their ways of life in tandem with this environmental evolution. Impacts
will be highly contextual based upon specific international treaties such as
the International Maritime Organization s ability to adapt, UNDRIP s capacity
to intervene in formal discussions and the international oil market positioning
in the future. Thus, although these biophysical changes to the Arctic region
will impact both geopolitics and indigenous populations the exact nature of
these impacts is still to be realised. Bibliography:Anderson,
A 2009 After the Ice: Life,
Death and Geopolitics. Harper Collins. Aporta, C., 2006,
Anijaarniq : Introducing Inuit Landskill and Wayfinding , Nunavut Research
Institute. Aporta, C., 2002:
"Life on the ice: Understanding the codes of a changing environment."
Polar Record 38 (207): 341-354.Berry,
D.A., N. Bowles, N. and H. Jones, H. eds Governing
the North American Arctic: Sovereignty, Security and Institutions. Palgrave
Macmillan, Houndsmill and New York Bravo, M. and Rees, G. (2006) Cryo-politics: Environmental
Security and the Future of Arctic Navigation Brown Journal of World Affairs 13(1) 205-215.Dodds, K. (2010) Flag Planting and Finger Pointing: The Law of
the Sea, the Arctic and the political geographies of the outer continental
shelf Political Geography 29(2)
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Scramble for the Poles: The Geopolitics of the Arctic and Antarctic. London:
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M. and T. V. Callaghan eds 2000 The Arctic: Environment, People, Policy.
Harwood Academic Publishers, AmsterdamOsherenko, G. and Young, O. 2008. The
Age of the Arctic: Hot Conflicts and Cold Realities. Cambridge: Cambridge
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Commons ? Political Geography 27(8) 827-832.Wood-Donnelly, C. From Whale to Crude
Oil: Lessons from the North American Arctic . Journal of Energy Research and
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