The Arctic: land of ice and the midnight sun; irresistible goal for explorers and adventurers; enduring source of romance and mystery - and now also a poignant and imperative indicator of the impact of climate change. As the ice cap shrinks, the geography of the entire arctic region changes: clear shipping channels replace immovable ice and inaccessible oil resources become available.What are the long-term consequences of these cataclysmic changes - not only environmental but also political and social? How will the lives of those who depend on the natural resources of the Arctic be changed? And how will global powers who wish to exploit the region's many assets respond?In August 2008, for the first time in recorded human experience, the two historic routes across the Arctic Ocean - the North-East Passage known to the Russians as the 'Northern Sea Route', and the North-West Passage through the Canadian archipelago - were simultaneously open and ice-free. This rare coincidence caused widespread alarm, prompting fears of renewed competition between Russia and the West over control of the arctic region. Cold Front assesses this impending arctic metamorphosis and its profound effect on international geo-politics. As well as the environmental drama that may accompany an ice-free North Pole - melting glaciers, rising sea levels and severe meteorological disturbance including the possible disruption of the Gulf Stream - David Fairhall explores the potential military, legal and economic implications which could be equally dramatic.Cold Front is not just another attempt to predict the outcome of global warming. It offers a clear-sighted and penetrating investigation of the Arctic's pivotal role in international relations, placing the polar region in its historical, political and legal context. The thawing the of the ice cap creates huge opportunities for trade and transport - and therefore potentially also for conflict between the arctic nations. This important and timely addition to the literature on the region will be essential reading for anyone interested in humanity's effect on the Arctic - or the Arctic's effect on humanity.
Author(s): Fairhall, David
Edition: 1
Publisher: I.B.Tauris
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 253
Cover
Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
The Artic Arena
Thickness matters
Coming in from the cold
An alarming opportunity
The barking dog
Tipping point
Frozen Assets
Russian company
Lamp oil and corsets
Cod wars
Striking it rich
A state within a state
Turning off the gas
A different ball game
The Law of the Sea
An altruistic tradition
Going to the ball
Within cannon shot
Rights of passage
On the shelf
Who owns the North Pole?
A Russian fist
Significant geology
Fishing for facts
Ice bears that go bump in the night
Rights of access
Cold Warfare
'The most valuable piece of real estate in NATO'
A helping hand
Island of the donkey's ears
The sailor Czar
Krushchev's herrings
A hint of violence
Wakening bear
The silent service
Polar snapshots
Coming up for air
East by North
'As plausible as the English Channel'
Gin on the rocks
Wishful thinking
Spared the gallows
Logistical nightmare
Filling in the blanks
'The man who ate his boots'
Dip circle
Creating a Victorian legend
Home from home
Ice trap
No English gentleman...
'My mission on earth'
Two skeletons, some chocolate and little tea
Going native
Short Cuts
First night
Canalside view
Second time unlucky
Bolsheviks in Cold Waters
With Stalin's compliments
Wonderland
Wishful thinking
'Strength through joy' for Stakhanovites
The Bakayev plan
Arctic gateway
Atomic relations
Czar Bomba
Half-life
'You get used to it'
Breaking the Ice
A nuclear pioneer
Out of the ordinary
A difficult birth
Atomic takeover
A polar giant
Back to front
Nuclear tourism
'Water where it didn't use to be'
Ottawa's bribe
Polar attitudes
North-West Passage
Inuit know-how
An icebreaking leviathan
Arctic surgery
Pyrrhic victory
'Inflamed nationalists'
The 'arctic exception'
'Use it or lose it'
A political voice
Mackenzie's oil
What the whales will hear
Arctic bridge
Not just polar bears
North-East Passage
Baffling statistics
Ice cellar
Late developer
No need to queue
Second refusal
Practical doubts
Turn of the tide
Living on borrowed time
Eco-tourism
Conquest and assimilation
Great expectations
'A resource base for the twenty-first century'
Ice shuttle
Mother of all icebreakers
Across the Top of the World
Changing course
Reality check
Hidden beauty
Meltdown
Alarm call
Abruptness
From meltdown to shutdown?
Possible Outcomes
Double negative
Dangerous waters
Shipping forecast
Northern Poll
A Chronology
Index
