One thing that sometimes gets lost in dialogue about security and climate change by focusing on relatively short-term issues like droughts, melting arctic ice, and others is the possibly existential nature of climate change. It is important to have people like UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon call climate change "the one true existential threat to the planet."
His speech in its entirety can be found here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
"The Battle for the Arctic" on CBC
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) last night broadcast a new documentary called "The Battle for the Arctic." Unfortunately, it is only available to watch in Canada. However, you can watch a trailer here. The New York Times has a good 5 minute video synopsis as well.
The gist of the CBC documentary seems to be that the Canadians are far behind the Russians and the Americans in the far north. Although I can't speak for the Russians, the United States has not yet made the investments necessary for a true arctic naval presence. Although USNavy submarines have had a 50-year presence under the arctic, we don't have the icebreakers needed for a surface presence.
The Russians, however, seem to be the most active in the arctic. The flag planting was the most visible, but they appear to be trying to figure out how to use their existing naval resources in the arctic. This announcement from the Russian Navy says that they may be looking at their nuclear submarine fleet as undersea oil drilling rigs.
There are two things that are driving the rush to exploit the Arctic. The obvious one is the acceleration of summertime melting. This means that areas previously covered by ice year round are now able to be exploited for material gain. The second driver of exploitation in the Arctic is the UN's Law of the Sea treaty, which could extend the sovereign reach of a nation out beyond the current 200 mile exclusive economic zone, if that country can prove scientifically that their continental shelf extends further. However, they've only got 10 years to prove that. Russia's ten years expires at the end of this year. Canada has until 2013. The United States has not ratified the treaty, so they're left out for now.
The gist of the CBC documentary seems to be that the Canadians are far behind the Russians and the Americans in the far north. Although I can't speak for the Russians, the United States has not yet made the investments necessary for a true arctic naval presence. Although USNavy submarines have had a 50-year presence under the arctic, we don't have the icebreakers needed for a surface presence.
The Russians, however, seem to be the most active in the arctic. The flag planting was the most visible, but they appear to be trying to figure out how to use their existing naval resources in the arctic. This announcement from the Russian Navy says that they may be looking at their nuclear submarine fleet as undersea oil drilling rigs.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Gore Opening Statement
Gore is doing his power point, which anyone who has seen his movie will know very well. It appears that most Senators are actually staying to watch: which has to be a surprise.
The problem with Gore is that he is too alarmist. He cherry-picks the scientific evidence from the worst-case scenarios. It almost makes it sound like such a huge problem, and that there's nothing we can do about it.
Personally, for public-relations issues, I would prefer we look at the (very real) short-term problems (migration, drought, famine, etc.) instead of the truly apocalyptic view that Gore puts forward.
The problem with Gore is that he is too alarmist. He cherry-picks the scientific evidence from the worst-case scenarios. It almost makes it sound like such a huge problem, and that there's nothing we can do about it.
Personally, for public-relations issues, I would prefer we look at the (very real) short-term problems (migration, drought, famine, etc.) instead of the truly apocalyptic view that Gore puts forward.
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