Note
Title from container.
Originally broadcast on the news program Four Corners on April 8, 2008.
Reporter, Marian Wilkinson.
Summary
The Arctic sea ice, a plate of ice roughly the size of Europe, is disappearing. The thawing permafrost will release methane into the atmosphere which, an expert tells us, is like a bomb that will explode. Also, the carbon released from the permafrost will further heat the atmosphere, advancing global warming. The immediate worry is that the melting sea ice will intensify the extreme weather caused, bringing more violent storms and cyclones to some regions and longer droughts to others. The Canadian Coast Guard predicts that it will not be long before the infamous Northwest Passage will be completely ice free. The political and economic implications of that are dramatic. The business world is eying the vast oil and mineral reserves locked beneath the melting ice. Several Arctic shipping routes, including one across the North Pole, are being seriously considered. It does seem like the five Arctic powers – Norway, Russian, Canada, Denmark and the United States- will be scrambling for strategic advantage in an area that could, at some point, provoke war.