The Geopolitics Of Global Warming: Russia, The North Pole And Peak Oil

Global warming is melting the Arctic, which is why Russia is suddenly interested in planting flags in a very public way. The effects of global warming are usually discussed as environmental problems (species being squeezed into extinction as they fail to adapt to unprecedented environmental change), human health problems (as new tropical diseases emerge, for instance, in sub-tropical and temperate zones) or economic problems (how would New York pay to build levies to wall off a higher sea with more frequent storms and intense storm surges?). The angle less discussed is geopolitical. It has to do with national security, global dominance and warfare. Some of our top generals have been ringing this alarm bell, but it’s not ringing loudly. Global warming changes environmental conditions on the ground. In the Arctic, Russia will compete with the United States, Canada, Denmark and Norway for control over fisheries, shipping lanes and whatever fossil fuels can be extracted from the icy north. Meanwhile, environmental changes wrought by global warming in oil-rich parts of the world like Nigeria and the Middle East could make those areas even more volatile. That oil and gas, by the way, could become even more coveted if worrying signs that the world has hit a “peak oil” production prove true. http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/08/03/the-geopolitics-of-global-warming-russia-the-north-pole-and-peak-oil/4727/

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