factfinder

... continuation of Arctic I.
As to Washington, the Congress is studying a proposal for the purchase of three new icebreakers and the dotation in the amount of 17 million dollars for the advanced coast guard … Regarding MOW, MOW has been prepared for many years already having at its disposal six modern icebreakers capable of patrolling during the whole year (theUS has one and CAN none) …
The boundary disputes yet to be settled : delimitation of the frontiers between Russia and Norway in the Barents Sea (up to the 16 th cent. called Murmanskoye Sea) , between Russia and the US in the Bering Sea, and between US Alaska and CAN in the Beaufort Sea … The territorial dispsutes to be settled : the soverignty over the Hans Island between CAN and Danish Greenland and the control over the North-West maritime route between CAN and the US ….
By planting the flag Putin has not intended to convince anyone about Russia´s legal title to the part of the North Pole claimed but just to show that Russia is a major player on the world chessboard for the 21st cent. New Alice in Wonderland World … The EU faces a particular delicate situation for it cannot afford to condemn openly the Russian claims , neither the more discreet ones of Norway because both of these countries cover over one third of its energy supplies …The more so when Total,associated with the Kremlin´s Gazprom, has snapped up 25% of the oil exploitation of the Chtokman oil field,the largest oil discovery in the Barents Sea to date (over 3.800mld of metre cube¨which is more than what have been delivered to the EU during past 30 yrs ) in the Russian sector of the Sea …
The Arctic Council was created in Ottawa 1996 associating ministers of foreign affairs of the five coastal states + Finland,Sweden and Island + various non-governmental bodies to promote economic,social and environmental development of the Arctic region with a view to the local native population … However , in comparison with the Antarctica, the Arctic does not benefit from an international legal regime guaranteeing it some kind of protection … The Antarctida Treaty, ratified in 1961, originally concluded for 30 yrs only, makes of the Antarctida a continent of peace and science, banning there a military activity of any kind . Initially silent about its economic exploitation, it nowadays through the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1991 (came into force in 1998) makes it status yet stronger by declaring the area beyond the 6O. parallel „ a natural reservation“ and bans any economic exploitation until 2041 ,and this provision is atomatically renewable ad infinitum , i.e. the ban can be lifted only by an unanimous decision of all the signatories …. ( the Madrid Protocol was signed on the initiative of the French naval officer and ecologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau who pressed for the premier ministre Michel Rocard ( 88-91) to convince the signatories to the AT to protect the A. continent
challenged by the new treaty making the exploitation of Antarctida ´s resources possible, the Antractida Minerals Convention, that was adopted in 1988 in Wellington by a Special AT Consultative Meeting , however in 1989 the Australian (Prime Minister Hawke) and French government refused to sign it and instead they presented a joint proposal resulting in the adoption of the Madrid Protocol … )
The North Pole is not protected by any similar treaty, on the other hand, the South Pole is not Sea surrounded by Land, but it is situated in the very heart of the Continent , just under the American base Amundsen-Scott South Pole. In 1959 the US planted an American flag there , just on the rotation axe of the Earth … The Russians installed their base Vostok on the Pole of Inaccessibility (defined by the most distant point from the coast , it is situated at the distance of 1.700 km therefrom on 82 South, 54 East ) , at the altitude over 3.000 m . For France the Magnetic Pole near the coast remained in the vicinity of Adelie , where France has been building since 1955 its first permanent base Dumont d´Urville . The French –Italian base established on the Dome C at the heart of the continent whose living conditions are similar of those future bases on the Moon or Mars , provides a precious „training station „ as to the complete isolation of its personnel , eternal night, frost and confinement …
Antarctida can be considered as an anteroom of the Space , that´s why on Antarctida there are present esp. the space superpowers , including the future space superpower Chine which is going to build on Antarctida its base Dome A on the most highest and unaccessible point at the height of 4.093 m …
The polar caps are therefore ,unfortunately, not appreciated for coming there in order to shake a hand with a penguin but they are much favoured not only by glaciologs but chiefly by the space agencies , such as NASA before launching on 4 August 07 the robot Phoenix Mars Lander ( that should land on the Red Planet in May 08 and should study under the Mars polar caps the existence of the conditions favourable for the past or current life on Mars ) , the project being developed in cooperation with the ESA on the demand of the NASA . Officially , NASA and ESA pretend to study Mars for a desire to meet a second human element but actually, they both are desirous to find means how to exploit the Mars resources , esp. helium 3 which could become a superfuel and uranium , also water on the Moon, and iron from the asteroids …
NASA has announced its return to the Moon for the year 2020 and the building up there of a permanent lunar base for the year 2024 while by 2010 is to be finished an international spatial platform /US,EU,Russia) – and all the training for the spatial exploration and lunar colonisation is planned to be simulated on the polar regions …
The UN Outer Space Treaty from 1967 ,the basis for intern. space law, governs the activities of the states in exploration and use of outer space, and lays down the same rules as for the international maritime space, i.e. the outside –atmosphere space is declared to be the common heritage of all the humanity,i.e. the outer space is not subject to national appropriation …It rests to see whether the first colonisators will or will not be sufficiently generous to share it with the rest of the humanity …
So without any doubt the battle over the North Pole foreshadows the scenario that will be used for the battle over the space ...

ck9

sure when it was and still is a frozen wasteland nobody wanted it except us. now that its thawing out our borders are all of a sudden in question? you people disgust me. what are you going to call us when you ty to take it? terrorists? insurgents? are you going to make your case by accusing eskimos of sponsoring terror or building weapons of mass destruction? . we have presided over that area for 150 years or more. weve established posts cared for the people of the area and so on . everything in this world is not yours for the taking, go to h**l . and your info is incorrect we have three ice breakers and are building 5 more currently.