THE GREAT ARCTIC THAW HAS BEGUN
RUSSIA, GREENLAND, US AND CANADA BEGIN JOSTLING FOR SHIPPING ROUTES AND RESOURCES AS THE WATERS WARM AND THE ICE BREAKS UP
CANADA STEPS UP PATROLS, PLANS MILITARY DEPLOYMENTS, CLASHES WITH U.S. OVER THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
The United States refuses to recognize Canada's claim of sovereignity over the waters of the Arctic, where vast ice shelves are now breaking up as the frozen waters warm rapidly.Within a decade, vast new shipping routes will be open for business, and thousands of miles of once frozen coastline will be on the way to becoming inhabitable territory, which will spark a new resources mining boom.
Canada and the U.S. are now going head to head on the issue of who will control the new shipping lanes, and the vast wealth of mineral, oil and gas reseources that will be available for exploitation.
U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins threw the first punch last week when he told the Canadians that outside of the 12 mile territorial limits surounding Canada's numerous Artctic islands, the Northwest Passage was and still remains international waters.
The Canadian Prime Minister-designate, Stephen Harper, does not agree and hinted that the new government has some major plans for defending Arctic zones he believes define Canada's sovereignty. Canada is ramping up its Naval patrols of Arctic waters, and plans to move forward with deployments of military into contested areas of the Canadian/Arctic coastline.
