THE COMING ARCTIC WARS

CANADIANS DEPLOY ON 'EPIC' RECON MISSION

From C News, Canada : "The last night of an epic military operation in Canada's frozen north ended up being the worst

"Operation Nunalivut, which means The Land Is Ours in Inuktitut, was the first time that several patrols from widely separated points in the North travelled by snowmobiles on harsh land and converged at one point.

"The purpose of the operation was to establish Canadian sovereignty and to learn about various camps, airstrips and other structures built and abandoned on the land."

The Arctic ice is now breaking up and major new shipping lanes are expected to become passable in less than a decade. As the ice retreats, thousands of miles of previously unusable coastline will become habitable and exploitable by mining and oil companies. Russia, the US, Canada and Greenland all have coastline in this massive new territory, but who owns what is still under dispute, which is why countries like Canada are now making a big show of their recon missions.

Go here for a map of the territory and more on the Coming Arctic Wars.