IB Geography; Oceans And Their Coastal Margins; Geopolitical; Scramble For The Arctic

Oceans And Their Coastal Margins; Geopolitical; Scramble For The Arctic.

The image above shows the Arctic Circle, and the areas within it which countries have staked claims in. The melting ice in the Arctic means more countries are trying to claim areas of it so they are liable to the Arctics abundant supply of oil, gas and minerals, which due to the melting ice, is a lot easier to access for drilling.

Issues within the Scramble for the Arctic

IB Geography; Oceans And Their Coastal Margins; Geopolitical; Scramble For The Arctic

Although Russia and Norway have signed a deal over who owns what land, unfortunately many of the other countries are still having conflicts decided on the areas of the Arctic of which they own. The United States and Canada have for many years, and continue to disagree about boundaries within the Beaufort Sea. This particular area is of keen interest to drillers as its supposedly home to a large amount of the oil within the Arctic. Canada and Denmark are having arguments over the ownership of Hans Island, which could extend either of the countrys boundaries within the Arctic by 200 nautical miles. Many of the countries are arguing over the ownership of the Northwest Passage, which is shown as a blue dotted line on the picture on the previous page.

Facts and figures At this moment in time the world consumes 85 million barrels of oil per day, and demand is still growing exponentially. At current, the consumption growth rate is 2% annually, which means by 2025 the world would need 50% more oil. (This means Saudi Arabia would have to double oil production) Due to dependence on the Middle Easts cheap oil, and associated political and safety risks within this region, oil production in the Arctic has huge potential.

Deep-water discoveries
Hydrates for energy: Hydrates are compounds that usually consist of methane molecules trapped in a cage of water. Some scientists believe they contain more energy than all the known fossil fuels, which is highly attractive to some countries with little or no gas like Japan and India. Oil companies however are cautious. Hydrates occur naturally in pipelines and are unpopular because they clog the flow of oil. Exploiting genetic diversity for new medicines: Another thing found in the deep sea is the strange variety of deep-sea life. Some of its found near black-smokers, caused when dissolved hydrogen sulphide comes out of a rock and suddenly cools, causing minerals to condense and create pools of smoke. Life in the deep-sea gets it food and energy from the earth not the sun. This means sulphur eating bacteria can be found scale worms that thrive in hot water at the tips of the smokers, and shrimps that can mend their DNA even after it has been highly irritated. Medical researchers hope some of these creatures may lead to new anti-carcinogens, or tumor-reducing drugs. Exclusive economic zones (EEZs): They recognize the right of coastal states to control over 98 million square kilometers of ocean space. Coastal states are free to exploit, develop and manage and

IB Geography; Oceans And Their Coastal Margins; Geopolitical; Scramble For The Arctic

conserve all resources fish or oil, gas or gravel, nodules or sulphur to be found in the waters, on the ocean floor and in the subsoil extending 200 nautical miles from its coastline. Ascension a British EEZ in the South Atlantic: The UK has claimed 200,000 square kilometers of the Atlantic seabed surrounding Ascension Island. The ocean floor surrounding the Island is believed to contain extensive mineral deposits. With no near neighbors, other states are unlikely to challenge the claim. The Island has a land area of 100 square kilometers, but due to its isolated location, it generates an EEZ with an area of more than 440,000 square kilometers.

Questions What rights and responsibilities does a country possess when it has sovereignty over an area of ocean? If a country has sovereignty rights It means its territory is extended beyond its shoreline to an area of ocean adjacent to the country. The sovereignty also extends into the airspace over the sea as well as to its bed and subsoil. Where two States are opposite or adjacent, neither two states is entitled, failing agreement between them to the contrary, to extend its territorial sea beyond the median line every point on the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial seas of each of the two States is measured. Explain the difference between sovereignty rights of countries within their territorial limits and exclusive economic zones. Sovereignty rights is the 12 nautical mile area from a countries coastline, and the economic zones is an area extended 188 nautical miles beyond the sovereignty rights to ensure that no illegal immigrants can enter the countries oceans. However, if two countries EEZs over lap the two countries are required to define their actual boundaries. In general, the boundary is drawn along the midpoint of the line separating the two countries.