The Phone Company

There was an interesting piece in yesterday's Times about the business opportunities that are being opened up by global warming. In a nutshell the article discusses the new shipping lanes and oil deposits that will soon be made available due to the melting of the polar ice caps. Some businesses are counting on the fact that within 20 years, it will be possible to open sea lanes through the north pole from northern Russia and Norway to Canada and Alaska. A new Northwest Passage if you will. The melting of the polar ice is also opening up new possibilities for oil exploration in regions that are believed to hold massive reserves. What is particularly striking in the article however is it seems to be taken as a given that in 20 years, the polar ice will be a thing of the past. At this point businesses and governments are counting on it. The race has already begun for establishing which nations hold claims on what sections of the polar sea and in essence, global warming is now in the interest of many powerful players. The norhtern Russian city and home of their Northern Fleet Murmansk is now pinning much of its hopes on these new sea lanes. Denmark is also in the game due to Greenland which is technically theirs. What this all means is that global warming will now have powerful lobbying forces behind it and attempts to deal with the issue will soon be able to be painted as anti-business. Read the article. It's a fascinating piece that I strongly encourage you to read. posted by Kermit at 10/11/2005 08:52:00 AM |