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Arctic: who benefits from global warming?

While the leaders of the planet are accused of climate change, it is a highly anticipated report that make the experts of the Giec, gathered in Monaco. They will tell us where our oceans are and what is called the cryosphere, the surface of the Earth where water is present in the solid state. The priority is icy maritime areas, starting with the Arctic regions, rich in natural resources and where global warming is doing the business of some.

The Russians, the Chinese, the Americans, the Canadians and the Europeans: all these people living in the Arctic , these immensities that surround the North Pole, have an increasing interest in them, because the climate is less and less hostile. In southwestern Greenland, for example, in the Bering Sea, in the Barents Sea, even within the Arctic Circle, there is sometimes no more ice in winter. Commercial or military ships can therefore move more easily.

But there are nuances. In other areas of the Okhotsk Sea in northern Japan, ice is even more present than before. Mikaa Mered , specialist in the geopolitics of the Polar Regions and author of the book The Polar Worlds (editions PUF) also explains that sometimes in the heart of the Arctic Ocean, there is less sea ice in summer, but not necessarily less than risks. Drifting icebergs can complicate shipping traffic. And that's where the technology comes in. Very heavy investments to identify the dangers, algorithms in support, facilitate like the melting of the ice the passage of the boats.

Snowball effect

And it is true that the great powers are putting more and more money to conquer the Arctic. Russia first, details Mikaa Mered, but gradually overtaken by China, also captivated by what some are already calling the polar silk route. Why are Moscow and Beijing getting ahead? Because it is state funding, via sovereign wealth funds or companies controlled by the power.

Certainly, Gazprom, CNPC and others are going to draw oil and gas. But there is also a huge strategic dimension. Russia, in particular, sees itself as the bridge between Europe and Asia, and can not leave anyone else in control of the road to the far north. Americans, Canadians, Scandinavians act more in a logic of profitability. The US government is spending less effort in Alaska than Russia does in the cold seas.

In recent weeks, from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok, economic forum and economic forum, announcements have multiplied. With a snowball effect, investments calling for investments. Huge projects to extract and transport by natural gas from Siberia to Asia. In cooperation with China and French Total, $ 21 billion for the Arctic LNG 2 project. New icebreakers will be built capable of sailing 12 months out of 12. It is now possible.

Chernobyl on ice

We need energy to run all these infrastructures in very isolated areas. In this regard, Russia has oil, but also ideas. To supply electricity to the platforms and other facilities, it has just developed a first floating nuclear power plant, actually a former Soviet Union ship loaded with fuel and which sends its energy through cables connected to the mainland. The Academik Lomonosov, it is his name, is also qualified by Greenpeace of "Chernobyl on ice". But it is not only nuclear, we also develop geothermal energy, hydroelectricity, or wind in these regions that we imagine actually battered by the winds.

Badly known resources

Hence the question: where and when will this Arctic race end? It's impossible to say it. The real resources are poorly known. But we know that we now find shale, bituminous sand, rare earths, nickel ores, cobalt. There is a significant development of fisheries, aquaculture by Russia and Norway. And even tourism in northern Lapland, in Greenland. All this, in a way, thanks to global warming.