The Growing Militarization Of The North

USMC Photo: U.S. Marines taking part in war games in Norway earlier this year.

Arming the Arctic -- Ares/Aviation Week

The environmental changes occurring in the Arctic are as dramatic as they are significant for security cooperation and competition among Arctic nations. With the polar ice cap receding 25 percent since 1978, vast tracts of unexplored ocean rich with natural resources are opening up. In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that the Arctic contains over 90 billion barrels of oil, 1,669 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, and some 44 billion barrels of natural gas liquids—of which the USGS estimates a whopping 84 percent may wait "offshore."

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My Comment: I lived up north (Northern Quebec at Fort Chimo) for a few months in the mid 1980s. It was cold in the winter, and black flies were the scourge in the summer .... and the only people who were around were the Inuit (Eskimos).

But with oil and other natural resources a plenty up north, I suspect that this is all going to change in the next few decades.