Canada Asserts Arctic Authority

Giant ice shelf is falling apart and could float away

(NEWSER) - A Canadian expedition has found a major new network of cracks, more than 10 miles long, in the Arctic's ice shelves, the BBC reports. Scientists say the huge shelves are disintegrating; pieces become "ice islands" that can float hundreds of miles away as climate changes takes hold. Arctic sea ice shrank to a record low last year and could melt even further this summer, accelerating a scramble for the Arctic's resources. More»

Researchers find Baffin ice cap shrunk by half in last 50 years

(NEWSER) - Ice caps on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic are "receding like mad" and could be gone completely within 50 years, LiveScience reports. The fields of ice have shrunk by half in the last 50 years and haven't been so small for at least 1,600 years, according to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. More»

Scramble for melting Arctic starting to heat up

(NEWSER) - As melting ice continues to make more of the Arctic Sea accessible every year, Russia is planning to annex an area of the sea the size of Texas and Arizona combined. The Kremlin is expected to stake its claim to the waters at the United Nations, arguing that the Siberian continental shelf is connected to undersea Arctic ridges, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More»

Climate change opens north to shipping, tourism, resource development

(NEWSER) - Climate change is melting away the main barrier to business in the Arctic—ice—but the US lags behind other countries seeking to exploit the region, the Anchorage Daily News reports. As receding ice opens the area to shipping, resource exploitation, and tourism, it's Russia and Canada who have established transport rules and studied the ocean floor. "It's like the new Strait of Gibraltar," says a Coast Guard captain of the Bering Strait. More»

(NEWSER) - Canada and the US are letting their Arctic rivalry thaw long enough to launch an exploration mission, the Globe & Mail reports. A pair of icebreakers—one from each country—will set off next week into uncharted waters, working in tandem to clear a path and map North America's continental shelf. The research is likely to lay a foundation for future claims to the Arctic's riches. More»