ARCTIC: Fighting for Arctic Dominance & more – 27th Aug 2024

th of August: 2024

The competition for dominance in the Arctic is intensifying, with control of the ocean being especially crucial. While the US has recently taken significant steps to bolster its ice-class fleet, Russia is now making its own moves. On Monday the 19th, during a visit to Murmansk, Russia's Arctic capital, Presidential Aide Nikolai Patrushev conveyed President Putin's plans to strengthen Russia's military presence in the region. Patrushev highlighted the intention to enhance the Northern Fleet's combat readiness to secure Russian interests in the Arctic. Additionally, he announced economic support for Russia's state shipbuilding industry and planned upgrades to key port facilities along the northern coast. Russia is clearly focused on developing its Arctic economy and ensuring its military is prepared to protect these investments.

by the operator Novatek until: 2028

date has been pushed back to: 2029

Control of the Arctic is being contested beyond the countries that lie in the Arctic Circle. China is slowly gaining influence and power in the far north. On Tuesday the 20th, the shipping news agency G-Captain reported that China’s newest icebreaker reached the Alaskan coast this week. China now has, for the first time, three icebreaker vessels active in the Arctic Ocean. With both of the US’ icebreakers currently undergoing repairs on land, Russia operating over forty and now China building new ice-class ships quickly, the West has a long way to go before it can challenge the China-Russia alliance in the sea.

tary exercise Northern Viking: 2024

llapse of its environment. In: 2022

While Alaska wishes it had more crabs, Sweden is trying to get rid of its bears. The annual brown bear hunting season began in Sweden on Thursday the 22nd, with the quota set by the government at a massive twenty percent of the national population, totaling just under 500 bears. Last year, Sweden saw a record hunt for not just bears but also wolves and lynxes. The populations of these mammals are decreasing as a result, with conservation groups across Europe calling the cull a pure slaughter, which is close to tipping the species into local extinction.

ious lawsuit was dismissed in: 2022

Protecting the health of Arctic residents involves more than the environment though. Drug abuse is a serious problem across the far north and Greenland is taking measures to address this. On Monday the 19th, Greenlandic and Danish tax authorities released a joint statement with measures to fight against the black market of drug smuggling from Denmark to Greenland. The two nations will now share all relevant data, technology, and expertise in order to create a more seamless border control and stem the flow of illegal drugs into Greenland.

As Greenland worries about problems to the south, Norway looks to the skies. On Monday the 19th, Norway’s burgeoning space race with the UK looks to be over. Two major events occurred on the 19th, a test rocket at the UK’s SaxaVord Spaceport exploded in a failed launch, and Norway’s Andøya Spaceport received the license from Norwegian authorities to open and operate as a spaceport. The UK, Norway and Sweden have been in a race to become Europe’s first space nation for many years, but Norway won the gold medal in the end.

In other news, Indigenous children across Scandinavia will enjoy a treat soon. On Tuesday the 20th, the Sami Parliament Council received a grant of over $20,000 US dollars from the Sami Language Initiative, which will be used to record an official dub for season six of Peppa Pig into both Northern and Lule Sami languages. The Sami Parliament considers it vital to the survival of their culture that children are able to watch TV in their mother tongue, and this work can be a stepping stone toward many more TV shows and films being spoken in Sami languages.

To learn more about the Sami film and TV industry, follow the link in the show notes.

Late on Thursday the 22nd, the Icelandic Met Office confirmed another volcanic eruption began in the Sundhnúksgígaröð area. The local police evacuated the town of Grindavik again, but just twenty-three households dared to return to the town. Thankfully, the lava flow has remained concentrated to the north of the eruption area, away from any human infrastructure and poses little danger to the surrounding area. This marks the sixth eruption at Sundhnúksgígaröð since December as the newest Icelandic saga continues.

And to close this edition, the Olympics are over but Canada has its own sporting spectacle. From Tuesday the 27th to Friday the 30th, the Canada fifty-five-plus games will take place in Quebec. The elders of Canada’s Arctic are taking part — the Seniors Games Association confirmed on Friday the 23rd that the NorthWest Territories are sending almost sixty athletes and the Yukon is sending over 160 as old as eighty-six. This marks a record number of Arctic residents set to take part in the biennial event.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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