Russia Ceases Cooperation with Europe & more– 26th Sep 2023

Goddag daginn from Keswick Village! This is Rorshok Arctic Update from the 26th of September twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

We begin this week with news regarding the Barents Euro-Arctic Cooperation—, an agreement between Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia that seeks to facilitate deals for cross-border operations in the European Arctic. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, the Nordic countries suspended all cooperation with Russia. The Agreement Chair rotates between members every two years. Under normal circumstances, Finland should hand over the leadership to Russia in October, but the Finnish presidency has declared it will not transfer the leadership to Russia due to the ongoing conflict. In response, Russia has formally withdrawn from the agreement. Still, Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has blamed the remaining members for breaking the pact.

Moving on, a new report from the European Commission on Critical Raw Materials has found that out of the thirty-four most critical materials, at least twenty-two can be found in Greenland. These minerals are vital to the production of magnets and batteries and are necessary for a green energy transition. At present Greenland has only two mineral mines operating, for rubies and anorthosite. As the country melts and becomes more accessible, the report believes that even more rare minerals may be found. This represents a dilemma for the country, in twenty twenty-two the Greenlandic government chose to reject plans to mine for uranium for environmental reasons. However, the Arctic island nation is sitting on a metaphorical gold mine of natural resources, but it remains to be seen if they will choose to exploit them.

Staying in Greenland, following last week’s incident when a cruise ship ran aground, the government has announced plans to curb the increase in cruise ship tourism. The number of cruise ships has risen by 50% in the last twelve months. A vote will take place next week regarding the raising of taxes against ship and tour operators. The Tourism Minister has already announced the closure of certain fjords and vulnerable areas to cruise ships. If this tax motion passes then ship operators in the region will feel their business opportunities shrink in the coming years.

Remaining in the ocean, let’s talk about the annual sea ice minimum in the Arctic Ocean. In September the extent of the annual sea ice reaches it’s lowest. The amount of sea ice decreased to 1.6 million square miles which is above the record low of 1.3 million square miles set in twenty twelve.twenty twenty-three marks the sixth lowest sea ice coverage year on record.

It isn’t just the sea ice melting too fast, a new study has found that most of Earth’s near-surface permafrost could be gone by twenty-one hundred. The Chinese Academy of Sciences issued a report saying that an international scientific team compared current climate trends to the most recent period of global warming, three million years ago. By comparing their results with the newest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, the team found that permafrost could fall by up to 93% by twenty-one hundred. Co-author Vladimir Romanovsky warned, “This research rings yet another alarm bell for what is happening to Earth’s climate.”

In other news, the fastest warming place on earth is the remote archipelago of Svalbard. There were many mining facilities developed there in the 20th century. Sveagruva was an industrial community in the center of Svalbard that housed 300 coal miners from nineteen ten to twenty seventeen. Since the closure of the mine, the Norwegian government has undertaken an ambitious project to completely restore the area to its natural state, apart from a few cultural heritage buildings. Originally budgeted at 2.5 billion Norwegian Krone or $230 million US dollars, the final cost came way under budget at 1.6 billion Norwegian Krone or $150 million US dollars. Rivers are already flowing along their old courses and researchers in Svalbard are excited to monitor how the environment reacts to the removal of human influences.

Under the Svalbard Treaty, there can be no military infrastructure or discrimination based on nationality on the islands so a multinational community has been formed deep within the Arctic Circle.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies has written a fascinating summary of this unique region. To read the piece follow the link in the show notes.

Next up, in Canada’s North Western Territories, the wildfires may have finally stopped this month, but the drought that kept the fires burning is still ongoing. The territory relies on hydro-power for about 75% of its electricity and the drought has left water levels at a record low. Doug Prendergast from the NWT Power Corporation said the current situation “...appears to be about as dire a situation as we’ve seen, at least according to our records.” As a result of less power being generated, residents of the territory are now reliant on diesel generators. Prendergast has forecasted the low water levels will continue into next year, meaning that, since in winter residents have to heat their homes, the season will be a difficult and expensive one.

On a different note, over in Alaska, the Indigenous communities have received welcome news from the US Federal Government this week. $440 million US dollars have been allocated to the Indian Health Service to build water and sewer systems in Alaska Native communities— this is ten times the average annual funding normally received. The money will go to forty-two communities, six of which have never had piped water before. The funding comes from the infrastructure bill the US Congress passed in twenty twenty-one. Locals will receive training to build and maintain the infrastructure, allowing native Alaskans to earn licenses in plumbing, carpentry, and electrical work.

More good news for native communities in Alaska this week. In the Northern area of the state, there has been little or no internet at all since June twenty twenty-three when sea ice cut an undersea fiber optic cable in Prudhoe Bay on the northern Alaskan coast. On Tuesday, the 19th, Quintillion, the broadband provider, fully repaired the cable. Due to the difficult working conditions in northern Alaska, the repair efforts took a forty-two-person team and over a month to complete.

Staying in Alaska but getting a bit more ridiculous, a pair of black bears raided a Krispy Kreme doughnut van on a military base outside of Anchorage on Tuesday the 19th. The driver said he always keeps his doors open when making deliveries but this time a mother and cub wandered inside and gorged themselves for twenty minutes. The driver banged on the van doors but base security had to be called, sounding sirens to scare the mischievous bears away. Eventually, the pair left, took a stroll around the gas station, and went home into the woods.

Lastly, over to Finland for some unexpected good news. Finland's wildlife agency Metsähallitus discovered two dens used by the critically endangered Arctic fox in Finnish Lapland. The agency also reported that nine cubs have been born at the two sites. Metsähallitus has counted a total of twenty-five cubs born this summer. This marks an incredible recovery for the fox which before last year, had not bred in Finland since nineteen ninety-six. There were real fears the Arctic fox would go extinct but there is hope that the species will survive.

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

Many of you might know it already but this is a new show. We also have country updates and we cover what's going down in the oceans and major multilateral organizations. To check them out, follow the link in our show notes!

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