The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of March 19, 2018
Democracy Controlled
On March 18, Vladimir Putin secured victory in the Russian presidential election. He won with more than 76% of the votes, and voter turnout was reportedly about 67%, higher than six year ago. Some of the best results were reported in the Far North, in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug region that is rich in oil and gas. In Sabetta, the region’s new industrial hub on the northeastern coast of the Yamal Peninsula, the results showed that Putin received 95.14 % of the votes with a voter turnout as high as 94.89%. Military towns also saw overwhelming results (BBC, The Independent Barents Observer).
Take 1: Presidents Putin’s unsurprising victory makes him the longest serving ruler in Russia since Joseph Stalin. He has created a political system that revolves around him and is geared more towards short-term stability, as a government without him at its core could make things only less secure. In regards to arctic issues, a continuation of the Putin regime means that Arctic exploration and exploitation will continue to expand as Russia seeks to create new sources of income.
U.S. Navy conducts Arctic exercise
On March 7, the U.S. navy and forces from the United Kingdom and Canada started their bi-annual Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2018 above the Arctic Circle, set to last five weeks. The exercise includes a temporary ice camp on a moving ice flow, three nuclear submarines and over 100 personnel. The three submarines will surface in proximity to the North Pole, complete multiple Arctic transits and also collect scientific data from under the ice. The aim of the exercise is to assess and strengthen the operational readiness of the U.S. Navy in the Arctic, increase the Navy’s understanding of the Arctic environment, and help train and develop relationships with other allies (Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, Department of Defense, High North News).
Take 2: ICEX 2018 is the longest of three Arctic exercises that the U.S. military participates in this month. All three exercises (Joint Reindeer, Arctic Edge 2018 and ICEX 2018) are vital as the Arctic’s strategic importance becomes more recognized, and the United States desperately needs to show more interest in the region (DVIDS, The Independent Barents Observer). The U.S. has generally shown a lack of engagement in the Arctic with little military presence, insufficient diplomatic engagement and an almost nonexistent fleet of icebreakers. The participation in three Arctic military exercises during the same month sends a clear message that the United States has not given Russia the green light to control the region. On the contrary, the race is on with the U.S. and Russia to dominate the ice and sea militarily, and exploit it scientifically (ABC News). As it appears that U.S. defense spending might increase, there is a better chance that the U.S. can catch up to Russia.
Wind Power to the Rescue
When fully completed by 2021, the Markbygden project wind park in north Sweden will be the largest land-based wind farm in Europe with 1,101 turbines. Currently, 150 workers are involved in the construction of the wind park. By the end of the year this number will increase to 500, and 60 turbines will have been built. The park aims to produce up to 12 TWh of electricity annually, and Norsk Hydro, a Norwegian aluminum and renewable energy company, will be among its customers (Affärer i Norr, Svevind, The Independent Barents Observer).
Take 3: Markbygden is an ideal location for building a wind park. With great wind conditions and a limited number of people to disturb, the park can take full advantage of the winds energy generating potential. With each kWh of electricity produced, the project can replace electricity produced from fossil fuels. It has already been calculated that the wind power project can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 8 million tons/year compared to electric energy produced using carbon (Svevind). This is good news as Sweden signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, has 16 environmental objectives, and now aims to be at net zero emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere by 2045 (Quartz). Sweden has also set high goals about a fast and extensive expansion of wind power. In 2020 the government aims to get 30 TWh from land-based turbines. This is a substantial increase from the previous 2002 goal of 10 TWh by 2015. The Markbygden project clearly contributes to making all these goals become reality. The 10 TWh of electricity produced annually will equal 6.6% of the total electricity production in Sweden (Svevind).
Radioactive Fish
On March 14, during the 5th international conference of fishing in the Arctic, Russia announced that the Kara Sea might become a promising fishing area. Russia’s Federal Agency for Fishing stated that the Kara Sea’s advantage for the fishing industry is that it is a shelf sea that doesn’t border any territorial water of other states. Russia can thus have its own fishing regulations there. In addition it is an area rich in capelin, flounder, halibut, perch, polar cod and snow crab. A plan for development of the area will be presented in the near future, as larger parts of the Kara Sea now remain ice-free for longer parts of the winter and make fishing there promising (Tass).
Take 4: Kara Sea was an old Soviet dumping ground for nuclear waste during the Cold War and now Russia is keen to extract resources such as oil, gas, and fish from it (The Independent Barents Observer). The enormous quantities of waste dumped into Kara Sea include 17,000 containers and 19 vessels containing radioactive waste, 14 nuclear reactors, five of which contain spent fuel, and a nuclear submarine that sunk in 1981 (BBC, Bellona). For these reasons the international community has raised concerns that the threat of radiation transfers to the food chain remains large, and that sealed containers and subs can eventually leak all their waste into the sea causing an environmental catastrophe. The IAEA has stated that Kara Sea’s radioisotope levels are currently normal, however, scientists still say that the impact of radioactivity on both the environment and human health requires greater study (BBC).
Canada’s Growing Arctic Traffic
The results of a new study on shipping in Canada’s Arctic have been released this month. The findings reveal that traffic in the region has almost tripled from 364,179 km in 1990 to 918,266 km in 2015, with the majority of growth occurring during the last decade. Cargo ships and government vessels still remain the largest share of ship traffic in Arctic Canada, comprising 53% of the total traffic in 1990 and 39% in 2015. The findings also showed that pleasure crafts, primarily private yachts, account for the fastest growing vessel type. In 1990 pleasure crafts made up 1% of the total vessel traffic. In 2015 the number was up to 8% (High North News).
Take 5: Canada’s growing traffic along the Northwest Passage (NWP) mostly results from increased tourism and the shipments of supply materials used for construction and development. Russia’s increase in shipping traffic along the Northeast Passage (NEP) is due to increased extraction and exploitation of natural resources. However, navigation along both passages has been made possible because of the development of new and better technology, and climate change which has lead to a reduction in sea ice extent and the opening up of areas previously inaccessible. Canada’s NWP may never be able to compete with the NEP in terms of trans-Arctic shipping, as NEP is key to future Europe-Asia trade. Still, improved access to Canada’s Arctic waters will be of great importance to Canada as it makes resource extraction, trade and scientific exploration easier.