http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,484844,00.html
There's a race against time in the Arctic Circle, where a melting ice cap is opening up once-frozen shipping lanes and countries including the U.S., Russia and Canada rush to lay claim to lucrative energy reserves a scramble that poses serious new security threats.
Military strategists expect territorial disputes to become more intense as a shrinking ice cap allows greater exploration, just as energy demands increase.
Scientists predict that Arctic waters could even be ice-free in summers by 2013, decades earlier than previously thought.
Russia and Canada have already traded verbal shots over each other's intentions.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last year he will firm up control of disputed Arctic waters with stricter registration requirements for ships sailing in the Northwest Passage though Canada's control of the passage is widely disputed, including by the U.S.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his government will also act to mark out its Arctic territory, though many dispute Moscow's assertion that it has the right to control an area equivalent to the size of France.
There's a race against time in the Arctic Circle, where a melting ice cap is opening up once-frozen shipping lanes and countries including the U.S., Russia and Canada rush to lay claim to lucrative energy reserves a scramble that poses serious new security threats.
Military strategists expect territorial disputes to become more intense as a shrinking ice cap allows greater exploration, just as energy demands increase.
Scientists predict that Arctic waters could even be ice-free in summers by 2013, decades earlier than previously thought.
Russia and Canada have already traded verbal shots over each other's intentions.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last year he will firm up control of disputed Arctic waters with stricter registration requirements for ships sailing in the Northwest Passage though Canada's control of the passage is widely disputed, including by the U.S.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said his government will also act to mark out its Arctic territory, though many dispute Moscow's assertion that it has the right to control an area equivalent to the size of France.
