Extract from an article about the impacts of the polar icecap melting

1. A very cold war indeed – The Guardian 5/4/08
As the polar icecap melts deposits of gas and oil below the seabed will become accessible, but
who owns it is not clear.
The village of Tuktoyaktuk is in the extreme north of Canada. To reach the village you fly to
Inuvik, inside the Arctic Circle, then drive north. You can only do this in winter, because most of
the journey is on a frozen river and the ocean. In summer it is accessible only by boat or plane
After travelling for three hours, you reach the Inuit village of Tuktoyaktuk. It consists of simple
houses with few windows, built on stilts to stop them melting the frozen ground, the permafrost.
It would be reasonable to expect that this place was forgotten about but recently that has not
been the case. F-16 jets and cargo planes speed overhead, an icebreaker (ship) has been
annoying polar bear hunters, who do better when the ice is solid. Similar things have been
happening in Russia and Alaska, thanks to the effects of global warming which are more acute
in the Arctic than elsewhere.

2. Oil and gas may lie beneath the seabed along with mineral wealth. The melting ice will open up
the Northwest Passage, a sea route linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to year-round
shipping, it would transform how goods move around the world - halving the distance between
Japan and northern Europe.
Last August Russia planted a Russian flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole; "the Arctic is
ours," they declared. It was not the first time a country had claimed ownership of the pole, but
until the melting began, there wasn't much point. Now the question is urgent. Last year the polar
icecap shrank to half the size of 50 years ago. Some experts believe the pole could be ice-free
in summer within two decades.
The Inuit suffer high levels of alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide, they rely on state benefits.
They hunt whales, seals and caribou. They herd reindeer and make traditional handicraft items
for tourists. The Northwest Passage and an oilfield opening would change all that. Inuvik would
become a regional hub, and Tuktoyaktuk a deep-water port.
The Mayor thinks Tuktoyaktuk needs an all-weather road
to connect it to the rest of Canada, the Arctic oil boom is
a chance to get it. Since 1984 the Inuit have had rights
over the area, so when oil companies seek permission to
operate on their land, they can demand things in return -
such as roads and money for schools.
.