benefits of arctic, climate change impacts, economic opportunities in arctic,ice melting,importance of arctic,India and arctic,minerals & energy in arctic,sea route arctic,shipping in arctic,business opportunities in arctic, Arctic future,arctic council,importance of arctic, arctic, navigation in arctic

1. Importance of Arctic
The Arctic couldbe completelyice-free asearlyas2020. The ice coveron the Arctic hascome downto 4. miosq Km
as on September15,2016 froman average 6.22 miosqKm in 1981-2010. This appearsto have beenthe lowest
extentof the yearand istiedwith2007 as the secondlowestextentonrecord. Thisoffers significantimplicationsfor
global trade,energysecurity,and geopolitics.
1) Energy : The Arcticcontains vast energysources.
a) 90 Bln barrelsof oil
b) 1,669 trillioncubicfeetof natural gas
c) 44Bln of barrelsof natural gas, whichis approx.
d) In total it contains 13% of the world’sundiscoveredoil resourcesandabout30% of undiscovered
natural gas resources.
e) The meltednavigablewaterscouldalsobe usedforgeneratingthermalenergywiththe temperature
differencesonthe surface of thiswaterandbeneath.
2) Shipping:A more accessible blue Arcticcouldreorienttransoceanicenergytrade flows, logistical
infrastructure suchas shipbuildingandports. Shrinkingof ice coverwill openuppotential searoutesthrough
whichnavigationwillbe carriedoutare:
1. North WestRoute- It is a searoute connectingthe AtlanticandPacificOceansthroughthe Canadian
Arctic Archipelago.Previouslyitwasvirtuallyimpossible because itwascoveredbythick,year-roundsea
ice.But climate change isallowingcommercial traffictopassthrough thisonce impossible route.
The potential benefitsare asfollows
i. ShiproutesfromEurope to easternAsiawouldbe 4,000 kilometresshorter.
ii. The vastmineral resourcesof the CanadianNorth will be mucheasierandeconomical to
developandshiptomarket.
iii. 40% shorterthan the existingroute viaSuezCanal. Itwill cutshippingtimeby 12 days.
2. Northern SeaRoute- The NorthernSeaRoute isa shippingroute officiallydefinedby Russian
legislation aslyingeastof NovayaZemlyaandspecificallyrunningalongthe Russian Arcticcoastfrom
the Kara Sea,alongSiberia,tothe BeringStrait.The entire route liesin Arcticwatersandwithin
Russia'sExclusive EconomicZone (EEZ). Whilethe NortheastPassageincludesall the EastArcticseasand
connectsthe AtlanticandPacificoceans,the NorthernSeaRoute doesnotinclude the BarentsSea.The
NSRextends forabout3000 miles.The factual lengthof the route ineachparticularcase dependsonice
conditions
The potential benefitsare asfollows:
i. Alternativetothe traditional searoute throughthe IndianOcean shrinkingthe distance between
Asiaand Europe considerably.
ii. The route will connectshippingfromEurope toAsiain 35 days, as opposedtothe 48-days.
iii. The numberof commercial shipstransitingthroughNSRgrew from4 in2010 to 71 in 2013,
whichspeaksof the risingimportance of the Arctic.
iv. A substantial partof the Arctic hydrocarbonresource isinNW Russiaandoffshore inthe Barents
and Kara seasat the westerngatewayof the NSR.Currentandfuture developmentof this
Russianresource base isthe maindriverforincreasedshippingonthe NSRinthe coming
decades.
v. In 2015 a total of 5.4 milliontonsof goods andprojectcargo were transportedonthe NSR,up
fromabout 4.0 milliontonsin2014 and3.9 milliontonsin2013.
vi. It affectsthe strategicrelevance of existingsearoutesnavigatingthroughthe IndianOcean.
Shippingroutes mayshiftfrompoliticallyunstableregionslikeWestAsiaandpiracy-infected
routeslike the SouthChinaSea,the Malacca Straitsand the Gulf of Aden & can bringa shiftfrom

2. Importance of Arctic
the Asia-PacifictoTrans-Atlanticeconomies,. Hence,countries will reworktheir strategic
calculations
Opportunities:
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Sources:
1. Sanjay Chaturvedi -‘Asia engages the Arctic’,The NationalBureau ofAsian Research
2. Vijay Sakhuja –‘India andtheArctic: BeyondKiruna’, Indian CouncilofWorld Affairs
3. Vijay Sakhuja & GurupreetKhurana –‘Arctic perspective’, National Maritime Foundation‘TheArctic: challenges,prospects andopportunities for india’,
Indian Foreign Affairs Journal
4. http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/
5. http://www.arctic-council.org.
6. http://www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-seeks-increased-participation-in-arctic-council-760707
7. http://www.mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?21812/India&
8. http://southasianvoices.org/indias-increasing-interest-in-the-arctic/http://www.arcticfrontiers.com/downloads/arctic-frontiers-2013/conference-
presentations/thursday-24-january-2013/part-i-new-stakeholders-and-governance-in-the-arctic/108-07-vijay-sakhuja/file
9. http://www.irgamag.com/analysis/terms-of-engagement/item/11916-india-and-calculus-of-the-arctic-region
10. http://www.ipcs.org/article/india/india-and-the-melting-arctic-3804.html
11. https://in.news.yahoo.com/india-science-business-interests-arctic-100038788.html
12. http://www.icwa.in/pdfs/pbindiaandthearctic.pdf
13. http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2013/07/24/india-and-china-in-the-arctic/
14. http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/indian-president-visits-norway-marks-countrys-presence-in-the-ongoing-arctic-rush-46888
15. http://www.maritimeindia.org/pdf/Arctic%20Perspectives.pdf
16. http://www.associationdiplomats.org/Publications/ifaj/Vol8/8.1/DEBATE.pdf
17. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/837743.shtml
18. http://asianaffairs.in/october2015/India-in-the-Arctic.php
19. http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150820000127&cid=1101
20. http://miscellanea.ujk.edu.pl/data/Oferta/Pliki/433_14-J.Grzela.pdf
21. http://gordonfoundation.ca/sites/default/files/images/Chapter8%20-%20Geopolitical%20Transformations.pdf
22. http://breakingenergy.com/2014/10/07/why-is-the-arctic-at-the-center-of-world-politics/
23. http://www.newindianexpress.com/columns/A-Brewing-Cold-War-in-The-Warming-Arctic/2015/10/10/arcticle3071409.ece
24. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/09/10/why-the-northwest-passage-probably-wont-be-ready-for-shipping-
any-time-soon/?utm_term=.f507c80894c9
25. http://www.arctic-lio.com/
26. https://accelfellowship.wordpress.com/opportunities-and-challenges-economic-social-and-political-impacts-of-climate-change-in-the-arctic/
27. http://www.wsj.com/articles/arctic-cargo-shipping-volume-is-rising-as-ice-melts-1414612143
28. http://www.nortrade.com/sectors/articles/new-maritime-opportunities-in-the-arctic/
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3. Importance of Arctic