Bering Straits Crucial Environmental Decision Needed
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/6176989/German-ships-sailing-through-North-East-Passage.html
Withe the opening of the Northeast Passage ( Europe to the Pacific over Russia ) and Canada's continuing battle to protect the waters of the Northwest Passage, by declaring them to be domestic waterways, it is time for the US to decide whether Exxon profits or the world's environment is more important.
Because either route ends up using the Bering Straits as the gateway to the Pacific, and all the associated markets, it is crucial that the US and Russia decide on a navigational/ safety protocols to protect the fragile Arctic eco systems.
The Bering straits are approx. 59 miles wide with islands and rock in the middle. It is turbulent waters and ugly weather. A number of sensitive and rich fisheries exist in the Bering Sea with new ones being explored north of the straits. Oil exploration is being conducted on the Northern continental shelf which is by drilling standards relatively shallow thus, except for weather and ice, easy.
Essentially a perfect area for marine disasters.
Under the Law of the Sea it is an international waterway. But like the Darnelles and the Kattegat (which drains the Baltic into the North Sea/ Atlantic) the surrounding countries have the right to insist on extra safety precautions for ships in passage.
Things like requiring double hulls and Tugboat escorts. The previous administrations of addled ronnie raygun and the past bush junta has pushed to require that single hulled vessels, including oil tankers, be allowed passage and resisted tugboat escorts as cutting into the shipping Co's ( read Oil) profits.
The opening of these passages will dramatically shorten the shipping routes between China, Japan, Korea, Western Canada and the US to Europe. It probably will cause a drop in shipping using the Suez and Panama canals , with associated drop in revenue. It will dramatically reduce the shipping around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.
The areas that will most directly affected are the homes of the native populations. The Inuits, Eskimo's and other mostly poor and, relatively, politically powerless indigenous peoples. They live largely on subsistence economy based on fishing and hunting. Global warming is already challenging their ability to survive a few oil spills and added pollution is not going to help.
The question becomes whether any of the saving will be properly invested in the protection of the fragile northern climes or will it simply disappear into the pockets of the wealthy.
Whether the Obama abministration will use the crucial geographic placement of the US to help protect the north or will it decide it is unworthy of any political capital?
Withe the opening of the Northeast Passage ( Europe to the Pacific over Russia ) and Canada's continuing battle to protect the waters of the Northwest Passage, by declaring them to be domestic waterways, it is time for the US to decide whether Exxon profits or the world's environment is more important.
Because either route ends up using the Bering Straits as the gateway to the Pacific, and all the associated markets, it is crucial that the US and Russia decide on a navigational/ safety protocols to protect the fragile Arctic eco systems.
The Bering straits are approx. 59 miles wide with islands and rock in the middle. It is turbulent waters and ugly weather. A number of sensitive and rich fisheries exist in the Bering Sea with new ones being explored north of the straits. Oil exploration is being conducted on the Northern continental shelf which is by drilling standards relatively shallow thus, except for weather and ice, easy.
Essentially a perfect area for marine disasters.
Under the Law of the Sea it is an international waterway. But like the Darnelles and the Kattegat (which drains the Baltic into the North Sea/ Atlantic) the surrounding countries have the right to insist on extra safety precautions for ships in passage.
Things like requiring double hulls and Tugboat escorts. The previous administrations of addled ronnie raygun and the past bush junta has pushed to require that single hulled vessels, including oil tankers, be allowed passage and resisted tugboat escorts as cutting into the shipping Co's ( read Oil) profits.
The opening of these passages will dramatically shorten the shipping routes between China, Japan, Korea, Western Canada and the US to Europe. It probably will cause a drop in shipping using the Suez and Panama canals , with associated drop in revenue. It will dramatically reduce the shipping around the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.
The areas that will most directly affected are the homes of the native populations. The Inuits, Eskimo's and other mostly poor and, relatively, politically powerless indigenous peoples. They live largely on subsistence economy based on fishing and hunting. Global warming is already challenging their ability to survive a few oil spills and added pollution is not going to help.
The question becomes whether any of the saving will be properly invested in the protection of the fragile northern climes or will it simply disappear into the pockets of the wealthy.
Whether the Obama abministration will use the crucial geographic placement of the US to help protect the north or will it decide it is unworthy of any political capital?
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"Dardanelles." Do we want to eat fish, or pay slightly less for fuel?
September 16, 2009 8:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Damn spell checker didn't catch that but caught Kattegat oh well.
It's not just a matter of fish . There is the issue of environmental racism/classism where the immediate environmental costs are, literally, dumped upon the poorest and politically weakest in our world.
It is also the issue that the northern ocean is relatively untouched by immediate pollution ( v. indirect pollution) sources. This environment is fragile and slow to recover from any shock to the system.
After befouling almost all of the rest of the world do we wish to see one of the last, comparatively, unspoiled areas dragged down to the standard of the Pacific ocean's plastic garbage patch?
The scientific loss should not be ignored. As it is now the Arctic Sea's is as close as we can come to a "control" against which we can measure effect's of human activities on other waters.
September 16, 2009 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
You write well, but it is so much easier to read with spaces between the paragraphs.
Funny, but the first thing I thought of was a children's book I read. Some kid moved next to a family, the Straits. Their Dad had a sense of humor, so their oldest boy was Gib, for Gibraltar, then there was Dover and Magellan. During the book they had a baby, which the mother named Bering.
Frankly, I think we're going to despoil anyplace with a hint of oil before we're through. Areas like this might be saved if they cost too much to explore and develop, but the tankers looking for shortcuts will be a real problem.
September 16, 2009 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank You.
I put spaces between the paragraphs when writing but when posted they vanish.
It is not just oil. When these routes become major shipping lanes the increased pollution goes up dramatically even if tankers are banned.
The exhaust from the engines, waste discarded over the side, invasive species introduced name the form and it will ride in the wake of the shipping even with strict regulations.
I do not beleive we can stop it. And considering the saving in fuel etc. it may have some benefits but only with stringent regulations strictly enforced. That I fear will not happen.
September 16, 2009 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you importing text from another source? It is best to run it through a plain text editor and remove stray formatting.
September 16, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
No I am writing in the box.
I only import direct quotes and web sites.
September 16, 2009 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink