Canadian Sovereignty: Climate Change and Politics in the Arctic

• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arctic; Canada; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Northwest Passage; Arctic Archipelago; Climate change; Northwest passage
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.473.3888; http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/334/367/

The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, as a defining landscape of the Canadian persona, quickly becomes a flash point when international politics are at issue. The effects of climate change on the archipelago are no exception to this rule. The Canadian Arctic as a whole is experiencing a warming trend as a result of climate change. The political interest of this trend lies in what Canada could lose if the ice of the archipelago disappears. Canada has met some opposition to its historical claim over the land, water, and ice of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, particularly over the Northwest Passage and mostly from the United States. The debate surrounding Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic is not new, but as a result of climate change and the consequent warming of the Canadian Arctic, it has gained new vigor. This debate typically centers on three primary components: melting Canadian Arctic ice, increased international shipping via the Northwest Passage as ice cover decreases, and the threat to Canadian sovereignty implied by increased international shipping. A sense of alarm over melting Arctic ice tends to cloud the real issues affecting the archipelago, leaving society under the impression that sovereignty is indeed in danger.