Political Implications of the Melting of the Polar Icecaps

Presenter: Rebecca Lelko

Date: Monday November 17th

Readings

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/world/europe/17arctic.html?_r=1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6925853.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4356014.stm

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/05/28/arctic.oil.gas.reserves/index.html

Powerpoint Slideshow

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/ezciCGshlcNxof

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- explain why the Arctic has become important to several counties in the past few years.

- identify the countries that have an interest in the Arctic.

- compare the U.S. to other countries that have territory in the Arctic.

- describe the potential benefits and risks that could develop as the Arctic continues to melt.

- discuss your own views on what the U.S. should or should not do to react to the Arctic ice melting.

5 Questions for Discussion

1) Before the presentation, what did you know about the possible political or economical effects of the Arctic ice melting?

2) Do you think the changing situation in the Arctic is an important issue?

3) How do you feel about what other countries are doing in the Arctic? Specifically, what do you think of Russia claiming so much territory and actually putting a flag under the North Pole?

4) What should the U.S. do to keep up with the changes in the Arctic?

5) Extracting natural gas and oil from the Arctic could cause even more harm to that environment. Is it okay for us to take these resources anyway? If the extraction of these resources were to be monitored, how would we create rules that all the different countries would agree on?