Tensions rise as nations race for valuable resources in the Arctic

John Yang:

New research shows that climate change is causing the Earth's ice sheets to shrink even faster than previously thought. The annual rate of sea ice loss has more than tripled since the 1990s. In the Arctic, melting ice is raising geopolitical tensions, kickstarting a race for potentially priceless minerals, oil deposits and shipping routes. Lisa Desjardins takes us into the global contest at the top of the world.

Lisa Desjardins:

Ice in the Arctic is getting thinner by the day. The endless thick ridges of ice and landscapes of snow are on the way to being things of the past. That thinning is transforming, making the Arctic easier to navigate drill, and mine bringing new possibilities.

Joe Biden, U.S. President:

The energy that's going to be produced there estimated would count to 1 percent, 1 percent of the total production of oil in the world.

Lisa Desjardins:

But also bringing new problems.

Edward Struzik, Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy: It's warming up four times faster than any other part of the world.

Lisa Desjardins:

Edward Struzik is with the Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen's University in Canada. He's journeyed to the Arctic almost every year for the last last four decades

Edward Struzik:

I was in the Arctic last summer and what struck me was the number of exploration sites rare earth mining exploration sites that dotted the landscape.

Lisa Desjardins:

And more are coming.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R) Alaska:

This is an extraordinarily significant project for the state of Alaska.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R) Alaska: This is a really important question not just for Alaska, for America.

Lisa Desjardins:

Last month, the Biden administration gave final approval for the Willow Drilling Project long sought by one of the country's biggest oil companies, ConocoPhillips. On the one hand, it could be an economic boon, including an estimated eight to $17 billion for state and federal governments. But environmental and indigenous groups estimate the oil produced will add emissions. Emissions equal to an extra 1.7 million cars on the road for 30 years.

Karen Pletnikoff, Aleutian Pribilof Island Association:

Definition has a great opportunity to invest in the things that could build a stronger economy that could help us be more prepared for the impacts of climate change that can demonstrate our moral authority and leadership in the world.

Lisa Desjardins:

Alaskan Karen Pletnikoff runs the environment and safety program at the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association, an area directly affected by projects like Willow, Pletnikoff worries how opening up this region could impact indigenous communities there.

Karen Pletnikoff:

Yununga (ph) people have been on our islands and waters for 10,000 years, we want to see another 10,000 years.

Lisa Desjardins:

But now some world powers increasingly are eyeing the Arctic and glaring at one another. Look at the map. On one side of the Arctic states, Greenland, Canada and the U.S. add up their northern most coastlines, and they still fall short of Russia's Arctic border of a 15,000 Miles, 53 percent of the Arctic frontier. And with Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Russia is moving away from collaboration.

Edward Struzik:

The Russians have been a signatory to many international agreements on monitoring climate, weather, pollution, search and rescue, polar bear research, whale research, peatland ecology, and I find it really kind of tragic, you know, that the geography of hope is now turning into the geography of despair.

Lisa Desjardins:

As Russia slips away from diplomatic ties, its military forces are expanding. In February, Russian bombers flew over the Bering Sea close to Alaska and Canada's borders. U.S. and NATO Allies responded last month with a joint military exercise in Norway. It is a climate driven military posture.

Michael Klare, Author, "All Hell Breaking Loose": The Arctic is becoming very important as a future battlefield.

Lisa Desjardins:

Michael Klare is the author of "All Hell Breaking Loose" about the military and climate change.

Michael Klare:

The more we look into the future, climate change is going to have an increasingly severe impact on U.S. national security. And of course, the Arctic is one area where that's especially the case.

Lisa Desjardins:

That thought is echoing in the halls of Congress, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski recently warned.

Lisa Murkowski:

The reality is that the threats that we're watching very carefully, where are they? It's Russia. It's China. We are the eyes and the ears. We are protecting that front line.

Michael Klare:

Remember the balloon that came over the United States, went across Alaska on its way to the U.S. because that's the way planes or missiles or balloons will travel from China to the United States or from Russia to the United States. The Arctic is the shortest route.

Lisa Desjardins:

Arctic water routes appearing for the first time in recorded history could cut global shipping distances by over 4,000 miles. That's about two weeks of precious travel time. Claims of ownership and sovereignty are already being tested in these new open waters. For example, Canada claims jurisdiction over the Northwest Passage, but that ownership is challenged by the U.S. and others.

Edward Struzik:

What of China decides at some point that they're just going to test those waters and pass through what is Canada going to do.

Michael Klare:

For China, the Arctic is important because it's the leading shipper of goods, imports and exports in the world. And a passage through the Arctic from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean would be extremely useful to them if that were to open up.

Lisa Desjardins:

Is the whole map going to go into change? Our maps in the future going to look significantly different?

Michael Klare:

I think we are going to be looking at the map differently. There'll be more traffic. There'll be cruise ships going into the Arctic, more of fishing will be there and of course you have this military competition occurring in a place where that never occurred before.

Lisa DesjardinsS:

The old Arctic ice pack stood and was relatively isolated for thousands upon thousands of years, but now a new Arctic is a modern flashpoint for the world's biggest struggles over resources, and the future of the Earth itself. For "PBS News Weekend," I'm Lisa Desjardins.