Why Climate Matters: The Arctic

Why It Matters

Council on Foreign Relations

News

4.2 • 876 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Under international law, the North Pole and the Arctic waters surrounding it are not owned by any country. But this January, President Donald Trump announced his plans to buy the Arctic territory of Greenland, testing the claims of rivals and opening up a greater conversation around who governs the Arctic Circle. On top of these icy tensions, the North Pole is warming. Melting ice caps are opening up new shipping routes and making the region increasingly mineable, generating even more interest from leaders around the world. This episode was originally released on March 29, 2023. Featured Guests Esther Brimmer, James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance Jeff Randall, Military Fellow, U.S. Coast Guard For an episode transcript and show notes, visit us at https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/whats-cracking-arctic

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the third installment in our special mini-series, featuring some of our favorite
0:05.3	Why It Matters episodes that have censored around climate. At the beginning of this year,
0:10.2	incoming President Donald Trump announced plans to buy Greenland and make it a part of the United
0:16.0	States. Questions continue to percolate about why the Danish territory matters.
0:22.1	Well, Greenland is actually strategically located in the Arctic Circle,
0:26.7	lying along the shortest maritime passage from North America to Europe.
0:31.7	Greenland is also rich in critical minerals used to power electric vehicles and wind turbines,
0:40.2	and has heaps of untouched oil and natural gas. On top of this, the Arctic is warming. Melting ice caps are opening new
0:47.3	shipping routes and drawing new interest from around the world in the region's resources.
0:53.2	In this episode, we examine historic claims to the Arctic,
0:57.0	the battle over the region's shared waters,
1:00.0	and the growing economic and military competition among great powers.
1:05.0	Here it is.
1:16.6	Imagine a place that is very white. And all you see around you is ice.
1:19.6	All you see is vastness.
1:23.6	All you see is great expanses of nothing.
1:30.1	The ice never seems to end.
1:31.9	It goes on forever.
1:39.3	It's an area of immense beauty or immense loneliness.
1:45.0	That is the region that is the Arctic. The Arctic. The Arctic.
1:50.0	The Arctic.
1:54.0	It sits at the top of the globe is covered in snow and sea ice and has days without sunlight. We think of it in terms of extremes,
	...

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