Arctic in "From Politics and Contemporary History"

The German-language journal: Aus Politik und Zeigeschichte, 5-6/2011, 31 January 2011 has devoted a whole issue to “Arctic Space”. The following are short translations of the abstracts:

Arved Fuchs

North Pole Dawning/„Nordpoldämmerung”

Arved Fuchs has been undertaking expeditions in the Arctic for over 30 years. He counts the last ten years as his most formative due to the effects of climate change: „I never thought it possible that the Arctic could change in such a major way as is currently the case.“

Christoph Humrich

Resource Conflicts, Law and Governance in the Arctic/„Ressourcenkonflikte, Recht und Regieren in der Arktis“

The expected conflicts, risks and outcomes as a result of natural resource development require regulation. Are the Arctic Council, UNCLOS and MEAs appropriate instruments or does it require a comprehensive treaty similar to the Antarctic?

Valur Ingimundarson

Mineral resources, Superpower Politics and Multilateral Governance/„Bodenschätze, Großmachtpolitik und multilaterale Governance“

It will still take decades before oil and gas extraction is actually possible in many parts of the Arctic. This has not kept the Arctic States from territorial claims. A generally accepted framework for dispute resolution has yet to be established.

Dirk Notz

The Arctic in a Changing Climate/„Die Arktis im Klimawandel“

The earth has warmed by approximately 0.75°C since before the Industrial Revolution. The increase in temperature is however not evenly distributed, but instead intense in the polar regions. This could be considered the Earth’s early warning system whose warming could have wide consequences beyond these regions.

Christoph Seidler

Traditional Arctic Inhabitants and Climate Change/„Die traditionellen Arktis-Bewohner und der Klimawandel“

Traditional Arctic inhabitants do not portray themselves as „winners“ or „losers“ of the changes in their native lands.  However, the living conditions for many are changings as a result of climate change. Hunting is becoming more dangerous while the extraction of other resources is to some extent more possible.

Matthias Hannemann

North to the Future – The Arctic and the Media/„North to the Future– die Arktis und die Medien“

The subject of the Arctic would have never become so dynamic were it not for the „Wonder of the North“ that has become so deeply anchored in our consciousness. Nonetheless, the media firmly declines to absolve itself from this dream and to come to grips with reality.