The scramble for Antarctica

[ENT]

The scramble for Antarctica
12/02/2014

For all the attention that the brewing competition for natural resources in the rapidly melting Arctic has gotten in recent years, things have been relatively quiet in Antarctica, despite similar ambiguity over territorial control and potential for major resource grabs: The continent's oil reserves are estimated at up to 203 billion barrels - the third-largest in the world - and perhaps even more importantly in the coming century, its ice holds 90 per cent of the world's fresh water.

But there's a sign this week that things may be heating up a bit on the South Pole with China's unveiling of its fourth Antarctic research base - the UFO-shaped Taishan - with a fifth planned for next year. (Japan, Germany, and Italy already have five stations, and Britain and the US have six.)

Vaughan Winterbottom of Australia's Lowy Institute writes that:

Some have questioned China's motivations for expanding its presence on the southern continent. "The country is rapidly building research stations - a method of assertion on a continent where sovereignty is disputed," wrote Nicola Davison on ChinaDialogue in November. In Stars and Stripes, Seth Robson commented last year that "China is boosting its presence in Antarctica with an eye on the icy continent's vast untapped resources".

For now, mining is prohibited under the Antarctic Treaty, but that will be up for review in 2048 and a number of countries may try to jockey for position before then.

The treaty also forbids new territorial claims by countries on the continent but passes no judgment on previous ones, which has occasionally led to some controversy. Britain and Argentina have overlapping claims and - in the midst of the dispute between the two countries over the Falkland Islands - Argentina objected last year to London's decision to name a large swath of Antarctic territory after Queen Elizabeth II.

Chile, Argentina, Britain, Norway, France, Australia and New Zealand have current claims on Antarctic territory, but given the ambiguity involved, you can probably expect a lot more countries to be angling for a piece of the Antarctic pie over the next 30 years.
The scramble for Antarctica | Stuff.co.nz

[pompeysbroke]

The audacity and greed of the human species (It) knows no bounds. It owns nothing as this planet owns It

[billy the kid]

The audacity and greed of the human species

yea the mind boggles at it.

the Ukraine people got the shock of their lives when they saw what their once dear
leader had for a home while they struggled.

in the history of England we can see how far the tentacles of greed, power and control reached.
nowadays half a million in the uk use food banks
and it's crap food.
the Americans lose 100 years of wealth building to gamblers.