If scientists are right, higher temperatures will have left the North Pole without ice this summer for the first time in ages. Without the thick sea ice, nations are racing to claim newly available oil and mineral resources. A Russian submarine has planted a flag on the Arctic’s floor, among less dramatic actions by other nations. More important for the long term, the melting means more dark water absorbing the sun’s heat.
Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado, quoted in The Independent, said, “From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water.”
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