Foreign policy lecture series begins with discussion of Arctic issues

By Russell Buero
Western Herald

(Michael Paeplow / Western Herald) Mead Treadwell, Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, kicked off the 2009 Great Decisions Foreign Policy Lecture Series at WMU with his presentation of “Who Owns the Northwest Passage: Arctic Region Issues” on Tuesday evening in the Kirsch Auditorium of the Fetzer Center.

The World Affairs Council of Western Michigan played host to speaker Mead Treadwell, chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission on Tuesday.

The presentation, titled “Who Owns the Northwest Passage?  Arctic Issues,” focused heavily on the need for international monitoring of crisis issues in the Arctic region.
The presentation started off with basic Arctic facts such as the $400 million a year that is put into Arctic research by the United States.  The United States became an official arctic nation when they purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867.

Discussion on the arctic region inevitably led to the need for climate control in order to reduce or eliminate the amount of melting ice in the Arctic Ocean.
When last measured in 2007, the amount of seasonal ice in the region had reached a historic minimum.
Many animal species in the frozen north require the seasonal ice in order to survive.

Polar bears, which just last year were added to the threatened species, are endangered because they use the ice to hunt their natural prey of seals.
Seals and walrus are also in contact with problems of shrinking amounts of ice since they use that ice to find and eat their food.

Underwater species such as fish and crabs are not immune to these climate problems in the arctic, either.  Ocean acidification, which is the increasing acidity of the ocean waters, is beginning to hurt developing crabs and fish cultures due to these high acid levels in the seawater.

The presentation then switched from the preservation of wildlife and nature to the reasons why so many countries around the world are interested in the Arctic.

“Global demand for oil is also changing the arctic,” Treadwell said, “Arctic shipping is not just a future thing, it is a now thing.”

Almost all nations of the world now use oil and the product of oil for the Arctic nations is a huge portion of their income.
With it being a huge portion of their income many jobs are moving north and with this comes much increased travel to a region that once did not see that much travel.

A research model was presented that projected what would happen if CO2 levels were reduced dramatically by 2020. The Arctic ice could recover, however, if not reduced by 2030 the model showed the resulting melted ice could not be reversed.

College students have a huge opportunity coming up as the Arctic region becomes increasingly more important on both national and international levels.

“Look at the Arctic as a venue of international affairs.  The world will need more Arctic experts and a student of international affairs here [at WMU] can make a career,” Treadwell said.

“Study up and get involved,” Treadwell said on the issue of what a student can do to help. “If you are interested in public affairs get involved in science.  Its important to understand what technology and science can do for us.”

So no matter the major, future students will be hearing more and more about an increasing amount of job opportunities as the arctic issues become more and more popular.

“We are here to be a community resource,” said Dixie Anderson, executive director of the World Affairs Council of Western Michigan.

Students can attend future events hosted by the World Affairs Council on Tuesday evenings on Feb. 17 and March 17 in the Fetzer Center.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 10 2009. Filed under Nation, News, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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