The seasonal melting of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, which has been confirmed for several summers in a row and is widely documented, has become a hot topic in the media. It is fuelling many speculative scenarios about the purported renewal of a ‘‘cold war’’, or even an actual armed conflict, in the Arctic, for the control of both its natural resources and its sea routes. The melting sea…
Fast-receding summer sea ice in the Arctic has been documented and making the headlines since 2007. The phenomenon, underlined by scientists and the media since about the turn of the century, has triggered speculation about the opening of much shorter sea routes linking Europe via the eastern North American coast to Asia. The prospect of growing shipping traffic in Arctic waters, especially thr…