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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Global Warming and the Rush to Claim the Arctic's Riches

    CNN calls it "an irony that even Al Gore might appreciate." As global warming causes the polar icecaps to recede, frozen oceans become navigable and undiscovered oil and natural gas becomes accessible. Russia's most famous Arctic explorer, Artur Chilingarov , has placed a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    CNN calls it "an irony that even Al Gore might appreciate." As global warming causes the polar icecaps to recede, frozen oceans become navigable and undiscovered oil and natural gas becomes accessible. Russia's most famous Arctic explorer, Artur Chilingarov, has placed a flag on the seabed beneath the North Pole. Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper is out on the Arctic Ocean making plans for an Army training center and a deep-water port. Melting ice may free up both the Northwest Passage and one quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and natural gas. It's the Wild, Wild West all over again. Will the US assert its national interests? What are the prospects for international conflict?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Global Warming and the Rush to the Arctic
    1. 1:37Mattel Expands Recall of Toys Made in China
    2. 7:29Global Warming and the Rush to Claim the Arctic's RichesYou’re reading this
    3. 41:59'Merchant of Death' May Be Responsible for Missing Weapons in Iraq
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      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

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      Dan Konecky

      Producer, To the Point

    • KCRW placeholder

      Vanessa Romo

      LA School Report

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      Karen Radziner

      Managing Producer, To the Point & Which Way LA?

    • KCRW placeholder

      McKenzie Funk

      journalist and author

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      Franklyn Griffiths

      Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Toronto

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      Andrey Kortunov

      Russian International Affairs Council

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Global Warming and the Rush to the Arctic
    1. 1:37Mattel Expands Recall of Toys Made in China
    2. 7:29Global Warming and the Rush to Claim the Arctic's RichesYou’re reading this
    3. 41:59'Merchant of Death' May Be Responsible for Missing Weapons in Iraq
    Back to To the Point