Arctic sector of the Russian Federation
part of the northern polar region of the Earth, including the outskirts of the continent, covered with the drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean. In modern international law, the division of the Arctic into 5 sectors is enshrined, the basis of which is the northern borders of Russia, the USA, Canada, Denmark (Greenland) and Norway, the lateral faces are the meridians, and the top is the North Pole. The area of the Russian sector is about 9 million km2, of which about 6.8 million km2 is water. Protection of the State Civil Code of the Russian Federation, protection of internal sea waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, continental shelf of the Russian Federation and their natural resources in A.S. RF. It is carried out by the troops and bodies of the RF SS by creating a unified system for monitoring the surface situation in the territorial sea and ports.
Frontier Dictionary. - M .: Academy of the Federal PS of the Russian Federation. 2002 .
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INTRODUCTION.. 3
CHAPTER 1 History of the legal - legal status of the Arctic. 7
1.1 Sectoral principle. 7
1.2 1982 Convention. 9
CHAPTER 2 Features of the Arctic region. 14
2.1 Hydrocarbon reserves in the Arctic. 14
2.2 Military - strategic position. 16
2.3 Northern Sea Route. 17
CHAPTER 3. Positions of states. 20
3.1 Russian Federation. twenty
3.2 Denmark. 22
3.4 Canada. 23
3.5 Norway. 24
3.6 Non-Arctic countries .. 24
CHAPTER 4 Organizations and agreements. The role of non-regional actors and non-governmental organizations. 28
4.1 Commission on the Limits of the UN Continental Shelf. 31
4.2 Arctic Council (AC) 32
4.3 Council of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region, Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region, etc. 34
4.4 Conference of parliamentarians of the Arctic region. 35
Conclusion. 36
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In modern conditions, a rather difficult geopolitical situation is developing around the Arctic. Tension in the region is growing, political contradictions are intensifying, and the struggle for the Arctic space is intensifying both between the Arctic countries and the subarctic ones. Today the Arctic is a point of intersection of interests, geopolitical, economic interests of world powers, interests of leading transnational corporations. In this regard, it is advisable to cite the main reasons for the emergence and strengthening of conflicting geoeconomic trends in the Arctic.
Sectoral principle.
The Arctic is the northern polar region of the Earth, which includes the outskirts of the continents of Eurasia and North America, almost the entire Arctic Ocean with islands, with the exception of the coastal islands of Norway, as well as the adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Its area is about 27 million km 2. Sometimes the Arctic is limited from the south by the Arctic Circle, in this case its area is 21 million km 2. Five countries "border" the Arctic: the Russian Federation, Canada, the USA, Norway and Denmark. Three more polar states - Iceland, Sweden and Finland - do not have oceanic borders with the Arctic, but they also consider themselves Arctic states.
In the twenties of the XX century, the usual norm was formed international law, providing for the distribution of the Arctic territories into sectors according to the principle of their gravitation to the coasts of the circumpolar states. This customary rule establishes that the sector is under the jurisdiction of the Arctic state and the islands and lands in this sector are subject to the sovereignty of this state.
Historically, arctic sector of each state is a space, the base of which is the coast of this state, and the lateral line is the meridians from the North Pole to the East and western borders of this state. The purpose of the sectoral division of the Arctic was the well-founded desire of the Arctic states to exclude from the actions of the general provisions of international law areas, the geographical and climatic features of which make them especially important for these countries.
The first of the Arctic states to enshrine their rights to the Arctic sector in national legislation was Canada, which adopted 1907 Northwest Territories Act". The Russian Federation supported Canada by adopting a diplomatic document similar to the law "On the Northwest Territories" in 1916.
Three other Arctic states did not formalize their possessions in the Arctic in any way, and no one expressed any objections to Russia and Canada. At the same time, in the 1920s, the USSR, Norway, Denmark, the United States and Canada agreed to treat their Arctic sectors as permanent borders. In fact, the principle of sectoral division of the Arctic has become a generally accepted reality. But the so-called " sector theory"(" Sectoral "or" sectoral "theory) - did not receive any reinforcement in the provisions of international treaties. The term "Arctic (or" polar ") sector itself is not used in official international legal documents; Moreover, such documents, including the legislative acts of Canada and the USSR, consolidate the powers of the respective countries not for the entire space of such sectors, but only for the land - mainland and island - formations located there. Meanwhile, for a long time, the opinion has been expressed in the legal literature that the powers of these countries extend or should extend to the entire area of the Arctic sectors adjacent to the coast of each of them with peaks at the North Pole. It should be specially stipulated that none of the Arctic states has ever formally put forward claims to the entire set of land and sea spaces of this region.
The special role of the national legislation of the Arctic states in the legal regime of the Arctic Ocean is also emphasized by some Western jurists: “ a true regional regime in the Arctic has not developed, despite the common problems facing the Arctic states... Instead of this the law of the sea has been applied to the polar north through national approaches.
Thus, we can conclude that the sectoral division of the Arctic did not cause any objections from other, non-Arctic states at the time of its implementation and was accepted de facto. This factual recognition was enough until, with the development of science and technology, the problem of developing the resources of the Arctic from the realm of fantasy has not moved into the practical sphere. Over time, states began to understand the capabilities of the Arctic region, especially in light of global warming and the rapid melting of glaciers. The sectoral principle ceased to suit the world community and began to be considered unfair in relation to non-Arctic countries. Therefore, at the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century, interest in the Arctic was renewed again, a new round of “Arctic relations” began on the redistribution of the sea space of the Arctic Ocean.
1982 Convention
This redistribution was based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, adopted in 1982, which actually changed the geopolitical situation in the Arctic. All the Arctic powers have signed this convention, but the United States has not yet ratified it. In accordance with Art. 4 the outer boundary of the territorial sea is a line, each point of which is located from the nearest point of the baseline at a distance equal to the breadth of the territorial sea. The 1982 Convention established a 12-mile zone of territorial waters, to which, as well as the airspace above it, to its bottom and subsoil, the full sovereignty of the coastal state extends, and a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, measured from the baselines, from which the width of the territorial waters is calculated. According to this Convention, the Arctic states can now claim only a two-hundred-mile economic zone of the sea, since everything else is international waters. Only within this zone are states allowed to explore and develop mineral deposits. However, if any state decides to claim an area outside the 200-mile zone, then it will have to prove that the seabed is a "natural extension" of the continental shelf and then the country can expand the zone up to 350 miles. conventional principle.
The exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles), like the continental shelf, is not part of the state territory. The coastal state has here only sovereign rights and jurisdiction for strictly defined purposes and limits clearly established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Art. 56).
An area outside the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone is considered international. The bottom of the seas and oceans and the subsoil beneath it, which are not under anyone's jurisdiction, are declared the common heritage of mankind. That is, all states of the world have equal rights to develop their natural resources, and any of them has the right to submit an application to the UN and other specialized international organizations for the development of the resources of the sea shelf. In this case, similar actions are not excluded in relation to the Russian Arctic zone within the borders of 1926. The decision to develop is taken by the International Seabed Authority. This convention also raised a number of fundamental political and legal issues, since it established rather contradictory principles for the recognition of sovereignty, in particular over areas of the seabed in the Arctic, which may or may not be an extension of the continental shelf.
Despite the fact that the Convention establishes basic concepts and categories, mechanisms for the settlement and resolution of disputes, it does not clearly define the principles of delimitation when these economic zones touch or overlap. There is also the problem of determining the ownership of the continental shelf outside the 200-mile exclusive economic zone by coastal states. Accordingly, this practice has led to the emergence of mutually exclusive claims of various states on the disputed territories. Thus, the Russian Federation stated that the underwater Lomonosov Ridge (which extends to the North Pole) is an extension of its continental shelf. Of course, such a claim is strongly rejected by the other Arctic powers. There is also a perennial dispute between the United States and Canada over a maritime frontier over the Bosporus Sea. However, there are also positive developments: in 2010 year was achieved compromise on the delimitation of maritime boundaries in the Barents Sea between Russia and Norway... It was these two countries that chose the conventional principle of delimiting the ice of the Arctic Ocean. Canada is just preparing its idea of the boundaries of the continental shelf. The United States refused to ratify the Convention, being guided only by UN Geneva Conventions on the Law of the Sea 1958 years according to which the continental shelf of the state ends where the depth of the waters does not allow the development of the resources of the seabed.
Thus, on the one hand, the 1982 Convention does not formally abolish or deny the sectoral principle of determining the status of territories in the Arctic, but also specifically stipulates that “coastal states have the right to adopt and enforce non-discriminatory laws and regulations on the prevention, reduction and conservation of control of pollution of the marine environment from ships in ice-covered areas ... "(Art. 234 of the Convention); on the other hand, it provides for a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, which can be extended up to 350 miles in case of continuation of the shelf.
At the moment, there is such an acute question as status of areas adjacent to the north pole, including offshore areas - beyond this 200-mile distance.There are two points of view on this issue:
First: the Arctic should be equated to any other region of the world's oceans, accordingly, it should be one of the many objects of the 1982 Convention;
Second: the issue of the Arctic was not on the agenda of the III Conference on the Law of the Sea and should not be considered in the context of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea. Proponents of this position explain this by the fact that the legal regime of the Arctic was formed long before the adoption of the 1982 Convention, and most importantly the content of this regime is general international law, its customary norms, which have developed as a result of the agreement of the international community with the practice and national legislation of the Arctic states.
The carriers of the first position declare the need to apply the 1982 Convention to the Arctic Ocean. Proponents of this position consider the section "Arctic" not in the chapter on territory, but in the chapter on international maritime law. This position is subject to well-founded criticism for the fact that, on the one hand, the Arctic Ocean can be viewed as an open sea, with all the international legal consequences that follow from this understanding. On the other hand, the Arctic Ocean in its significant part is an ice surface, in this regard, it can be considered as a special type of state territory of five adjacent countries, which divided the ocean into polar sectors, and all lands and islands, as well as ice surfaces located in within the polar sector of a country, are part of the state territory. Moreover, supporters of the conventional principle do not take into account the legally significant factor - the recognition by most states of the existence of historically established legal foundations in the Arctic, which represent the international legal basis for the implementation of the Arctic legislation of Canada and Russia. And the international law applicable to delimitation in the Arctic is artificially narrowed, reduced only to Art. 76 of the 1982 Convention (on the boundary between the continental shelf and the International Seabed Area).
CHAPTER 2 Features of the Arctic region
Data on hydrocarbon reserves in the Arctic are periodically published by various experts, organizations and countries, but the information varies considerably. So, according to the official UN intelligence data, oil reserves in this region are 100 billion tons, gas - 50 trillion. cubic meters.
In 2008, experts from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) conducted complex research and released the report "Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas reserves in the Arctic North of the Arctic Circle" (abbreviated CARA) still undiscovered, but technically recoverable reserves of natural gas and oil from traditional sources of hydrocarbons in the Arctic. They analyzed 33 Arctic sedimentary basins, finding that 25 of them are likely to have oil or gas fields with reserves exceeding 50 million barrels of oil equivalent, is more than 10%.
According to this study, the Arctic contains 7% of the world's known proven oil reserves. This is accordingly - 90billion barrels, in addition to oil, the region contains 47.3 trillion cubic meters of gas, gas condensate - 44 billion barrels. According to the same organization, by 2007, 400 oil and gas fields were discovered on the Canadian and Russian mainland of the Arctic, that is, about 10% of the world's proven hydrocarbon reserves.
From these data it follows that, firstly, the main part (about 78%) resource potential The Arctic is made up of natural gas, not oil.
According to American geologists, that part of the Arctic region claimed by the Russian Federation: the Lomonosov Ridge and the central deep-water part of the Arctic with abyssal plains and mid-range ridges, is essentially unpromising in terms of discovering hydrocarbon resources. Most of them are located in the coastal zone of the continental shelf.
Also, do not forget about the cost factor, because in many ways the beginning of the active development of the Arctic depends on it. According to the International Energy Agency, it is about $ 60-80 per barrel. And according to the All-Russian Scientific Research Petroleum Geological Institute (abbreviated as VNIGNI), if the oil price is less than $ 100 per barrel, less than 1% of the initial recoverable oil reserves of the Arctic shelf can be classified as highly profitable.
In addition, many market analysts point to a growing trend in the last decade to increase investment in the oil and gas industry, which may have a beneficial effect on the development of projects for the extraction of hydrocarbon resources in the region. And the development of these projects is already underway: according to the World Energy Agency for 2009 year in the area above the Arctic Circle, 61 large gas and oil deposit ... Most of them are in Russia (43), followed by Canada - 11, USA - 6, Norway - 1.
In the 21st century, the Arctic is likely to become an important resource base for humankind. This will happen, most likely in 2020-2040, subject to an increase in world prices for hydrocarbons, and their depletion in other parts of the planet. In addition, if the development of natural resources is now difficult due to heavy climatic conditions and requires high energy costs, in the future, the potential melting of ice may have a stimulating effect on the development of the region.
Northern Sea Route
An important factor of strategic importance for Russia and other Arctic powers is the expansion of opportunities for navigation along the Northern Sea Route. At the end of 2012, Vladimir Putin said that The Northern Sea Route is more profitable in economically than the Suez Canal which makes it extremely important for Russia. The Northern Sea Route has been officially open for shipping since 1991, but may become significant in the future transport artery between countries Western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. This is facilitated by a number of factors:
Firstly, projected increase in cargo transportation volumes between these two regions. This is largely due to economic development APR.
Secondly, it is no piracy.
Thirdly, the length of the path is shorter compared to the southern route... If the distance traveled by ships traveling from the port of Murmansk to the Japanese port of Yokohama through the Suez Canal is 12,840 nautical miles, then the ships travel 5,770 miles along the Northern Sea Route, that is, the route is shortened by 1.5 times.
Fourth, this is the absence of additional cargo passes in comparison with the combined rail-water types of deliveries using the Trans-Siberian and Trans-Chinese railways.
Fifth, warming trends will provide reduction in the area of ice sheets in the Arctic... As of August 2012, the area of ice cover is 4.1 million km per sq., Which is 70,000 km per sq. Km. less than in 2007.
However, there are some problems:
First, it is necessary to invest additional funds in vessels in order to adapt them to the Arctic conditions (that is, the need for ice-class vessels)
Secondly, the use of the NSR will entail additional costs for icebreaking services.
Thirdly, the delivery time of goods is rather unpredictable due to climatic risks.
This means that the Northern Sea Route, in theory, is capable of becoming a fairly promising project. However, in the short term, it is unlikely to be a full-fledged alternative to the Suez Canal. At the same time, it can become a fairly competitive transport corridor for the transportation of some goods along certain routes. First of all, for the transportation of Russian raw materials mined in the Arctic in East Asia... It is extremely advantageous due to the absence of piracy and the shortest route length. In fact, climatic conditions are the only obstacle to its development.
Thus, we see that the Arctic is a very promising region, both for individual countries and for all of humanity. Its development largely depends on successful cooperation and the interests of political elites. The region is now more a subject of struggle than cooperation. V last years there has been a tendency to remilitarize the Arctic. Today it is extremely important for the world community to start looking for common points of contact.
If political elites are able to follow the path of dialogue and search for consensus, relying on cooperation and joint problem solving, the Arctic can become the property of mankind.
CHAPTER 3. Positions of states.
States are pursuing different policies in relation to the Arctic. Today, there is a noticeable increase in interest among both Arctic and non-Arctic states.
the Russian Federation
The Russian Federation supports the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea as a legitimate multilateral legal mechanism regulating activities in the Arctic Ocean, resolving disputes over maritime boundaries, resources and the continental shelf, as well as resolving differences in maritime shipping, but continues to adhere to the sectoral principle of delimiting lateral boundaries its territory in the Arctic. Moreover, the Russian Federation has given up part of the seabed in its Arctic sector. The Russian Federation spent a significant amount of financial resources to organize a study of the structure of the Arctic Ocean bottom, which resulted in the submission to the UN (to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf) of a “submission” in which the Russian Federation declared at the official international level about the restriction of its rights in the Arctic sector. This example was not followed by any of the Arctic states (with the exception of Norway, which ratified the first of the Arctic countries the 1982 UN Convention), thereby retaining the opportunity to declare at any time that their continental shelf in the Arctic covers a much larger part, compared to convention restrictions.
V 2009 year president Russian Federation YES. Medvedev approved the document "Fundamentals of the state policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic for the period up to 2020 and beyond." It fixes the main interests of Russia in the Arctic:
1) Expansion of the resource base Arctic zone RF.
2) Transformation of the Northern Sea Route into a single national transport communication.
3) Preservation of the Arctic as a zone of international and mutually beneficial cooperation
In the field of security, according to this document, the strategic goal is “to ensure a favorable operational regime in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, including maintaining the necessary combat potential of general-purpose groupings of troops (forces) of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, other troops, military formations and bodies in this region. ". In practice, this means strengthening border control in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, as well as exercising control over river mouths and straits along the entire length of the Northern Sea Route.
In order to expand its Arctic zone, the Russian Federation organizes various Arctic expeditions. So the result of the expedition "Arctic 2000" was the statement of the Russian Federation that the underwater ridges of Mendeleev and Lomonosov are a continuation of its continent.
In addition, the Government of the Russian Federation has developed a program for the exploration of the Arctic continental shelf and the development of its mineral resources for the period from 2012 to 2030. One of the priorities of this program is the intensification of geological exploration, as well as an increase in investment by private Russian oil and gas companies... And the development of the Russian shelf reserves in the long term will stabilize oil production and prevent it from falling. For the gas industry, the implementation of these projects is the main reserve for production growth. Thus, offshore development of hydrocarbons is extremely important for the energy balance of Russia.
Denmark
Denmark wants to delimit the Arctic along borders that run equidistant from the coasts of the claimant countries. Since Greenland is closest to the pole, the Danish version will move the pole away to it. Denmark, when justifying its rights to high-latitude regions of the Arctic, relies on the geographical factor - the shortest distance between about. Greenland and the North Pole. Denmark, which did not oppose the application of the sectoral principle in the Arctic, but did not officially declare its rights to its Arctic sector, nevertheless enjoys the legal consequences that this principle gives for the Arctic states.
Moreover, in 2002 and 2003, Danish ships visited the island of Hans, a disputed island between Canada and Denmark. The Canadian side, in response, organized military exercises near the island, in which 160 soldiers participated, followed by a landing and a visit by the Canadian Minister of Defense. In 2007, the conflict was settled - new satellite measurements showed that the border between states should pass in the middle of the island, which resolved the conflict, but left a negative aftertaste after it.
The US position is highly inconsistent. So earlier the United States adhered to the sectoral principle. An example of this is an article by the American jurist D. Miller, published in 1925, where he quite accurately explains why it is practically convenient and legally justified to sectoral division of the Arctic spaces between states, including the United States, which face the Arctic Ocean. It is based on the existing legal norms: the sectoral boundaries of the United States in the Arctic are designated: in the east of Alaska - by the legislation of Canada and the Russian-English convention of 1825; west of Alaska - by the Russian-American treaty of 1867.
Nevertheless, subsequently, the United States, both at the official level and at the level of the doctrine of international law, demonstrated its disagreement with the application of the sectoral principle. The United States believes that only the legal provisions governing the high seas are applicable to the waters of the Arctic seas, with the exception of 12-mile territorial waters.
Canada
Although Canada has ratified the 1982 Convention, Canada has always approved and confirmed by legislative acts its polar sector, thereby claiming the Northwest Passage, which lies within the Canadian inland waters which is disputed by the United States. Moreover, the United States is constantly putting pressure on Canada in order to change its approaches to sectoral theory and thereby avoid the risk of legal dependence of the United States on Canada in the Arctic sector of Canada.
V 2002 year, the document “ Northern change foreign policy Of Canada". It envisaged a series of actions by the government to ensure international cooperation in the region. In 2008, the Canada First Defense Strategy was published. Considerable attention in it was paid specifically to Arctic issues. As for the main directions of the strategy, they were outlined in the document from "Canada's Northern Strategy: Our North, Our Heritage, Our Future" (2009). Its main areas include:
1) Protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Arctic region
2) Protection environment and adaptation to climate change
3) Development of self-government, economic and political activity of the northern territories as part of the policy for the development of the north
Norway
Norway, the first of the Arctic countries, ratified the 1982 Convention.The legality of establishing control over navigable sea routes is carried out in accordance with international law, and also seeks to settle issues on disputed territories within the framework of bilateral relations (for example, the 2010 Agreement with Russia on the delimitation territorial sea).
Nearctic countries
Meanwhile, in the world there is a growing interest in the development of the Arctic from many states. Countries like Germany, Finland, Sweden, Japan, China, India and others consider the policy of the Arctic states, "dividing" the Arctic region only among themselves, unfair and discriminatory, since the resources of the Arctic, in their opinion, are the property of all mankind. In March 2010, retired Chinese Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo said at a session of the National People's Consultative Council PRC what he thinks "The Arctic belongs to all people in the world ... no nation has sovereignty over it." Politicians, military, scientists and the media of other non-Arctic states speak in a similar vein. In particular, the main Indian media write that “Non-Arctic countries such as India need to assert their right to vote in the development of the Arctic. It cannot be the exclusive privilege of Arctic coastal countries... Indiamust mobilize international public opinion in favor of declaring the Arctic as the common property of mankind and establishing an international legal regime similar to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty ”. In this matter, they are guided by the provisions of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which, in fact, consolidates and gives advantages in the development of the oceanic resources of the international seabed area to non-Arctic states. Competitive competition for resources has given rise to a new trend in the Arctic zone - the trend of internationalization of the Arctic(recognition of the general international use regime). The trend towards the internationalization of the Arctic is also noticeable from the side of global international organizations and programs (UN, UNESCO, European Union, etc.). For example, the European Union, developing its Arctic policy, stands for the international status of the Arctic and proposes to jointly solve the issues of developing energy resources, regulating Arctic fishing, protecting the ecology of the Arctic zone, developing new technologies for this zone, developing standards for the use of new marine ways.
At the same time, the same Indian media admit that India currently does not have the necessary financial, technological and other capabilities to compete with the Arctic powers. At the same time, the development of the Arctic in India is recognized as one of the important directions of the country's policy.
Today India holds a firm position in the international arena and its authority continues to grow. According to Shiam Saran, during the radical redistribution of world resources “The geopolitical center of power can significantly swing towards the Transatlantic region". Therefore, today India is trying in every possible way to gain a foothold in the Arctic region. The main instrument in this policy is the promotion of the country in the Arctic Council. India already has observer status there. This country is in favor of reducing tension in the region and giving the Arctic the status of a nuclear-free zone.
Another Asian country - Japan de facto does not question the existing legal regime in the Arctic. According to Olga Dobrinskaya, a researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Japan's strategy in the field of access to hydrocarbons in the Arctic lies in the fact that she takes part in the research of energy resources in cooperation with the Arctic powers in order to have benefits in the future on access to these resources. It is necessary to take into account Japan's dependence on energy imports, since imports provide about 84% of the country's needs. Moreover, after the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima (2011), the country's energy problems only increased.
V 2013 year government Finland has developed an Arctic strategy, which supported the idea of giving the status of a protected area to the region around the North Pole. That is, Finland became the first state that supported the idea of ecologists to create a nature reserve. In the fall of 2013, it became known that the Norwegian government had abandoned drilling its Arctic shelf.... And in March 2014, the European Parliament called for the creation of a nature reserve at the North Pole and also stated the need for the Arctic Council to sign a binding agreement to combat pollution of Arctic waters. It is difficult to say unequivocally about how much the position Greenpeace influenced these decisions, but their campaign “ Save the artic"Is quite well-known. Another environmental organization dedicated to the protection of the Arctic nature (especially animal species) is World Wildlife Fund.
CHAPTER 4 Organizations and agreements. The role of non-regional actors and non-governmental organizations.
In the 21st century, a sufficient number of various problems have accumulated around the Arctic, and not only political, economic and environmental, but also international legal ones. These problems cannot be solved within the framework of a single international agreement by analogy with Antarctica, where, according to the 1959 Antarctica Convention, exclusively scientific activities are allowed, and the region itself cannot belong to any state. But despite the existence of this convention, territorial contradictions regarding certain territories of Antarctica still exist. As for the Arctic, the struggle for oil and gas deposits of the Arctic shelf and commercial shipping routes has been going on for more than a decade.
In the Arctic, the global mechanisms created by the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter also referred to as the 1982 Convention) “do not work”, and not only because of the colossal differences between the icy spaces of the North and warm waters. Indian Ocean and not entirely legitimate justification for the application of this Convention to the Arctic, namely Article 76, but also because one of the five Arctic coastal states is not a party to the 1982 Convention and does not fulfill convention obligations, for example, to limit its Arctic shelf. Respectively, if one Arctic state does not comply with such global restrictions, and the other does, then the result of such a definition of the shelf boundaries in the Arctic will not be fair... Therefore, states use a regional approach to governance in conditions where global mechanisms do not work. Moreover, the Arctic countries benefit from a peaceful solution of the issue among themselves in order to get as many national advantages and benefits as possible in the division of the Arctic shelf, the Arctic waters, which prompted the interested Arctic states to sit down at the negotiating table.
V May 2008 in a greenland town Ilulissate at the meeting of the Arctic five, common approaches to solving the problems of the Arctic caused by climate change and economic activities person. The result of the conference was the adoption of a political statement - Ilulissat Declaration, in which the emphasis is placed on the need for equal cooperation between the countries of the region in solving its problems. The participants in the meeting made a political commitment to resolve all differences through negotiations on the basis of international law, resolve all issues of the region independently and agreed that there is no need to create a new comprehensive legal regime to govern the Arctic Ocean. Based on the documents already adopted, the participants confirmed their desire to strengthen cooperation in almost all areas: from ecology to cooperation in search and rescue operations. Specific agreements on this score were reached at the second ministerial meeting of the "five" in March 2010 in the Canadian town of Chelsea. The agreement reached on the borders between Norway and Russia in September 2010 can be considered a confirmation of the operability of the Ilulissat Declaration.
For many decades, the legislation of Russia and Canada has provided for the most developed provisions on the special rights of the Arctic states in their respective "polar" sectors. There is a tacit long-term agreement with this legislative practice of most states in the world.
In this regard, the legal literature notes: “The sectoral principle should be considered the main principle in solving the problem of the legal regime in the Arctic” 20. According to the concept of the polar sectors, it is considered recognized that an integral part of the territory of a state, the coast of which overlooks the Arctic Ocean, are lands, including the lands of islands, north of the mainland coast of such a state within the sector formed by this coast and meridians converging at a point The North Geographic Pole and passing through the western and eastern ends of such a coast; the respective Arctic state exercises a certain target jurisdiction in such a sector (primarily in order to protect the fragile Arctic environment, preserve biodiversity, ecosystem balance, etc.); within such a sector, beyond the outer border of the territorial sea of the Arctic state, underwater, ice and water spaces state territory do not make up.
Likewise, the limits of the polar sectors of the Arctic states are not state borders; the sector is, first of all, a zone for the implementation of historically established rights, defense, economic, natural resources and environmental interests of a particular Arctic state.
Since 1904, on the maps of Canada, including official maps, such a sector has been designated between the meridians of 60 ° and 141 ° West longitude, i.e. passing through the eastern and western extremities of the country's coastline, overlooking the Arctic Ocean. In order to consolidate the rights of Canada to its Arctic sector, followed by statements at the government level, the adoption in 1907 of the famous law "On the Northwest Territories (The Northwest Territories Act)"; In 1925, in accordance with the adopted amendments to it, Canada established that for the implementation of activities within the Canadian Arctic sector, including for the purpose of exploration and development of natural resources, appropriate permits from the Canadian authorities are required. Statements by Canadian officials, as well as international legal doctrine, have made it abundantly clear, both in the past and in our time, that this sector defines the limits of the Canadian Arctic mainland and islands, as well as the Canadian continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean.
The agreement of most of the world's states with the establishment of the Arctic sectors by Canada and Russia over the decades is primarily due to the harsh climatic conditions and other natural features of the Arctic. These features are also taken into account by international justice: Denmark, for example, in support of their rights to Fr. Greenland (despite the fact that the Danes were not in all areas of the island), in a dispute with Norway, referred precisely to the natural features of the Arctic regions. The Permanent Chamber of International Justice in the decision on this dispute in 1933 took this argument into account, pointing out the factor of "inaccessibility of the Arctic regions." In 1924, a US administration spokesman noted that all territories north of Alaska belonged to the United States. I
The concept of "Arctic polar sectors", being the most well-known, understandable and consistently applied in practice by Canada and the USSR in its time, is not the only one. In foreign international legal literature and after 1991, other opinions were expressed in the Russian one: for example, that the Arctic is in common use of all states of the world or is a common heritage of mankind; or that the historically established rights of Canada and Russia in the Arctic should be waived and all law applicable to the seabed of the Arctic Ocean should be reduced to the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea (hereinafter - the 1982 Convention); or that it is advisable for the five Arctic states to develop an international condominium mechanism for this region; or that the Arctic is a "no-man's" space. None of these ideas are currently supported by the norms of general international law.
Legislative consolidation of the rights of the Arctic states.
In the decision of the Permanent Chamber of International Justice on the dispute between Denmark and Norway on the status of East Greenland (1933) it is noted: "Legislation is one of the clearest forms of exercising sovereign power."
The special role of the national legislation of the Arctic states in the legal regime of the Arctic Ocean is also emphasized by some Western jurists, including G. Smedal (Norway), C. Ch. Hyde (USA) 21. Here is a later point of view: “A true regional regime in the Arctic has not developed, despite the common problems facing the Arctic states. Instead, the law of the sea for the polar north has been applied through national approaches. That is, the government of each Arctic State considers, adopts and implements, through national legislation, such legal rules and regulations that, in its opinion, best serve its national interests in its polar seas (the government of each Arctic State considers, adopts and implements through national legislative means those legal rules and norms that it feels best serve its national interests within the context of its own polar seas). Thus, as it emerged and developed in the XX century. principles of the law of the sea, they were adopted and applied by each Arctic state in its own way in its northern waters (they were adopted and applied by each Arctic State, in its own way, to its own northern waters) "22.
As noted, under the current legislation of Canada (Laws of 1925; Royal Decree of 1926; Law of 1970, etc.), its sovereignty extends to "all lands and islands" within the sector formed by the North Pole, meridians 60 ° and 141 ° West longitude and the northern coast of Canada. At the same time, the national law of Canada allows for the understanding of the term "land" as meaning under-ice and underwater lands within the Canadian sector. Within these limits, Canada also exercises control, including over foreign activities, in order to prevent the pollution of "Arctic waters". By some Canadian government statements, the entire area within the specified Canadian sector of the polar holdings has been qualified as a "national space" on the basis of historical rights; special climatic and geographic circumstances, including the seating factor; Canada's international legal obligations to protect against environmental pollution.
Russian legislation. Royal decrees of 1616-1620 provided for a number of exclusive rights of Russia in some areas of the Arctic. In 1821, the Senate issued a decree “On the enforcement of the decree on the limits of navigation and on the procedure for coastal relations along the coast Eastern Siberia, North-West America and the Aleutian, Kuril islands, etc. ", according to which" the right to trade, whale and fishing and all kinds of industry on the islands, ports and bays and in general along the entire north-west coast of America ... as well as on the Aleutian Islands and on all the shores of Siberia it is provided for the use of the only Russian citizens. " Russia's rights to the northern lands and the adjacent seas are reflected in the Russian-Swedish treaties of 1806 and 1826, the Russian-English conventions of 1824 and 1825. According to the Treaty concluded between Russia and the North American United States in Washington in 1867, on the cession of the Russian North American colonies (more often called the Russian-American Convention of 1867.
On the cession of Alaska), a border is marked, to the east of which all the lands were transferred by Russia to the United States of America, and to the west - remained unchanged under the sovereignty of Russia. This is the eastern border of the Russian Arctic sector. The treaty provides that the specified border passes through the point of the meridian separating in the Bering Strait “at an equal distance from the island of Kruzenshtern or Ignaluk from the island of Ratmanov or Nunarbuk, and goes in a straight line boundlessly to the north, until it is completely lost in the Arctic Ocean (et remonte en ligne directe, sans limitation, vers le Nord jusqu'a ce qu'elle se perde dans la mer Glaciale) "(Art. I) 23. The instruction of 1893 proceeds from the assumption that all bays, bays, raids of the "Russian coast of the Arctic Ocean" and the entire White Sea south of the lines connecting the entrance capes fall under the sovereignty of Russia. By a note of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs dated September 4, 1916, lands and islands, discovered by the expedition Vilkitsky in 1913-1914, declared included in the territory of Russia; at the same time, the belonging of Russia was confirmed earlier open islands, which "together with the islands of Novosibirsk, Wrangel and others, located near the Asian coast of the Empire ... constitute an extension to the north of the continental space of Siberia" 24.
The Soviet legislation on the Arctic and, especially, the tacit consent of other states with it, ensuring its implementation for decades played a significant role in the recognition at the level of customary international law of the action of the national environmental legislation of the USSR / Russia within the Arctic sector. In 1921, the Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia adopted a decree "On the protection of fish and animal lands in the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea." The decree showed, in particular, that there are no protests on the part of most states of the world against Russian environmental protection measures in the Arctic seas. The decree proclaimed the exclusive rights of the RSFSR to exploit the fishing areas of the Arctic Ocean adjacent to the country's Arctic coast. The decree established measures to ensure its implementation. In 1924 the People's Commissariat of the USSR sent a memorandum to the representations of a number of states, in which it was stated that foreigners had violated the sovereign rights of the USSR off the northern coast of Siberia. At the same time, the validity of the mentioned notification of the Russian government of September 20, 1916 about the USSR's ownership of the declared Arctic territories was confirmed; emphasized that the territories that were the object of encroachments by foreign citizens, lie “in the waters washing the northern coast of Siberia” and “are located to the west of the line established by virtue of Art. I of the Washington Convention between Russia and the United States of America in 1867 ". By the decree of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of 04/15/1926, taking into account the aforementioned Canadian legislative experience, the territory of the USSR was declared “all, both open and those that could be opened in the future, lands and islands that did not constitute any foreign territory recognized by the government of the USSR at the time of publication of this decree. states located in the Arctic Ocean to the north from the coast of the USSR to the North Pole "between the designated meridians passing through the western and eastern ends of the country's coast. This provision also applies to those islands, rocks, etc., which may arise in the future as a result of the geological development of the Earth.
Nevertheless, it should be noted that the term "lands and islands", used in the decree of 04/15/1926, was given different meanings by jurists. In the usual sense, islands are also lands. Was the will of the domestic (and Canadian) legislator to include not only the islands within the Arctic sector, but also underwater, under-ice lands as part of the state's territory? E. A. Korovin interpreted this decree as follows: we are talking about the sovereignty of the state within the designated Arctic sector over: a) the islands;
b) ice spaces; c) sea spaces not soldered by ice. Earlier, the interpretation of this legal act was proposed by V.L. Lakhtin, according to which the sovereignty of each state extends not only to the land areas of the corresponding Arctic sector, but such sovereignty can still "be extended to the airspace above it." In the international legal literature, it is proposed, by way of generalization, that the term "land" used in Canadian and domestic legislation on the Arctic sectors should not be understood as "ice blocks", not airspace, but only sub-ice and underwater lands (i.e. . including the continental shelf) within the designated polar sector. The term “islands” is accorded its usual meaning in this legislation.
The western meridian, stipulated by the decree of 04/15/1926, skirts the area of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty: in the note of the USSR plenipotentiary envoy to Norway, addressed to the Norwegian Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs on May 6, 1926, it is noted: “It goes without saying, in accordance with with the fact that my Government has previously recognized the sovereignty of Norway over Svalbard, the attached Ordinance does not in any way concern any part of the Svalbard archipelago. "
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated 02.28.1984 No. 10864-X "On the economic zone of the USSR", it was announced that a 200-mile exclusive economic zone had been established along the entire coast of the country, including the Arctic. Within this zone, the competent authorities of the country are competent to establish pollution prevention measures for ice-covered areas. The document also provides for the conditions and procedure for establishing "special areas" in this zone (where special measures are taken to prevent pollution from ships); in particular, the right to carry out the necessary verification actions - to request information about the vessel, to inspect it, to initiate proceedings, to detain the violating vessel. However, since the baselines along the Arctic coast of the USSR were not marked at that time, it was not entirely clear where the outer boundaries of this 200-mile zone in the Arctic Ocean lay.
VN Durdenevsky, EB Pushukanis, SA Vyshnepolsky, GM Guslitser and others have substantiated the rights of states coastal to the Arctic Ocean to execute national legislation within the respective Arctic sector. in his polar sector, V. N. Kulebyakin writes: “According to numerous admissions of international lawyers, the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas are completely different from other oceans and seas and represent a specific case with unique features in terms of legal regulation... The main feature that distinguishes the Arctic Ocean from other oceans is that its territory, with the exception of only some areas, is constantly or most of the year covered with ice. It is the complex of historical, economic, political, geographic, ecological and other factors that allows us to conclude that the Arctic sea spaces cannot be viewed from the same point of view as sea spaces in general ”25. From the same approach, it follows that “the Arctic states must and can adopt appropriate legislative acts concerning the regime of their Arctic sector without the sanctions of other states, guided by sovereignty and other important international legal principles” 26.
More on topic 8.2. Polar sectors of the Arctic states as an object of customary international law:
- 8.4. The rights of the Arctic states to the bowels of the Arctic Ocean
- 8. SOVEREIGN STATES AND PEOPLES (NATIONS) AS SUBJECTS OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
- State as a subject of international law; territorial sovereignty
- Conditions for the Consolidation of a Customary Norm of International Law Created by a Treaty
- 9.1. Features of the legal status of the state as a subject of private international law
- 2. HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL LAW. INTERNATIONAL LAW AS A SCIENCE AND ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE. SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
- 11.11. Features of international law for the protection and promotion of human rights as a branch of international law
- Copyright - Agrarian law - Bar - Administrative law - Administrative process - Stock law - Budget system - Mining law - Civil procedure - Civil law - Civil law of foreign countries -
1. That part of the Arctic that lies within the area / country (for example, Russia)
2. USSR, USA, Canada, Norway and Denmark
3. Tundras and ice deserts.
4.47% of glaciation in Russia in the Arctic falls on the islands of Severnaya Zemlya
1. Because they differ in flora and fauna
2. Due to warm winds / currents in the eastern part
3. Many islands have no permanent population. There are only polar scientific stations or military bases with a replaceable staff. Only a few islands - Greenland, Spitsbergen, Wrangel, have settlements, the inhabitants of which are mainly engaged in marine fishing and its maintenance, hunting and, in some places, mining.
4. Vegetable world The insular Arctic is represented mainly by mosses, numbering more than 300 species, and no less numerous lichens; there are herbaceous plants: polar poppy and saxifrage, cereals, cinquefoil, dryad, forget-me-nots.
Closer to the subarctic vegetation latitudes, dwarf willow, birch and other shrubs are widespread. The reindeer eat reindeer lichen is of great importance. The peculiarities of the local vegetation in the Arctic are that even trees rise above the ground no higher than a few centimeters.
The vegetation volume of the southern coast of the Arctic Ocean is about 350 species. The tundra in these places is very swampy, since the permafrost begins very close to the surface. The plant communities consist of a relic of the Pleistocene; in addition, there are about 40 subspecies and species of vascular plants. Some plant groups are relict, scientists attribute them to the smallest plant species on the planet.
The peculiarities of the Arctic fauna are manifested in a rather meager species diversity with a large number of individuals of the species. The local climate allows reindeer, polar bears, arctic foxes, hares, various species of birds, etc., representatives of the Arctic marine fauna - belugas, narwhals, walruses, seals, etc. to exist. Local waters also contain an abundance of plant and animal plankton.
Species and endemics, which are threatened not so much by a cold climate as by human activity, require special attention. The nature and animals in this area have attracted people since ancient times. Over time, some representatives of the animal world began to gradually disappear.
So, the new earth reindeer is found only on these islands, and on about. Wrangel is home to two endemic species of lemmings. The Red Books of various levels include walrus, polar bear, white goose, rose gull, lapoten, as well as other animals, birds, marine mammals, insects. Among the features of the animal world of the Arctic should be attributed to the shaggy musk ox (also called the musk ox). Representatives of this species today live only on Svalbard and the islands of Greenland.
The ecological situation in the region has been deteriorating in recent years, and the climate is changing. Due to the fault of poachers, who visit the Arctic every now and then, the number of animals is decreasing, vegetation landscapes are significantly depleted due to all kinds of tracked vehicles. Arctic ecologists are calling for sound regulation of land and offshore activities.
ABSTRACT ON GEOGRAPHY ON THE TOPIC “RUSSIAN ARCTIC SECTOR”.
CONTENT:
Introduction.
In the Arctic, products are produced that provide about 11%
of the national income of Russia (with a share of the population equal to 1 percent
) and the component 22%
the volume of all-Russian exports.
This region contains the main reserves of the most important minerals, which are decisive for the development of the Russian economy:
· 90%
recoverable hydrocarbon resources of the entire continental shelf of the Russian Federation (of which 70% - on the shelf of the Barents and Kara seas);
Production is concentrated in the Arctic region 91%
natural gas and 80%
all-Russian explored gas reserves of industrial categories;
The projected hydrocarbon reserves in the deep-water part of the Arctic Ocean are 15-20 billion tons. (translated into equivalent fuel). The total cost of the explored mineral reserves of the Arctic subsoil is roughly estimated at $ 1.5-2 trillion, but the level of exploration is extremely low, and the level of development is negligible.
Justification for the choice of topic.
Most of our homeland belongs to the Arctic. This northern region of our country has been studied rather poorly compared to more southern territories Russia. A large number of minerals in other regions of the country did not require exploration of new mining regions for a long time. However, in recent years, more and more emphasis has been placed on the development of Arctic fossils. For example, the shelf is taken into account Barents Sea with a lot of black gold on it.
Due to the fact that the research of the Arctic is becoming more and more relevant today, I decided to write a paper on this topic. Besides, this territory is not as well known to me as other parts of the country. Therefore, I decided that by writing an essay on this topic, I myself will learn and discover a lot of new things.
Geographical location, features of the seabed and minerals.
The Arctic is the area within the Arctic Circle that surrounds the North Pole. It includes almost the entire Arctic Ocean with islands, the adjacent parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as well as the northern shores of Eurasia and North America. Part of Russia is located in the Arctic. Of all the seas of the world, the so-called Arctic Ocean should be put in first place. The main feature of the relief of the Arctic Sea is the complete isolation of its deep part from the nearby great depths of both oceans - the Atlantic and the Pacific. Thus, the closedness of its outlines on the surface is repeated in the underwater relief, fully confirming its Mediterranean character. It has already been indicated above that in the Davis Strait and between Greenland and Europe there are underwater rapids with a depth of about 600 m. From the deep southern part of the Bering Sea to Pacific The Arctic Sea is separated even more by a seabed in the Bering Strait, where the greatest depth does not exceed 50 m.
In addition, the Arctic Sea has another characteristic feature, namely a wide and long strip of shallow depths located along the coast of Eurasia from America to Norway.
Starting from the Spitsbergen meridian and further east to America, a shallow coastal strip of considerable width extends, reaching in some places along the coast of Siberia up to 800 km wide; it is, in essence, an underwater continuation of the continent of Europe and Asia. In the north, it is limited to the area of great depths of the polar basin. The Barents Sea (between Novaya Zemlya, Spitsbergen and Europe), although it has depths of up to 400 m, but by the nature of the relief of its bottom, it is an obvious underwater continuation of the continent of Europe. Across the Pole, in American waters, there is no such vast underwater continuation of the American continent.
Found in coastal and international waters largest deposits hydrocarbons. According to available estimates, their reserves in the north of Yamal, the Gydan Peninsula, in the Ob and Taz bays, on the shelf of the Kara Sea are up to seven billion tons.
The world struggle for the riches of the Arctic, this magnificent Snow Queen, has begun, and Russia, which occupies the most advantageous geographical position of all the circumpolar countries, should not miss its chance to create strategic reserves for the future. They will be provided by shelf wealth and the Arctic transport system... In the development of the Arctic, everything will be decided by the establishment of control over communications. After all, it is important not only who extracts, but also who transports!
Eleven oil and gas fields have been discovered in the Barents Sea. Among them there is one unique - Shtokman, seven large - Ice, Ludlovskoe, Murmansk, Dolginskoe, Prirazlomnoe, Medynskoe and Severo-Gulyaevskoe, two middle ones - Pomorskoe and Severo-Kildinskoe, and one shallow one - Varandey-sea. Two gas condensate fields have been discovered on the shelf of the Kara Sea - Rusanovskoye and Leningradskoye. Both of them are unique. In addition, a number of gas fields were discovered in the Ob and Tazovskaya bays. On the basis of the discovered fields, the formation of new oil and gas production centers in Russia will begin in the coming years. The seas of the East Arctic shelf, especially the East Siberian and Chukchi seas, are the least studied on the entire continental shelf of Russia. Therefore, the geological models of this vast part of the Russian Arctic, and based on them quantitative assessments hydrocarbon resources are still approximate. But that is why they are no less promising ...
Within the continental part of the Arctic, there are unique reserves and inferred resources of copper-nickel ores, tin, platinoids, agrochemical ores, rare metals and rare earth elements, large reserves of gold, diamonds, tungsten, mercury, ferrous metals, optical raw materials and ornamental stones. The main mineral resources of the Arctic are concentrated in the northern part of the Kola province. There - platinum metals, copper-nickel ores, titanium, tantalum, niobium, rare earth metals, iron, phosphorus, polymetals, fluorite, iron, chromium, manganese, gold, diamonds. In the north of the Taimyr-Norilsk province - copper-nickel ores, platinum metals. Phosphorus, iron, niobium, platinum metals, and diamonds were found in the Maimecha-Kotui and Udzhinskaya provinces. Gold, mica, molybdenum, tungsten, chromium, vanadium, polymetals were found in the Taimyr-Severozemelskaya province. In the Anabar and Yakut provinces - diamonds, iron, rare metals. In the Verkhoyansk and Yano-Chukotka provinces - tin, gold, mercury, tungsten, copper, molybdenum, silver, platinoids, polymetals.
Arctic climate.
The climatic boundary of the Arctic is determined summer frontier prevalence of arctic air. On the continents, it roughly coincides with southern border tundra or with the isotherm of the warmest month at 10 °. During the cold season, during the long polar night, it is warm on earth surface in the Arctic it comes only with the radiation of thermal energy air masses coming from temperate latitudes, and to a very weak extent from water masses, from which heat enters the air. This heat is completely insufficient to cover the heat consumption by radiation, which is very intensive in the Arctic. As a result, the underlying surface and the air in the Arctic are greatly cooled in winter. There is no continuous cover. average temperature the coldest month reaches -40 in places in the Arctic. ° During the cold season, high pressure reigns in the Arctic. Cyclonic activity in winter is manifested mainly in the periphery of the Arctic, especially significantly in the Atlantic and Pacific sectors. V summer time a long polar day is set in the Arctic. When the sun is not setting, the earth's surface receives a large amount of solar energy, mainly in the form of scattered radiation, since in the Arctic region there is a lot of cloudiness and frequent fogs. Under the influence of the influx of heat in the Arctic, ice and snow begin to melt in summer. A huge amount of heat is spent on this, which is why the temperature in the Arctic in summer is kept around 0 °. Only on invasion warm masses air, it rises slightly above 0 °. In the summer, cyclonic activity intensifies in the Arctic, and this intensification is observed not only on the outskirts, but also in its interior regions. The climate of the Russian sector of the Arctic is characterized by significant continentality, due to the large influence from the Asian continent. The January temperature is everywhere below -30 °, there is little precipitation - no more than 200 mm per year. In the Pacific part of the Arctic, which covers northern Alaska and the western half of the Beaufort Sea, the climate is less continental. Winter and summer temperatures are higher here. The average January temperature in the Bering Strait region is determined at -20 °, in July at 6-8 °. However, there is little rainfall - 100-200 mm per year. In the central part of the Arctic, increased pressure prevails in winter, and only from time to time cyclones pass through the pole area. During the summer months in this part of the Arctic, there is a rather lively cyclonic activity. The air temperature is kept around 0 °.
The flora and fauna of the Arctic.
A characteristic feature of the animal world of the Arctic is the limited species composition and the abundance of individuals of each species. The forests and ice deserts of the Arctic are inhabited by polar bears, reindeer, arctic foxes, hares, lemings, different kinds birds (tunny partridges, snowy owls, guillemots, auk, gulls, crows). The marine inhabitants of the Arctic are: Saika fish, crustaceans, walruses, seals, narwhals, beluga whales.
The food chain that has developed in the Arctic: Crustaceans-Fish-Birds-Seals-Polar bears.
In the harsh conditions of the Arctic, one of the main tasks is to preserve heat, the constant struggle of animals with the cold is evidenced by their appearance - the presence of a thick layer of fat (seal), thick fur (arctic fox, reindeer, polar bear), loose plumage (white owl) and thick paws. Another adaptation of animals Arctic deserts is the white color that they acquire before winter (in some animals, for example, the polar bear, the white color remains all year round), it helps predators to hunt (to be less noticeable among the snow-white Arctic), and to hide their victims from danger. The dense cover of snow and ice in the Arctic in most cases causes inconvenience to the animals inhabiting this region. Snow cover and a thick layer of ice deprive birds of the opportunity to forage on land and in water; this is related to the phenomenon that the arrival and departure of birds depends on the time of descent and appearance of snow and ice. For some animals, like polar bears, ice and snow cover, on the other hand, creates the most comfortable conditions for their existence. The living conditions of animals in the Arctic are highly dependent on
T of the season, a favorable time for their residence and, what is important to note, for reproduction, is summer, when, although there is not enough warmth, in winter animals struggle with harsh conditions in every way (some of them migrate to warmer regions, some build dens and fall hibernation). Also in winter, the sun practically does not shine, the source of light is the aurora borealis and the moon, so the animals are forced to adapt to hunt in the dark or twilight. Animal world The Arctic has attracted people since ancient times. Man studied the nature of the Arctic, explored this region, and fishermen and hunters fell in love with the nature of the Arctic. Plants of the Arctic are represented by lichens, mosses, polar poppies, aquatic algae, dwarf willows and birches, and pine and spruce forests in some areas of the Arctic (North Scandinavia and Russia). Plants grow and develop in such a cold region due to the fact that a large amount of solar radiation... This also explains the fact that the surface temperature can exceed the air temperature by 20 ° C.
Arctic nature conservation.
The Arctic is one of the few corners of the Earth where nature has been preserved almost in its original form. It is home to polar bears and reindeer, seals and whales. Of the 238 major ecological resources in the world, seven are in the Arctic.
And at the same time, the Arctic is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. When we talk about an increase in the average global temperature by 2 degrees, for the Arctic this means 5 degrees, and in some places - up to 10. The rapid melting of ice may lead to the fact that by the end of the century polar bears will disappear as a species ...
Polar bears are threatened not only by global climate change ... According to experts from the Wrangel Island reserve, poachers kill 200-300 individuals in the Russian Arctic every year. These are sad results.
WWF performs complex project"A new future for the Russian Arctic
(“A New Future for the Russian Arctic”), which consists of five directions.
· The first direction is information work, publication of editions, work with the media and the public. Our goal is to show that the Arctic needs help, which requires both adaptation to new conditions and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Without a sharp decline in emissions by the middle of the century, the Arctic will be very difficult.
· The goal of the second area is to minimize the negative impact of shipping in the Arctic. It is expected that the intensity of shipping in the seas of the Russian Arctic will increase due to the melting of ice, and it is necessary to take legal measures to prevent and prevent the negative impact of these processes. The main areas of activity will be assistance in the development and adoption of a federal law on the prevention of oil pollution of the seas of the Russian Federation, as well as the adoption of special measures for shipping in the Arctic by the International Maritime Organization. In addition, it is important that the requirements of Russian legislation comply with these measures.
· The third direction is the elimination of threats posed by oil and gas production, both current and future, which can threaten the Arctic if it is thoughtlessly "used".
· The fourth direction is fishing in the Arctic seas. These are especially fragile ecosystems and there should be a special approach to them. Russian Arctic, including Barents and Bering Sea, is the most important area for domestic and world fisheries. It is home to one of the last remaining large stocks of the Barents Sea cod and the most numerous species of cod - pollock. In addition to pollock, other cod species are also well known to fish buyers: haddock, pollock, navaga, blue whiting and polar cod.
And the fifth - the biggest direction of our activity - care of specially protected areas:
Creation and support of a system of specially protected areas;
Conservation of rare and endangered species;
Environmental education and public awareness.
WWF is the only non-governmental organization in the world that has united efforts to protect the nature of 8 Arctic countries through the national organizations of the foundation in the USA, Canada, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Sweden, Russia and the Icelandic Association for Nature Conservation.
History of the study and investigation of the Arctic.
The first major expedition organized by the Society was the Arctic one. In the years 1847-1850. under the leadership of E. Hoffman, scientists went to the regions of the Polar Urals and the Pai-Khoi ridge, adjacent to the southwestern coast of the Kara Sea.
In 1870, the united branches of the Society formed a permanent commission, the main task of which was the scientific study of the high-latitude Arctic. The commission has done a great job on drawing up the routes of the expeditions and determining the equipment needed by the sailors.
The main stages of the development of the Northern Sea Routes are associated with the works of Russian scientists - members of the Geographical Society - on a comprehensive geographical study of the Arctic coast of Siberia, the seas and islands of the Arctic Ocean (P. Kropotkin, V. Voikov).
With the direct participation of the Geographical Society and its departments, or under its auspices, the first expeditions to study many Arctic regions took place: the Chukotka expedition (1868-1870), expeditions to the north of the Turukhansk region (1866), to Yakutia (1894-1897 g.), on Kola Peninsula(1898) and others. At the expense of M.K. Sidorova, A.M. Sibiryakov in 1876, the Swedish-Russian expeditions of A.E. Nordenskheld and D.I. Schwanenberg. They laid the foundation for the establishment of trade routes through the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei rivers with Europe.
In 1882 - 1883 The Geographical Society participated in the conduct. First International Polar Year (IPY). A working commission within the framework of the IPY has developed a detailed program on the organization of a ring of polar meteorological stations in order to study the physical and climatic conditions of the Northern Ocean. For the first time in world history, scientists from 11 countries have united to implement this program.
At that time, the Society had the best technical equipment for conducting research and organizing such stations. In 1881, with the support of the Government of Russia, the Society organized the construction of two stations - at the mouth of the Lena River and at Novaya Zemlya.
Polar stations became the beginning of a network of stations and observatories, which subsequently comprehensively and systematically studied various geophysical phenomena in the Arctic. Somewhat later, in 1893, the Geographical Society began some of the first synoptic maps.
The study of the northern seas was also carried out under the auspices of the Society. In 1893, hydrological work began in the Barents Sea.
An important stage in the activities of the Geographical Society was its active participation in the fate of the Arctic expeditions of Sedov, Brusilov and Rusanov, as well as the search activities undertaken at the initiative of the Society's members.
Vice-chairman of the Society P.P. Semenov wrote: “Already in the second half century of its existence, the Geographical Society will have to deal with the physical geography of those polar seas again and with great success, climatic influence which the whole Russian land feels ”.
Russia's geopolitical interests in the Arctic. The security and defense capability of Russia is ensured in the Arctic, the geopolitical interests of the Russian state are connected with the Arctic.
Our fleet bases and long-range aviation patrol routes are located in the Arctic latitudes. There are also economic interests, mining. Here are important transport communications of the Northern Sea Route.
The northern territories of Russia are one of the richest regions. In terms of reserves of valuable raw materials, it has no equal. Oil, gas, gold, diamonds, nickel, copper, apatite, platinum, iron, as well as timber, fish, furs, mineral fertilizers and much more make it extremely important for the country's economy. According to Western experts, the total value of all minerals in Russia is over 28 trillion. dollars, and on its Northern region accounts for 80% of this amount (the cost of US minerals is $ 8 trillion).
The northern region brings more than half of foreign exchange earnings, gives up to 20% of the national income, although less than 10% of the population of Russia lives here. The Russian North is 1/5 of Russia's gross domestic product and up to 60% of its raw material exports. 95% of Russian gas is produced here. The potential gas content of the continental shelf of the Barents and Kara Seas is estimated at 50-60 billion tons. Explored gas reserves account for approximately 80% of all the country's reserves. They are concentrated mainly in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
Russia's national interests in the Arctic are related to the economy, geopolitics, science and ecology.
Economic interests are due to the presence in the Arctic of the largest mineral reserves that determine the development of the economy not only of this region, but of the entire country, especially in the future (hydrocarbons, non-ferrous and precious metals, etc.). Almost 100% of the reserves of nickel, cobalt, tantalum, tin, niobium and rare earth metals explored in Russia are concentrated in the Russian sector of the Arctic.
Due to the special geographic location The Arctic is the intersection of the geopolitical interests of both Arctic and non-Arctic states.
The role of science for the Arctic is especially great, since the natural processes taking place here are closely connected with global natural processes on Earth. In the Arctic, it is practically impossible to solve applied economic and defense problems without proper scientific substantiation and support. Therefore, the preservation of the leading positions in the Arctic achieved earlier by domestic science is a major national task.
The Arctic region is interesting from an ecological point of view. The Arctic remains one of the least polluted regions of the Earth and plays an important role in maintaining the biological balance on the planet.
Conclusion.
I have prepared an essay on the topic ‘The Russian sector of the Arctic’ ’. Having provided material for the reading person, I myself, in the process of writing an essay, learned a lot of useful and interesting things about the Arctic. The Arctic is an integral part of Russia. Its nature is mesmerizing. It has always attracted travelers and great discoverers with the beauty of its nature, but today the Arctic is also huge deposits of minerals. This area is the most ecologically clean in the whole world, in large part because of its harsh climate, and therefore I believe that probably every person on our Earth would like to preserve the inviolability of this corner of the Earth.
Literature.
1. A manual on geography for applicants to universities ‘’ DROFA ’’.
2. Big Oxford Encyclopedia '' ROSMEN ''.
