寰宇薈萃：陷進死亡漩渦的北冰洋

北冰洋位處地球最北的地區，而「北極」的英文「arctic」則於希臘語「arktikos」，意指「熊的國度」，亦引申至兩顆指向北極​​星特的大熊星。這片五百四十萬平方英里的極地看似細小，面積卻接近俄羅斯。數千年以來，它憑藉其獨特卻危險的魅力，吸引成千上萬顆好奇心前往探索。

一八四八年，英國探險家約翰・富蘭克林嘗試穿越西北航道的最後一段。不幸的是，探險隊兩艘船被困於北極群島之一威廉王島附近的極冰，一百二十九名船員全部罹難。政府曾派員尋找倖存者，惟最終只是找到人體骸骨。不過，探險家仍受冒險的呼喚，繼續踏足北極世界探秘。

氣候上升導致冰極融化的影響深遠，北極熊和北極狐發現與同類爭奪棲息空間；無視邊界的魚群向北遷移，導致部分國家減少魚穫，部分國家魚穫卻增加。除持續出現「生物洗牌」，冰極融化使海平面上升，馬爾地夫、孟加拉和荷蘭等，整個國家受洪水淹沒的風險增加。

反照率效應增加如何產生正面影響？從經濟角度而言，苔原面積增加有利更多農作物生長，提供新的食物來源。冰極融化亦縮短貨船經西北航道的運輸時間，從歐洲到中國減至少一周，舉例破冰船「努納維克號」曾將逾兩萬噸鎳礦石從加拿大運往中國；開採天然氣和石油的難度亦減低。

二零零七年，俄羅斯一艘潛水艇在北冰洋插旗，克里姆林宮因而聲稱擁有主權。挪威則聲稱巴倫支海的加克爾海脊是其經濟禁區的延伸，惟俄羅斯強調重疊的斯瓦爾巴群島屬其國土，而該島俄國人口不斷增加，主要是從事煤礦的移民。加拿大和丹麥在納雷斯海峽漢斯島的主權亦存爭議。

美國、加拿大、俄羅斯、挪威和丹麥（在格陵蘭擁有主權），五個與北極接壤的國家組成「北極五國」解決北極議題；冰島、芬蘭和瑞典也獲得成員資格。另外，有十二個國家擁有常駐觀察員地位，包括二零一三年資助科學考察的日本和印度，及在挪威島嶼上擁有科研基地的中國。

北極面臨兩種問題：

分別是想像的與真實的。

兩者之間，想像的問題反而最真實。

（維爾加爾默．斯蒂凡森，北極探險家）

名稱：用十張地圖看懂全球政經局勢 (Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World)

作者：提姆・馬歇爾（陳琇玲、威治、朱詩迪譯）

年份：2015

出版地：英國、美國

出版社：商周出版

類別：社會科學、地緣政治

評分：6.5/10

Glosnap: In a Death Spiral - the Arctic Meltdown

The Arctic Ocean is located in the northernmost region. As its name suggests, the word “arctic” originated from the Greek “arktikos”, which means “near the bear” as a reference to the Ursa Major constellation, whose last two stars point toward the North Star. Small as it is, this 5.4 million-square-mile polar region is as big as Russia. A place of great hostility and of great beauty that has captivated people for millennia.

In 1848, Captain Sir John Franklin made an attempt to cross the last section of the Northwest Passage. Unfortunately, his 2 ships got stuck in the ice near King William Island in the Canadian archipelago. All 129 members perished. Expeditions were sent to search for survivors, yet they found only a handful of skeletons. However, adventure is still calling and one continues to explore its hidden gems.

As temperatures rise, the ice sheets are melting and it has a far-reaching effect. A biological reshuffle is under way. Polar bears and Arctic foxes find themselves competing for space. Unaware of boundaries, fishes are moving northward, depleting stocks for some countries while populating others. Risks of flooding increase in Maldives, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands due to the rising sea levels.

How could the accelerating process of albedo effect have positive impacts? Economically, the exposed tundra allows more agricultural crops to grow, offering the local new food sources. The melting ice cap facilitates cargo ships through the Northwest Passage, reducing one-week transit time from Europe to China at least. It is more accessible for extraction of natural gas and oil reserves lying offshore of the region.

Currently, Russia claims its sovereignty due to a flag planted by a submersible in 2007. Norway claimed the Gakkel Ridge in the Barents as an extension of its Economic Exclusion Zone, but Russia has a dispute over the Svalbard Islands, with a rising population of its coal-mining migrants. Canada and Denmark are also in dispute on Hans Island of the Nares Strait.

For countries with borders on the Arctic, which are the US, Canada, Russian, Norway and Denmark (due to its sovereignty in Greenland), formed the Arctic Five to address the affairs. Iceland, Finland and Sweden got membership as well. There are 12 nations with Permanent Observer status: Japan and India who funded a scientific expedition in 2013, and China who owned a science base on a Norwegian Island.

“There are 2 kinds of Arctic problems.

The imaginary and the real one.

Of the two, the imaginary is the most real.”

Vilhjalmur Stefansson, The Arctic in Fact and Fable

Title: Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World

Author: Tim Marshall

Year: 2015

Region: UK, USA

Publisher: Elliott & Thompson, Scribner

Genre: Social Science, Geopolitics

Score: 6.5/10

IMG: https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/blog/should-there-be-polar-bears-in-antarctica