This is taken very seriously by the Canadian government, which believes those waters to be Canadian territory, while the American government considers them to be open sea. There is room for some serious conflict here. The prospect of oil tanker routes through the North, complete with oil spills in those sensitive waters, is depressing.


It is worth pointing out that this is a complete disaster for a number of arctic species, like the polar bear; the thawing of the permafrost is already causing problems.


yours, Peter T.