As global warming continues, the geography of the Arctic changes, and, subsequently, human activity in the Arctic increases. Countries with economic and national security interests in the region need to develop new infrastructure and technology not just for land and sea, but also for space.
“The entire planet is warming. However, the temperature in the Arctic is increasing at twice the rate than is averaged around the rest of the planet,” Admiral Robert Papp told The Cipher Brief. Papp, who is the U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for the Arctic and the former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, explains that this creates a positive feedback loop, in which rising temperatures melt Arctic ice, creating more dark blue water area, which absorbs heat and exacerbates the ice melting process.
With more open water comes increased human activity, in terms of natural resource exploration, transcontinental shipping, and tourism. Byron Scott Minerd, the chief investment officer at investment firm Guggenheim Partners, told Bloomberg, “The Arctic over the last decade has grown at a compound growth rate of over 11 percent in terms of GDP, far faster than even any emerging country.”
Arctic countries – the United States, in particular – must respond by bolstering navigation, emergency response, and telecommunications capabilities. The Nordic European countries and Russia are more advanced in most Arctic infrastructure categories than North America. For example, the U.S. currently owns and operates two heavy-duty icebreakers and one medium icebreaker, while Russia possesses 40 and has another 11 under construction (although the U.S. does plan to acquire a new icebreaker fleet).
So what does the U.S. need to do to secure its economic and national security interests in the Arctic? Let’s start with the earth. There are three main areas in which the U.S. needs to grow investment: ships, aviation, and ports.
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) notes that the Senate Appropriations Committee recently advanced $1 billion for the construction of an icebreaker, something she has personally been advocating for a long time. Admiral Papp says he is confident the House of Representatives will also add Arctic money to its budget. But the U.S. really needs at least two functioning heavy icebreakers at a time, Papp commented.
In addition to icebreakers, the U.S. also needs to invest in “ice-hardened patrol vessels for inspection and boarding duties, icebreaking patrol vessels, tugs, and emergency response ships to respond to casualties in Arctic waters,” says Executive Director of the Rule of Law Committee for the Oceans Caitlyn Antrim.
Aviation infrastructure for emergency response operations is also needed. Antrim explains that the U.S. needs helicopters for navigating and operating in harsh Arctic storms, yet the U.S. lacks air bases and other support for air operations along the Arctic Coast.
The Artic – at least the North America portion – also severely lacks in ports. Murkowski, Papp, and Antrim all emphasize the need for more ports, and especially a deep water port near the Bering Strait. “Alaska really needs a deep water port,” remarks Admiral Papp. “We know ships are going to be traveling through the Bering Strait. We need to be prepared for emergency response in that area, and one of the things that you need is a deep water port that ships can get into if they’re in extremis and need shelter,” he says.
While new land, sea, and air infrastructure is vital to responding to a changing Arctic, an equally important component is space. Satellites in space can provide requisite monitoring and communications services to Arctic nations. As of now, this is a work in progress, but also an area in which the U.S. falls behind.
Russia, on the other hand, is planning a space system comprised of two weather satellites, two communications satellites, and two Arctic resource observation satellites. This could provide an opportunity for the U.S. Antrim explains, “It [the U.S.] should build on decades of U.S.-Russia cooperation in outer space to contribute new satellites and share the information they gather in a joint effort to strengthen maritime domain awareness for navigation, ice monitoring, vessel identification and tracking, weather prediction, and communications in the Arctic.”
Ambassador Mark Brzezinski, who last year was appointed Executive Director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee, says the U.S. and Russia work – and will continue working – very closely together on science and research in the Arctic. “We share the same challenges,” Brzezinski pointed out at a Council on Foreign Relations event this month.
On September 28, the White house will convene, for the first time ever, a meeting of Science Ministers from around the world to discuss Arctic science issues. To address the transforming Arctic landscape, the U.S. certainly needs to continue collaborating with its Arctic partners both within and outside of the Arctic Council. However, the U.S. must also realize it is behind the ball on many infrastructural and technological plans for the Arctic and, thus, expand engagement with the private sector to develop adequate capabilities, both on earth and in space.
Kaitlin Lavinder is a reporter at The Cipher Brief.
