Sovereignty, oil hunt complicate Arctic research

By Jeffrey Jones

ABOARD THE PROFESSOR KHROMOV (Reuters) - Russian and U.S. oceanographers studying the impact of global warming on the Bering Strait in late August enjoyed seas on some days that were so calm their ship made the only ripples.

But the serenity of the seascape belied increasingly turbulent waters for scientific research as countries exert sovereignty over Arctic territory and Big Oil boosts exploration efforts.

It has complicated life for Kathleen Crane, as she and her colleagues coordinate dozens of researchers in the western Arctic, a crucial region for the study of climate change and its impact on water, ice and life forms.

"It makes it harder because it's starting to ratchet up the perceived antagonisms between countries. They become competitors rather than working for the same goal," Crane, of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said aboard the research ship Professor Khromov.

The expedition, called RUSALCA, or Russian-American Long-term Census of the Arctic, is one of several international Arctic studies as sea ice shrinks, opening the possibility of more navigable waterways in the far north.

Russia and the United States are among six countries pressing jurisdiction in the Arctic, where oil and gas resources are huge but access has always been restricted by the remoteness and cold.

Shrinking ice is sharpening previously minor disputes, such as a Russian-Danish standoff over who owns the seabed under the North Pole or how far Canada controls the Northwest Passage that the United States calls an international waterway.

A week before the RUSALCA mission began, Canada conducted a high-profile military exercise in its most northerly regions to underline its claims.