Email info provided:
Two Penn State experts and retired high-ranking U.S. Navy officers will discuss the critical global policy and environmental issues resulting from the melting Arctic ice sheet at a talk on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 on Penn State’s University Park campus. This event will also be broadcast live via Adobe Connect at: https://meeting.psu.edu/psiee
“The Mythical Northwest Passage Comes to Be: Discussion of the Arctic, the U.S., and the Law of the Sea” features Ret. Vice Admiral James W. Houck, interim dean of Penn State Law, and Ret. Rear Admiral David W. Titley, professor from practice in the Department of Meteorology. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 1 p.m. in 301D Life Sciences Building and will be followed by a reception in the Life Sciences Bridge.
“The Arctic is changing — faster than any other place in the world," said Titley. " And unlike Vegas, what happens in the Arctic does not stay in the Arctic. Energy, transportation, and tourism opportunities that will affect everyone in the lower 48 will compete with global security and environmental challenges. We ignore the Arctic at our peril.”
The Arctic ice sheet is receding at a historically high rate and opening up access to areas of the Arctic that were historically difficult to reach. The National Snow & Ice Data Center recently reported that the maximum extent of ice in the Arctic is at the lowest level seen since the satellite record began in 1981. As the ice decreases, new shipping routes are opening, including the once-mythical “Northwest Passage.” Previously unreachable minerals and fossil fuels are becoming accessible. Just this month, Russia began military maneuvers in the Arctic; others have been making plans for accessing this area as well.
"The United States must make important resource investments and policy decisions today if we want to play a leadership role in the Arctic tomorrow. All citizens - not just scientists - need to understand what's at stake in the Arctic," Houck said.
Houck and Titley will explore these dynamics and address key questions:
- How could diplomatic instruments such as the Arctic Council help address the situation?
- What are the opportunities and challenges for the United States, which assumed the 2015-2017 chairmanship of the Arctic Council, in formulating multinational rules for the new land?
- What are the implications of this emerging dynamic on the current international legal framework, such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea?
This discussion is co-sponsored by the Climate Change and Conflict Management Reinvention Fund Project of Penn State’s Sustainability Institute and The Polar Center. For additional information, please contact Lara B. Fowler, lbf10@psu.edu or 814-865-4806.
For more info about the talk: http://sustainability.psu.edu/calendar/mythical-northwest-passage-comes-...