Russia's New Cold War With Europe

On New Year's Eve, the deadline expired for Russia and Ukraine to agree on a new contract for 2009 gas supplies. Moscow had wanted to raise its prices and charge Kiev $250 per 1,000 cubic metres, up from $179.5 last year.

The Ukrainians thought that excessive and refused to pay a cent more than $201. Russia promptly put its price up to $450. Then, at 10am on New Year's Day, Russia's energy monopoly Gazprom halted supplies of all gas meant for domestic use in Ukraine.

The pipelines that cross Ukraine also carry gas to Europe. In fact, 20% of the European Union's gas is supplied by Russia through pipelines in the Ukraine. Recently, Russia's dispute with the Ukraine has escalated and it has stopped supplying gas through the Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia.

The shutoff of Russian gas through the Ukraine is creating an energy crisis throughout the European Union during this long cold winter of sub zero temperatures. The fact is that the longer it goes on, the worse the crisis will become as gas storage supplies dwindle and disappear.

So what is Vladimir Putin up to by creating this energy crisis in Europe? Also, is it just a coincidence that many of the scientists that believe the solar cycle will result in dramatic global cooling during the next few decades come from Russia?

Accuweather Long Range Meteorologist Joe Bastardi has an interesting theory that may answer both of these questions. Bastardi speculates that; "Putin is relying on (climate) data from Russian scientists and wants to bring some European nations to their knees by exploiting their reliance on natural gas when the weather is at its coldest".

Bastardi continues; "Putin thinks he knows what is going to happen about the overall climate pattern. So, if you control the pipeline into Europe, you literally can control Europe without firing a shot - if you control the energy.”

Vladimir Putin has a history of trying to exploit natural resources for wealth and to gain political advantage. Over a year ago, when Arctic Sea Ice was rapidly melting, Russia was trying to claim the resource rich land under the Arctic Ice Cap, even before it became available.(For More Read: Russia Claims The North Pole on eworldvu)

It may well be that as many nations spend large sums of money to reduce C02 gas to prevent global warming, Putin is gambling on a much different climate change outcome.

Russia's new cold war with Europe is already underway. In the years ahead, if global temperatures continue to decline, Russia will be the beneficiary and the European Union will have to pay.

The Race For The Bounty Of The North Pole

At the end of last summer, the ice at the North Pole was found to have melted at a record level. The Northwest Passage, the long-sought shipping route through the Arctic, even opened up briefly for the first time in history.

Indeed, last summer, like the summer of 2005, broke all records for loss of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean and the Greenland ice sheet. In September 2007, the Arctic Ocean had 23 percent less sea ice than the previous record low and Greenland's ice sheet melted 19 billion tons more than its previous record. Scientists worldwide are still trying to figure out why the Arctic is warming and ice is melting faster than computer models predict.

In 2008, satellite data from recent weeks has shown the rate of ice melt over the North Pole to be even faster than last year. Scientists now believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole in the summer of 2008 are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed during a single Arctic year.

The result of the melting ice over the North Pole raises the prospect of being able to extract valuable oil and mineral deposits which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.

So, various countries are now engaged in a worldwide race to claim the North Pole as their own. Russia, China, Norway, Canada, and the United States are all on an international collision course to stake their claim to the new bounty of an ice free North Pole.

Consider that the US Coast Guard is already planning its first operating base in the area. Also, the Reuters news agency reported last week that "A U.S. Coast Guard cutter called "Healy" has embarked on a three week Arctic voyage to determine the extent of the continental shelf north of Alaska and map the ocean floor, data that could be used for oil and natural gas exploration.

The ultimate goal of the United States mission will be to create a three-dimensional map of the Arctic Ocean floor in a relatively unexplored area known as the Chukchi borderland. The Healy will launch again on September 6, when it will be joined by Canadian scientists aboard an icebreaker, who will help collect data to determine the thickness of sediment in the region. That is one factor a country can use to define its extended continental shelf."

It is an International race to claim the bounty under the melting ice cap of the North Pole. It is destined to become contentious and the controversy has only just begun.

For more on The Race for the Bounty of the North Pole, Read: Russia Claims The North Pole on eWorldvu.com.