Canada's Arctic Sovereignty – Denmark's Claims in the Arctic – March 2005 Denmark 'Goes Viking' in Canada's Arctic Islands — Strategic Resources of the High Arctic entice the Danes Dianne DeMille, Editor, Canadian American Strategic Review (CASR) 
Vikings in Canada's Arctic Islands?Just outside Canada's Arctic waters, there is an active and aggressive tribe of raiders very familiar to Europeans. These are the 'Vikings' of Denmark. In the past few years, they have begun making a push to rapidly capitalize on all of the many lucrative resources found in Greenland and its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which is now controlled by Denmark. Greenland is a semi-autonomous possession of Denmark. Its form of government is called 'Home Rule' – Greenland administers matters that are pertinent to its own domestic order and prosperity. Denmark deals with strategic concerns that are of most interest back in Copenhagen. Denmark retains responsibility for defence of the enormous island and its EEZ. It also has rights to the lion's share of Greenland's strategic resources – gold, diamonds, natural gas, and oil. 
Another resource that Denmark and Greenland intend to exploit is the island's vast ice field. This gigantic glacier – second only to Antarctica in area –
regularly and rapidly 'calves' off huge chunks of itself These irregular 'mini - mountains' of ice plunge noisily into the sea where they become marine hazards –
icebergs. Greenland intends to harvest these icebergs and sell them to a world that is as thirsty for water as it is for oil.The Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) is usually funded and administered by the Danish Ministry of the Environment. To get a clearer picture of the urgent geological exploration activity that is going on in and around Greenland, note that formerly insignificant little GEUS is suddenly receiving tens of millions of dollars from the powerful (and very well-funded ) Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation. Geological survey teams only get this much attention or cash when their work begins to turn up the possibility of fossil fuels – natural gas and oil. The Danish government is pouring millions of dollars into a comprehensive new map showing in bold relief the geological features of the Arctic Ocean floor. GEUS has shown that the Lomonosov Ridge (claim in its entirety by Russia) actually runs from the top of Greenland to the North Pole. Based on this underwater, seafloor connection, Denmark has laid claim to the North Pole itself. Why would Denmark want to claim a patch of ocean that is iced over year-round? 
The answer to this question begins to emerge from the activities of Greenland's BMP, Bureau of Minerals & Petroleum. BMP oversees all of the
foreign investment in – and exploitation of – Greenland's most valuable resources. On Greenland proper are several gold and diamond mines. But the big prize is fossil fuels –
oil and natural gas. In 2004, the BMP invited licensees to bid on various sections of the seafloor underneath Davis Strait – only on the Greenland side, of course. The
first and biggest Davis Strait licensee was EnCana Corporation, a trans-national company with its head office in Calgary, Alberta. [1]EnCana's current strategic plan is to sell off its holdings in dangerous parts of the world, and focus instead on developing sources of natural gas in North America. (Perhaps it thought that Greenland's side of Davis Strait was close enough.) But the many lucrative resources of Greenland are not enough. Denmark is trying to extend its long-standing colonial claims to Greenland and the island's continental shelf. It is stretching its claim out into the tectonic plate that surrounds the island. Denmark eyes the Arctic Archipelago and all the Northern Waterways The key point is that the Arctic ice cap is receding at a pace that far exceeds the rate predicted by any of the 'global warming' computer models. When scientists realized just how fast the North Polar Ice Cap was shrinking, they were shocked. 
The Danish claim on the Pole must be seen as the first foray into what will become a larger series of territorial claims. They will include some or all of the islands of the
Arctic Archipelago which now are part of Nunavut, Canada's newest Territory. On traditional maps, these islands are shown as unambiguously belonging to Canada. Then, Canada's resolve was
tested when crews of the Danish navy occupied Hans Island, a dot of land between Ellesmere Island and the northwest tip of Greenland.An Opportunity Opens Up because of Climate Change in the Arctic Due to global warming, the many waterways that fan out southwards and westwards from the North Pole are navigable for longer and longer each year. Denmark foresees a growing accessibility to profitable resources on these islands, and on the sea floor that surrounds them. It is pressing its claims before the global community. But it is not depending solely on geological surveys and maps of the ocean floor. Denmark has the military capabilities in Greenland to back its territorial claims and challenge Canada's sovereignty in the High Arctic. Will we back down? [1] NB: In 2009, Encana Corporation split in two with its oil under Cenovus Energy. Next in this In Detail Survey > Top Cover: Denmark's Arctic Air Assets CASR | Arctic Viking | Arctic Futures | In Detail | Arctic Empires | BG |