Environment:
current issues: endangered marine species include walruses and whales;
fragile ecosystem slow to change and slow to recover from disruptions
or damage
natural hazards: ice islands occasionally break away from northern
Ellesmere Island; icebergs calved from glaciers in western Greenland
and extreme northeastern Canada; permafrost in islands; virtually
icelocked from October to June; ships subject to superstructure icing
from October to May
international agreements: NA
Note: major chokepoint is the southern Chukchi Sea (northern access to the Pacific Ocean via the Bering Strait); strategic location between North America and Russia; shortest marine link between the extremes of eastern and western Russia, floating research stations operated by the US and Russia; maximum snow cover in March or April about 20 to 50 centimeters over the frozen ocean and lasts about 10 months
@Arctic Ocean:Government
Digraph: XQ
@Arctic Ocean:Economy
Overview: Economic activity is limited to the exploitation of natural resources, including petroleum, natural gas, fish, and seals.
@Arctic Ocean:Transportation
Ports: Churchill (Canada), Murmansk (Russia), Prudhoe Bay (US)
Note: sparse network of air, ocean, river, and land routes; the Northwest Passage (North America) and Northern Sea Route (Eurasia) are important seasonal waterways
@Arctic Ocean:Communications