Emerging Arctic Landscapes... Reflections
In-retrospect: our travel in the
high north has given me a better and more nuanced understanding of the high complexity in this region. Economics, culture, politics, enviroment and industry are the quintessential topics and challenges here. In my reflections id like to foucus on this regions border landscape. And the varied and overlaping activity a cross, around and between the muncipalities, country borders and the new future trajectories.
So what is a Border?
bound, edge, fringe, margin, rim, skirt, verge. - A part that forms the outer edge of something. -The line or frontier area separating political divisions or geographic regions; a boundary. -The line that separates one country, state, province, etc., from another; frontier line. -Boundaries between continents. -An enclosing boundary. -The space enclosed boundary. -The point beyond which an action, state, or condition is likely to begin or occur. -Dictionary definition
In Andrei Tarkovsky 1979 movie Stalker, the protagonists has to pass through a militarized border then to enter a place called “the Zone”, an otherwise mundane rural area scattered with ruined buildings, where normal laws of physics no longer apply, to encounter “the Room”, said to grant the deepest, innermost wishes of anyone who steps inside.
To me the Zone is a place of tranquillity and peace a demiliterized place were no political, ideological, social and economic doctrine defines and delineate the human reality and understanding of space.
Global Borders
This is Earth, a place of blue nitrogen skies, oceans of liquid water, cool forests, and soft meadows. Earths borders are clearly defined and has evolved through geological and biological natural processes over billions of years.
This is Earth, clearly defined and dominated by human boundaries through political and economical systems, resourch based, historical, sociological and culturall processes, through natural and artificial selection, over thousands of years.
Borderland
District Borders
The reindeer hurding activity streches over 76 districts in Norway. From East Finmark to Southern Trøndelag and Hedemark. There is no restrictions for the reindeers crossing the different muncipalities as long they are inside there grazing district.
Muncipality Borders
Finnmark has 19 municipalities bordering, stretching and crossing through the landscape. Meeting the Finish and Russian borders in the eastern part of the county.
Finnmark
Norway
BorderZone
The Norwegian and Russian goverment`s has agreed to open up for special borderzone passes and easy border crossing for 40.000 Russians and 9000 Norwegians, living within 30 kilometers distance from the 196 kilometers long Norwegian-Russian border. The Schengen-agreement opens up for such regulations in border areas. When this agreement is effectuated it will be among the first areas along the Schengen border where there is established a borderzone.
Crossing Borders
Finland Finland Finland
The reindeer hurding is a borderless activity, almost. Norway and Finland has an agreement that the reindeer flock can graze 2-5km on each side of Norwegian and Finish ground. This agreement is only between Norway, Finland and Sweden.
Russia
The Arctic Ice Border 2011
2030
New Arctic Trajectories 2070
New Yokohama Route
New San Fransisco Route
Northwest Passage Northern Sea Route
Murmansk Kirkenes
The melting of the sea ice in the Arctic, is the clearest sign so far that global warming, has taken a sudden and enormous leap forward, in one of the most ominous developments yet in the onset of climate change. The Arctic ice will possibly be all gone by 2070, but if these new rates of melting are maintained, the Arctic ice will be gone decades before that.
Rotterdam Current San Francico route Current Yokohama route
As the Arctic ice border melts, new alternate shipping routes will appear. At present, there are two routes in the Arctic Ocean, the Northern Sea Route extending along the northern parts of Russia and the Northwest Passage traveling along the coastal areas of Canada.
Were do we go from here?
Melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean is paradoxical: a serious threat to natural environment and ecology is accompanied by expectation for the appearance of new shipping routes. We also know that as the ice melts there are estimated huge oil and gas reservs in the region. To me it says something about our civilization determination to deny the environmental and ecological consequences that the extracting of oil and gas will have.