Arctic and Antarctic — Current Problems in the Polar Regions
| Published date | 01 March 1969 |
| Date | 01 March 1969 |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083676900400108 |
| Author | Finn Sollie |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Arctic
and
Antarctic —
Current
Problems
in
the
Polar
Regions
Finn
Sollie
Polar
Exploration
Throughout
his
history,
man
has
been
forced
by
geographic
and
climatic
con-
ditions
to
live
in
a
world
that
has
been
more
like
an
open-ended
cylinder
than
a
spherical
globe.
For
all
practical
pur-
poses,
human
life,
activities
and
organi-
zation
have
been
restricted
to
the
’side
surfaces’
of
the
planet
Earth,
while
its
’end
surfaces’
-
the
areas
north
of
70-80°N
and
south
of
60°S
-
have
remained
empty,
unsettled
and
unorganized
territory.
Apart
from
peri-
odic
hunting,
fishing
and
whaling
in
border
zones,
and
occasional
explora-
tions
into
the
icy
void,
both
polar
re-
gions
have
historically
been
closed
to
human
civilization.
In
our
time,
this
historical
situation
is
being
changed.
During
the
last
ten
to
fifteen
years
in
particular,
there
has
been
a
drama-
tic
increase
in
systematic
polar
explora-
tion
as
science
and
technology
have
combined
with
man’s
ambition
to
make
the
Arctic
and
the
Antarctic
accessible
to
man.
Polar
exploration
is
no
longer
a
dare-devil
act
of the
adventurous,
but
is
carefully
planned
and
organized
by
responsible
public
and
private
in-
stitutions
in
many
lands.
This
deter-
mined
effort
to
close
the
void
of
the
polar
regions
includes
vastly
improved
means
of
communication
and
the
trans-
portation
of
large
quantities
of
equip-
ment
and
numerous
personnel
far
into
the
icy
wasteland.
Already,
some
of
the
scientific
stations
established
in
Antarctica
have
the
look
of
semi-per-
manent
settlements
and
the
north
polar
basin
is
crossed
daily
by
the
flight
of
commercial
airlines.
It
is
still
too
early
to
know
if
the
polar
regions
will
ever
play
an
impor-
tant
role
in
the
world
economy,
but
such
a
development
can
be
imagined -
for
instance
by
exploitation
of
natural
resources
on
the
Antarctic
continent,
and
submarine
commercial
transportation
in
the
north
polar
basin.
What
we
do
know
is
that
if
continued
exploration
reveals
any
natural
basis
for
economic
development,
science
and
technology
will
certainly
provide
the
means
to
exploit
those
opportunities.
Its
Implications
Even
though
the
final
outcome
of
cur-
rent
exploration
cannot
be
known,
con-
tinued
and
increased
activities
in
the
polar
regions
by
a
number
of
nations
do
raise
many
legal
and
political
problems
and
issues.
In
a
legal
and
political
sense,
the
world
is
still
an
open-ended
cylin-
der.
While
exploration
is
gradually
fill-
ing
the
geographic
void
in
the
north
and
the
south,
basic
problems
with
re-
gard
to
possession,
control
and
organi-
zation
of
the
regions
remain
unsolved.
125
Several
states
have
claimed
territorial
sovereignty
over
large
portions
of
the
polar
areas,
but
their
claims
are
dis-
puted
by
other
nations
and
no
general
agreement
has
been
considered
yet
for
a
permanent
legal
order
to
govern
the
’end
surfaces’
of the
world.
Exploration
may
have
many
motives,
ranging
from
personal
adventure,
to
pure
scientific
interest,
or
a
determined
search
for
national
advantage;
but
his-
torically,
exploration
of
new
territory
has
usually
resulted
in
moves
by
the
exploring
state
to
take that
territory
into
possession.
The
fact
that
many
na-
tions
are
actively
involved
in
explora-
tion
of
the
polar
regions,
therefore,
does
pose
a
real
risk
of
international
dis-
agreement
and
conflict
over
the
right
to
control
the
regions
or
parts
of
them.
At
the
present
stage
when,
as
far
as
we
know,
scientific
investigation
is
the
primary
goal
of
polar
exploration,
this
risk
of
conflict
may
only
be
vaguely
potential.
However,
if
and
when
ex-
ploration
provides
tangible
evidence
that
polar
areas
may
be
profitably
ex-
ploited,
conflict
over
territorial
rights
will
be
a
clear
and
present
danger.
Thus,
even
though
current
exploration
is
of
a
purely
scientific
nature,
present
activities
should
also
be
considered
for
their
potential
implications
with
regard
to
possession,
control
and
organization
of
the
polar
regions.
It
is,
of
course,
quite
possible
that
to-
ward
the
end
of
the
twentieth
century
the
world
will
no
longer
be
amenable
to
unilateral
occupation
of
territory
not
placed
beforehand
under
the
authority
of
any
state.
It
is
also
possible,
though
probably
less
so,
that
states
which
have
already
staked
a
claim
to
polar
terri-
tory
will
voluntarily
rescind
their
claims.
It
is
also
quite
possible
that
conditions
in
the
polar
regions
are
such
that
in
practice
these
areas
will
not
lend
themselves to
possession
and
con-
trol
by
individual
states.
Thus,
natural
conditions
together
with
the
general
climate
of
international
political
opin-
ion
may
favour
an
international
solu-
tion
to
the
problem
of
possession
and
control
of
the
polar
regions.
It
has
already
been
widely
recog-
nized
that
exploration
of
the
polar
re-
gions
is
too
complex
and
difficult
a
task
to
be
managed
by
individual
states
separately
and
that
maximum
effi-
ciency
in
the
scientific
effort
can
only
be
reached
through
international
co-
operation
and
coordination
of
the
ac-
tivities
of
many
nations.
In
Antarctica,
such
practical
cooperation
has
been
se-
cured
by
a
formal
treaty.
In
the
Antarc-
tic
Treaty,
the
signatories
have
agreed
to
put
aside
without
prejudice
their
differences
of
opinion
on
existing
claims
and
to
abstain
from
new
claims
for
the
duration
of
the
treaty
in
order
to
concentrate
instead
on
peaceful
co-
operation
in
the
scientific
exploration
of
the
region.
The
treaty
is
interesting
both
as
an
example
of
successful
inter-
national
cooperation
that
might
well
be
followed
in
other
areas
(e.g.
in
space
research
and
exploration
of
the
sea-bed
under
the
high
seas),
and
as
tangible
evidence
that
even
nations
who
dis-
agree
on
so
basic
an
issue
as
that
of
territorial
rights
may
join
together
to
serve
a
common
scientific
interest
in
the
disputed
territory.
Equally
impor-
tant,
however,
are
the
implications
of
the
Antarctic
Treaty,
and
the
practice
of
international
cooperation
under
it,
for
the
future,
long-term
development
in
Antarctica.
From
what
has
been
said
above,
it
is
quite
obvious
that
in
its
political
con-
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