In the far north is the Arctic Ocean and for many years, it was as its name sounds cold and frozen most of the time – Arctic weather. With climate change and the possible opening of the Northwest Passage for shipping, various books have been and will be written on the history of the Arctic. We know there are deposits of oil and gas, sometimes minerals have been found and the shipping passage could be used as a short trip between Asia and Europe. A book called The Scramble for the Arctic – ownership, exploitation and conflict in the Far North written by Richard Sale and Eugene Potapov published by Frances Lincoln Ltd, London, England, 2010 helps put the issues into perspective. The first thing to know about the Arctic is it is relatively easy to look back in time – the cold preserves artefacts. There is a lack of activity in much of the land so what is left on the ground can be found on the ground. Archaeologist have found by looking for vegetation patches, they can discover sites for man. The bone leaching nutrients allows for vegetation to grow. The difficulty is the Arctic is a tough place to work – much of the time the ground is covered by snow and ice; the non ice season is short; although planes make life easier.

In the book, the authors discuss the natives – much of their tradition is oral and many are nomadic which makes property rights hard to define. The interest of the north was first for animal pelts – at one time the highest domestic tax source for Russia was sable pelts; while beaver pelts made into tall hats in London was a reason to discover Canada.

No matter which country whose country reaches toward the north pole, they have all treated the natives badly, to be generous. When it came time for resource development, because companies have an interest in shipping product out to be processed, the pipelines and roads have crossed native hunting grounds and the solution was to move the natives out of the way. In terms of animals – we have a bad history of nearly causing animals to be extinct before understanding if you kill too many, then there will be none the next year. It is significant that the companies which engaged in processing animals were very profitable for a number of years. Whether that was sable, beaver, whaling, fishing, sealing, However it only took years, not decades, before the animal population was significantly lowered.

The biggest issue of the north is the great oil and gas discoveries or potential and who owns the land. All northern countries are trying to ensure the boundaries which have existed on maps for the last 50 years remain the boundaries when it is time to harvest the raw materials.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, the history of the north is to exploit the natural resources and move on. It has been done all over the world for generations, the difference is in southern climates, nature can come back or it is possible for nature to come back. In the north, one has to think of centuries not decades when the natural resource is less than profitable. There are greater challenges but also greater rewards and for that companies will continue to want to go north.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.