Adaptation and Change with Global Warming

Abstract

Today, the governing spatial structure of Earth is that of a ribbon around the globe. Economic activity and habitation are mostly limited to this developed ribbon. As the polar ice retreats and better ships and remote sensing are being developed, the habitable edge of the world is moving ever farther into the Arctic, leading to the emergence of a new spatial structure of Earth: the semiglobe. In a semiglobe system, the Arctic is no longer the most remote area of Earth but is its center. The practical consequences of polar ice retreat are notably Arctic resource development and Arctic shipping routes. The largest impact on global marine transportation occurs as all-year shipping develops in the Arctic, eventually leading to–-because of shorter distances–-most marine transportation between the North Atlantic and the North Pacific going through the Arctic Ocean. This has important consequences for transportation, security, and natural resource use. The Arctic sea routes also hold geopolitical importance as alternative routes, for example, if conflicts at the Panama or Suez Canal interrupt intercontinental shipping. This gives added importance to the gates to the Arctic Ocean and surrounding nations.

Analyzing the Impact of Different Transport Governance Strategies on Climate Change

“…Most efforts related to transport and climate change focused on mitigating and reducing transport's contribution to climate change [73]. Although mitigating practices are essential to lessen the climate change threat, adaptive efforts to create resilience and protect against effects should be rapidly developed [74].…”

A theory of the evolution of settlement structures based on identification and use of patterns: Iceland as a case study

“…On a global scale it has been predicted that a new spatial system, a point centre of the Arctic, may develop -if global warming becomes excessive in the future [49]. Iceland borders on the Arctic and may thus profit from this new spatial centre of the far future.…”

Suez Canal: An Exploratory Study on Alternative Trade Routes

“…Of the 28 remaining articles, 12 were discarded because they did not address the main objective of the review, leaving 16 for further analysis. Articles by Gleb and Jin (2021) and Valsson and Ulfarsson (2009) were discarded because they did not address the economic viability of the route. The article by Xu, Yang and Wang (2018) was also ruled out, as it examines the NSR and SCR routes combined, deviating from the objective which is to seek alternative routes, not partially usable ones.…”