Melting Arctic cap has up side too

To the editor:

Much of the hand-wringing over global warming may be for naught. The New York Times has just published an article concluding that the Arctic ice cap is shrinking, and while that may be bad for polar bears, it's great for commerce, the fishing industry and vital gas and oil exploration. In fact, a half-dozen nations are already rushing into icy, virgin territories in quest of natural resources worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

The times quotes various experts predicting an extended shipping season and maritime shortcuts across the top of the world.

Already Norway and Russia have found huge reserves of natural gas in the frigid Barents Sea and other previously untapped northern waters. Norway is building a $9 billion complex to receive and liquefy its gas. It plans to start shipping gas into our East Coast by 2007, bolstering our partnership with this small but important energy-producing country.

The newspaper says the Russian discovery is even larger, and several international energy companies are champing at the bit to explore these chilly waters for the big prize: oil. In fact, scientists already have found tantalizing hints of reserves just 200 miles from the North Pole.

The Times reports some species of salmon and carp are colonizing Norway's rivers where they've never been before.

The Russians' northern passage deteriorated when the Soviet Union collapsed. Now officials are talking about reviving and expanding it, as well as opening a third Arctic shipping route, the Northwest Passage.

W.K. ZELLMER, Cape Girardeau