The arctic region: Impact of global warming & competition for energy resources

The world is under the threat of Global Warming and it affects balance of world in terms of physical, ecological and biological. Global warming affects the world in a serious way and it can be observed that some regions on the world are influenced a lot. Arctic, which is called the roof of the World, is one of the regions affected the most by Global Warming. Arctic Ocean is one of the richest regions in terms of petrol, oil & gas, coal and other several minerals and it has an immense geopolitical stance. By the impact of global warming, its physical situation has changed, also the geopolitical importance of the region increased. While melting the ice cover of the Arctic Ocean, underground resources under the region and new shipping routes have become accessible which make this region economically important. Therefore, this newly emerged situation has drawn neighbouring countries' attention. There are five coastal states to the region; Russian Federation, USA, Norway, Canada and Denmark. Every state has its own claim and there are also disputes because of overlapping claims on the region. This study searched and evaluated the Arctic Region under the Global Warming and as a result of this, the power competition for energy resources on the region in the context of international law and claims of the neighbouring countries. Key Words: Arctic, Global Warming, Energy, Power Competition, The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.