Comparison of territorial claims for the Arctic region and the Antarctic continent in the framework of the impacts of climate change: The cases of the USA and Russia

Climate change is the climatic anomalies that occur as a result of the damage to the world's temperature balance due to global warming. Increasing global warming due to anthropogenic effects, especially in the period after the Industrial Revolution, has caused serious glacier losses in the polar regions, and the effects of climate change have become more and more evident after the 1990s. Owing to global warming, there have been serious glacier losses primarily in the Arctic region, new sea routes have emerged, and access to mineral and hydrocarbon resources has become easier. As a result, some states declared territorial claims for the Arctic region, and the Arctic Council was established in 1996. In contrast, glacier losses in the Antarctic continent have been less, but similar to the Arctic, there have been territorial claims to the continent in the past. These claims were frozen by the Antarctic Treaty signed in 1959, and the continent was dedicated to science and peace. Russia and the United States of America are important actors in both of these systems of polar governance. These two actors, who have a conflict-based relationship in the Arctic region, argue that they undertake a peaceful mission in the Antarctic continent. In this study, starting from the question "Is global climate change a determining factor in terms of the sustainability of the governance of the polar regions and the effectiveness of the territorial claims to the continent?", the role of global climate change in shaping the territorial claims to the polar regions and its impact on the sustainability of polar governance within the framework of the policies of Russia and the United States of America are analyzed through case study method. In this framework, it is aimed to determine to what extent polar governance mechanisms have sustainable standards in terms of protecting the polar regions.