Weaponized wildfire: Russia opening Arctic as military advantage

Stopping the Keystone XL pipeline gave Vlad the Impaler the petrodollars he needed to invade Ukraine. Ash and soot from wildfires in the Siberian taiga are accelerating the loss of Arctic sea ice driving more frequent and deeper polar vortexes. 

Each site is treated like a crime scene. Photos are taken. Interviews conducted. Samples collected. All of the evidence will be used, "to punish the aggressor in the international courts," says Oleksiy Obrizan, the task force's chairman. Scientists have advocated for strengthening international law to make it easier to hold countries accountable. Last year, an independent panel of international lawyers launched an effort to better define ecocide — or as they put it, "unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused" — under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Wildfires in Siberia and the broader global Arctic have an outsize impact on the world's climate. Scientists believe nearly half of the world's peatland-stored carbon — carbon that's been locked away by permafrost and frigid temperatures — is in the Arctic Circle. Wildfires unlock that carbon, releasing more greenhouse gases that worsen global warming. They also blanket snow and ice with black soot, making them melt faster. [NPR]

Wetlands are being destroyed for cropland, livestock demands on water supplies dwarf the needs of cities, global biodiversity is threatened, Arctic ice packs are disappearing, humans are breeding less nutritious food and pesticides are killing native pollinators.

1 such example is activation of Northern Sea Route (NSR) w/ #Russia. It's a naval route through <not so> frozen Arctic ocean that's expected to reduce distances b/w Asian & European ports. Seen as a major alternative of #SuezCanal route (currently famous)https://t.co/wqpPcrwnjg pic.twitter.com/brmexJFhQv

— AY ☪ 🇵🇰🍁🇵🇸🥄 (@AYPAKMUSLIM) July 21, 2022

Russia, China Prepare For War With The U.S. In The Arctic

A thread ⬇️ https://t.co/Ngorgp4YSQ

— The InfoRealm (@TheInforealm) July 27, 2022