Around the World with the Most Travelled Indian
By Nitin Gairola
I am quite sure that the global community has established and agreed that penguins live in Antarctic regardless of the White House meme of Trump walking with the little nihilistic adelie penguin in Greenland. It is now well acknowledged by the scientific community and the public at large that Greenland is an island in the Arctic and not the Antarctic. We also know that Arctic is the north of the planet and Antarctic, the south. With these basic geography facts in order (for the entire world except the White House and one Mr. Trump), we must now tell the dear old prez to turn south for penguins. The only risk is that he may get to know that the south too is rich in minerals and may start drilling the ice for them. He may however not realize that the ice is as thick as his head and his hide. The risk of another stupid act further accentuates in Antarctic since it truly does not belong to anyone, even loosely, unlike Denmark’s link to Greenland. He might just go for the south.
But before Trump plans to plant the American flag in Antarctica or before he is ousted from power (whichever is earlier), we need to understand why he wants the north so badly. Whatever I have read and heard points to America wishing to create a new trade route for shipping which, instead of going through the Suez and Panama canals, will go via the historically named ‘North-West Passage’ between Greenland and Baffin Island of Canada in the east and between Russia and Alaska via the Bering Strait in the west. China is also trading in the Arctic via the newly named ‘Polar Silk Route’, thanks to its collaboration with Russia – you know that fair-weather friend with a common enemy.
If we are to believe the ones in power in the ‘land of opportunities’, then Greenland also acts as a place to deploy early warning defence systems to thwart a potential Russian nuclear strike on American homeland since it is a sort of mid-point between the two cold war nations. Trump plans the ‘Golden Dome’ missile defence system, a term naturally derived from Israel’s famed Iron Dome. Here America can also have military positions as they did during World War-II and the Cold War. I was glad to see some giant alien looking (aka Star Wars) dishes, the likes of which are used for catching radio signals from across the galaxy. Here we were talking about catching signals just across the Arctic, in two places with ideologies alien to the other at that time in the 20th century.
The Arctic Sea bed and the ‘land’ of Greenland beneath the thick ice will also likely hold a lot of crude oil, natural gas reserves, rare earth minerals and what not. There is also a lot of permafrost in the tundra coastline which can release yet dormant and dangerous ancient bacteria and viruses into the environment, once the permafrost thaws. I doubt Mr. Trump and his office understands permafrost.
In any case, the US will play all its geopolitical cards to ‘manage the situation’. They may just pay more subsidies than Denmark and win Greenland via a referendum. In this case, the Greenlandic people or Inuits (not Eskimos), will get to keep their sovereignty and the US will get the defence positions and other things it craves for. Trump has also created a (laughable) ‘Board of Peace’ in which US has veto powers and this board has sent an invitation to around 50 countries of which 20 have already joined. The US has kept itself front and center on the emblem of the ‘Board of Peace’ as well, all in a bid to undermine the UN and also to keep China’s commanding global influence at bay. In the case of China specifically, the new world power wanted to build airports in Greenland earlier but US blocked the deal via Denmark. I bet Trump thinks he is doing the right thing for America (in the short term) and this came out clearly in the Davos Economic Forum in January too. But does he not understand science at all and its long-term consequences? Probably not I guess. In any case, he understands the short & long term consequences of nukes, so hopefully he will wake up before he makes someone go for the big red button.
Upon landing in Ilulissat, for two days we walked around the edge of the town, in awe of the big icebergs coming out from the tongue of the Jakobshavn glacier, the most productive one in the northern hemisphere. The icebergs would crack and make a thunderous noise and paradoxically reveal both the power and fragility of nature. I wish everyone could see this and could see it coming before it’s too late. Turn south for penguins, Mr. Trump. They have polar bears and huskies here and they are not as cute and cuddly as teddies and puppies. They don’t take too kindly to interfering outsiders.
Nitin Gairola is from Dehradun and is an extreme world traveller who has seen the natural world extensively and is often referred to as the ‘Most Travelled Indian’. He is on a quest to become the first person to travel to every major desert, forest, grassland & tundra on Earth, besides every country. Nitin has set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet and holds National Geographic conservation certifications. He is also a senior corporate executive in an MNC and in his early days, used to be a published poet as well.
