Click for full view Courtesy: Throbgoblins

Like much of what happens on the world stage these days, this expedition—and the diplomatic flap it caused—was really about oil. By some estimates, 25 percent of the world’s remaining fossil-fuel reserves are buried under the Arctic Ocean. With the ice cap shrinking by 28,000 square miles a year, and gigantic pools of open water appearing as it splits, the possibility of getting at them is improving daily. Meanwhile, oil supplies are dwindling, and prices are rising to historic highs, making expensive oil exploration more and more worthwhile.

It all adds up to a renewed interest in the Arctic—the last large piece of non-jurisdictional real estate on the planet—which went off the screen when the Cold War ended. Now there’s a new Great Game on—the Cold Rush.  - Vanity Fair