Economic Powerhouse to Emerge in the Arctic

The Arctic rim will be transformed by climate change into a new economic powerhouse.

The World in 2050 http://www.amazon.com/World-2050-Shaping-Civilizations-Northern/dp/0525951814 is the best new geography book of the year. If that sounds underwhelming, it shouldn’t. Geography is the new hot discipline. A new generation of geographers is integrating the myriad concerns of the world, whether economic or political, social or environmental.

They are making sense of the globalisation of economics and environmental concerns in a way potentially as important as the cartographers of the middle ages. They are charting our limits and firing our imaginations. In this "thought experiment" into what kind of a world we may face just 40 years hence, Larry Smith shows the power of geography superbly with some literary ability.

by Fred Pearce

Full Story: http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_new_north/