Latest Fridtjof Nansen Stories

Russia is jumping into the pack of those taking advantage of the natural resources of the Arctic, now vulnerable from global warming, the Kremlin's special representative said.Scientists note the ice is melting so quickly that drilling for oil and gas high in the Arctic will soon become normal and sea transportation between the Atlantic and Pacific will be much faster than the currents routes.This profitable scenario has started brutal competition between nations with Arctic coastlines to...

OSLO, Norway -- Danish scientists head for the Arctic ice pack on Sunday seeking evidence to position Denmark in a race to claim the potentially vast oil and other resources of the North Pole region. Russia sent two small submarines to plant a tiny national flag under the North Pole last week. Canada, the United States and Norway also have competing claims in the vast Arctic region, where a U.S. study suggests as much as 25 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and gas could be hidden. The...

By James KilnerOSLO -- Nearly 100 years after explorers first reached the North and South Poles, Norwegian Boerge Ousland believes he too has etched his name into polar exploration's Hall of Fame.Countryman Roald Amundsen was first to the South Pole in 1911, beating Briton Robert Falcon Scott who died with his team on the return trip after a heroic race. American Robert Peary claimed to have reached the North Pole first in 1909.All of the men spent years mapping the unknown polar...