Wouldn’t it be just like Russia to benefit from global warming? The Arctic Circle is melting, polar bears are dying, and Russia’s busy calling dibs on energy-rich territories made available by melting ice caps. Arctic waters could be ice-free as soon as summer of 2013, to which we say: “Cat fight!” Norway, Canada, Britain, China, the U.S. and others are already declaring “shotgun” privileges over the potential gas and oil digs which could soon be unlocked by defrosted waters.

Not only that, the prospect of a new Northwest Passage and easy-access from Russia’s northern ports to Canada and beyond is getting Dmitry Medvedev all “Manifest Destiny.” The Russian president is already staking a claim to an Arctic area comparable to the size of France. Viva la climate crisis!

Things were clearly heating up when the Russian steamer Akademik Fyodorov became the first ship to reach the North Pole without having to whip out an icebreaker. But long before that, one Joseph Stalin divvied up the undivviable, marking as “Soviet” a stretch of ice from Russia’s seaport town of Murmansk to the North Pole. Remember that name, by the way — you haven’t heard the last of Murmansk, which happens to be the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. In fact, CNN will be heading up there to cover the Arctic race this weekend. But you heard it from us first: when (and not if) this trade route takes off, "Murmansk" will be a new buzzword location, right up there with "Bollywood." Good thing it's so fun to say. Murrrrrmansk!

Arctic's thawing seas may bring new security risks [Washington Post]