Bjorn Olav Knutsen and Marius Nyquist Pedersen stated in a report from their research that although the Russians in strategic documents often increase the topic of climate warming and its effects on the defense of the northern ruts of the country, they do not take practical actions in this area.
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The bases of Russian strategic aviation were cited as an example. Bombers ready for carrying nuclear weapons are stationed today at airports prepared for completely different climatic conditions. They were designed for snow and frost, and more and more often the starting belts and hangars must withstand heavy rains and exceeding 20 degrees C polar heat. Thus, they require more frequent and more serious renovations, for which international sanctions the Russians have no money.
Russian dock not resistant to new weather conditions
Norwegian specialists pointed out that when shipyards and ports serving the northern fleet were designed, the Arctic Ocean for most of the year was ice -bound, and thus the strength of the storms and the height of the waves were much lower than at present. For this reason, infrastructure for supporting nuclear shells of submarines, which the Russians have at least 30 in the bases on the White Sea and the Barents Sea, will be exposed to serious damage. According to the Norwegians, both Russian docops and port breakwaters are not resistant to new weather conditions. Adjusting them will require high expenditure that Moscow cannot afford today.
Problems with oil and gas extraction
The extraction of Russian oil and natural gas is focused today in the Arctic. However, scientists from the FFI pointed out that Russia would be more and more difficult to provide the fuels obtained. The melting for many years of frosting will stand in the way. As a result of the loss of stable ground, the pipelines are already beginning to fall into the wetland, which makes the logistics of oil and gas very difficult. Improvement will also be associated with costs calculated in billions of euros.
The smaller and smaller ice cover in the Arctic Ocean is to result in a permanent opening of this basin for navigation. According to FFI, the Chinese are to be particularly interested in this communication route. On its long, 25,000 km, the shoreline Russia does not have enough military bases or guarding the border of FSB units today to properly design its sovereignty over this area.
However, underwater circular
For the only kind of troops that can directly use the climate warming in the Arctic, Norwegian researchers recognized the underwater forces of the Northern Fleet. The change in salinity and the temperature of the arctic sea waters is to affect the lower effectiveness of submarine detection by sonars. The positive effects, however, will be short -lived, because such units after the cruise need to be properly renovated and restoring full combat capabilities. In addition, according to Knutsen and Pedersen, there will be a lack of infrastructure, which will be damaged by storms and waves with an unknown strength until recently.
