The Contamination of the Earth: A History of Pollutions in the Industrial Age

Any discussion of the Arctic depends largely on perspective, and Martin Breum's book Cold Rush gives us the view from an often overlooked major player in the region: Denmark.While the United States discussions these days focus on the possibilities for military confrontation in the polar north, or Washington D.C. and Alaska argue over access to oil and mineral resources, Breum gives a historical view of how Copenhagen, and the not-yet-independent Greenland, see geopolitics and the environment.Starting around the year 2000, Denmark increasingly asserted territorial and exclusive economic zone rights north of Greenland along the underwater Lomonsov Ridge, and by 2014 claimed sovereignty over the North Pole seabed itself.The book was originally published in 2015 in Danish, and in English translation in 2018.Many of the events are centered around 2010-2012, which are dated now, but in a curious way.In reading a hopeful view of the future of the Arctic, starting with the Ilulissat Declaration in 2008, it may be clear to many readers that Russian foreign policy changed since that time (especially post 2014), that technology such as gas fracking shifted plans for exploration, that Shell Oil's disastrous 2015 Arctic effort and $7 billion loss tempered expectations, and that more recently shifts away from fossil fuels have accelerated.What is hopeful now would be an energy transition, not risky extraction in the far north.Those looking for straight discussions of the politics behind the Arctic may become frustrated with Breum's long descriptions of travels in the region, of expeditions on a Swedish icebreaker to the North Pole, and historical flashbacks to previous explorers.Yet in understanding the Danish vision of the Arctic, perhaps such descriptions help in placing actions in an environmental context.The scientists feel they are just doing research, and yet there are machinations that they do not fully understand behind why they were funded.Some may feel they are extending benevolent Danish sovereignty in order to protect the environment, while environmentalists fear the same actions establish resource rights and pave the way for oil and gas drilling.Even the benevolent narratives from Copenhagen toward Nuuk (in Greenland) involve establishing Greenland as self-sufficient based on oil, gas, and mineral mining.Some analyses, including outside this book, attribute the Danish goals to trying to maintain an important link with

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