Seeing a flurry activity. Thats because theres something locked beneath the ice. Thirteen percent of the worlds undiscovered oil and 30 percent of its untapped natural gas. Trillions of dollars of potential profit. And that means that here in the far north, issues of sovereignty security, environment, and trade are intersecting at a colossal pace, in the worlds coldest resource rush. The tiny hamlet of resolute, is busier than it has been in decades. Canadian troops are here to train in difficult and cold conditions. Its called operation nuvavut. So all the structures that we have here are the original front stucture were put together for the air force in the cold war era. With the artic ice melting, and with the mining and energy boom on the horizon. The Canadian Military is preparing for various senarios. Theres been an accident, involving two people. Injuries are unknown at this time. Today its a Rapid Reaction search and rescue exercise. With no roads, theyll have to get there by air. And uhh. Well do this as if it was a real mission. It just flew right over head, theyre looking at their visibilty, theyre finding out where their jumpers can land safely, which will hopefully be in this kinda flat area over here. So now they will circle around which theyre acually doing right behind the camera here. The canadians are not the only one operating up here. Over the last two years, large scale military exercises have been carried out by the u. S. , nato, and russia. We did find indications that countries are if fact concered about what will be necessary for the protection of say responding to an environmental disaster. A cruise ship catastrophe, some of the law and order assistance that militaries do and do very well, patictulary in regions such as the artic, that are so far away from other points of infrastructure. Along the surface, most of the millitary activity has been search and rescue. Professional arctic watchers like professor ron huebert, say there is another side to whats been happining in the far north. Countries are devoloping militaries in the context of military protection. We saw cosidarable evidence that it wasnt just developing coast guard and constablatory capabilities, but actually developing combat capabilities. But no one expects a war up here. Its not hard to see why arctic countries are using their militaries to exert their sovereignty. Geologists believe that vast amounts of hydrocarbons lie under the ice here. As the arctic ice melts, all of that oil and gas becomes increasingly available for exploitation the ice now covers just half of the surface area it did a few decades ago. The excitement about arctic oil and gas is part of a vicious cycle. The reason that were able to access the arctic is because of Climate Change, and the reason we have Climate Change is because weve burned so much oil and gas. The arctic is the canary in the coal mine. Ambassador david balton is the lead negotiator for the Us State Department on arctic issues. It is opening up and and vessels from other nations can be expected in the arctic. But we dont see the arctic as a military venue, its all about economics. If politics were set aside, youd say well id love to go take another look at iraq, or iran, or id love to look in libya. But things being what they are, you really cant do that. So the really big expanse that hasnt been tested is these continental shelves in the arctic. The world woke up to the potential value of those contenental shelves in august 2007, when moscow released pictures of a russian mini submarine planting a flag on the seabed of the north pole. I regard the planting of a russian flag on the seafloor of the north pole to be a publicity stunt. Russia was trying to call attention to its claim to the seafloor. But it did not have any legal significance. Its just not whats under ground thats atracting attention from the rest of the world. Resolute sits on the shore of Northwest Passage. Frozen solid for most of the year, this potential shipping lane, cuts through canada from the atlantic to the pacific ocean. For the first time in history the passage recently became ice free during the summer months. If it stays that way, the distance ships have to travel from europe to parts of asia, could be cut by thousands of kilometers. Billions of dollars in transportation costs could be saved. But canada has repeatedly resisted claims that the passage is part of international waters. As the ice melts, as the technology improves, as the International Regime evolves, whats happening is the arctic ocean is becoming an ocean like any other. The challenge for the arctic states, are countries like china, japan, south korea, the european union, are saying this is becoming an iternational space. We want to participate. Currently in 2012, there is push back to that idea. The us and canada similarly. Have agreed to disagree about the status of the nothwest passage. The United States and other countries see the Northwest Passage as a stait used for inernational navigation, all vessels have a right to transit. Today, it has not been a serious issue either, but that day may too, be coming. With so many competing claims and so much money at stake, the United States has refused to sign an International Treaty which would settle claims to the region. Its sort of a new gold rush of sorts that is underway in the arctic right now, and the prize promises to be much more substantial. More than a thousand miles south of the arctic, admiral robert papp is speaking at the Us Coast Guard academy in new london, connecticut. And, what concerns me is that we dont fall behind on meeting this challenge especially when we see other arctic nationsincluding our partnerssurging forward and expanding their arctic capabilities. Here, at the First Leadership for the arctic conference, military officials, bureaucrats, lawyers, environmentalists, and oil and Mining Industry executives have gathered to discuss, and perhaps eventually shape arctic policy. But even if we stopped Greenhouse Gas emissions tomorrow, we will continue to have this governance question before us. Weve got a lot of work to do to be prepared, and to be able to respond to all of the events that could possibly take place in the arctic. For centuries we struggled how to make demarcation of this boundary, it was done under pressure of oil industry. In the next 40 years energy needs in the world will double. Peter slaiby is the Vice President of shell alaska. Shell has long been pushing to conduct exploritory off shore drilling in the arctics chukchi, off the coast of northern alaska. After the company spent 15 Million Dollars on lobbing in washington last year. Frankly we would not be considering a move into alaska and other arctic regions unless we were sure at the highest levels in our company that we could do it safely. A lot of people here have been kind of skeptical about, its not a matter of if, but when something goes wrong with the drilling up in the arctic. Well so, i think its a matter of time you know i think thats being a bit pessimistic, i think the standards were putting in place are pretty robust. But could there be an incident . And i think yeah, theres ship you know, aside from oil and gas theres a significant amount of shipping. And when weve looked at whats been in place, we think it clearly needs to move up another notch. If a spill does happen, the cold waters in the arctic make clean up even more difficult. It would make the deep water spill in the gulf of mexico look small by comparison. All those billions of bacteria that helped disperse the oil of the deep water horizon on the gulf of mexico just arent there in the arctic. So it would be damage on a cataclysmic scale. Just last year, admiral papp testified to congress that the us was starting at ground zero in terms of Oil Spill Response in the arctic. Is the tail wagging the dog, are the corporations pushing a lot of the activity up there are the governments trying to respond to that . I dont think so. They pay a lot of money for permits to be able to drill up there. As i said in my speech today the National Security is not just defense, its energy security, and its Environmental Security as well, and i think you need to balance all those things. The Real Security threats are in terms of what happens to the local populations as the ice offshore melts and all of a sudden their coastline is eroding, and their villages are disapearing as a result of Climate Change. Thats a human security,. Or consequence and that sort of thing hasnt been factored in, in any signifigant way. Al Jazeera America. We open up your world. Here on america tonight, an opportunity for all of america to be heard. Our shows explore the issues that shape our lives. New questions are raised about the american intervention. From unexpected viewpoints to live changing innovations, dollars and cents to powerful storytelling. We are at a Tipping Point in americas history Al Jazeera America. Theres more to it. Every sunday night, Al Jazeera America presents. Award winning films telling stories. She doesnt wanna come as someone who was manipulative. Revealing secrets. Information became our most powerful weapon. Taking chances. Everyone that was involved in the clandestant movement, had a code name. Each week, a new eye opening experience. Now theyre going to go to jail. Al Jazeera America presents. Remarkable documentaries on the frozen waters of resolute bay, samson simeonie and tommy salluviniq are hunting seal. For hours on end, they take aim at seal breathing holes in the ice. If you move around too much theyre not going to come up. Theyre going to go somewhere. How long do you have to stay still for . Until a seal comes up. That could be a long time. Yeah. The inuit depend on hunting, and have adapted to the harsh environment that way for thousands of years. Theyre just curious animals. So, once he hears a noise he goes and checks it out, eh . Where there are no roads, little employment and the highest food costs in canada, seal hunting is more than a way of life. Its part of survival. For many inuit there is fear that all the changes could alter this landscape forever. Rich with untapped Natural Resources, nunavut is canadas largest territory. Among the 28 communities scattered across it, 85 percent of the residents are aboriginal inuit. In greenland you cannot go hunting by snowmobile, you have to use dogs. By law . Yes by law. Aaju peter is originally from greenland, but moved to nunavut more than 30 years ago. She spent most of that time trying to preserving inuit culture. We have the longest still living hunting culture in this world. You have seen the hunters going out on the ice to catch fish, seal or caribou. They bring that back and then they provide it free to the community. If we didnt have that we would be starving. With a resource boom on the horizon, aaju feels that inuit need to strike a delicate balance. You have to look at both. My granddaughter im sure, and even my children, could become possibly the wealthiest in canada, but so what . If we can not safegaurd it, if we can do it properly, we shouldnt do it. We cannot assume that foreigners and other International People are considering us or even our rights. Plans are underway for an Iron Ore Mining project in nunavut worth four billion dollars, its the largest in a long line of industries arriving here. This is an annual mining conference in iqaluit. Its where all the Companies Come to meet network and do business. Theres everyone here from well Helicopter Companies to diamond mines and as a sign of the times, this is the first year ever that the conference has reached its maximum capacity. Rising Commodity Prices and new land deals are persuading companies to look again at Mineral Deposits that were once too expensive to exploit on the frozen terrain. There is always the logistic issues, were far, were isolated, so lots of planning needs to be done to be sure we have everything on site. You said you have 700 people, do you know what percentage are inuit . About 35 percent of our employees that are inuit. Were not against development. But we hope inuit will benefit from development. Okalik eegeesiak is the president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association representing the people of canadas high arctic to the local and federal governments. It creates jobs, and creates business opportunities, and it will help with community infrastructure, hopefully with government investment. But its not yet clear what development in nunavut will look like, and who will reap the rewards. The cost of these local projects will be borne by the local people disproportionately, almost entirely and the benefits will accrue outside the territory. Thats always the case with mines. Political scientest frances abele, has worked with Indigenous Peoples all over canada for most of her career. Well its an old dream in canada that the following would happen. The federal government would encourage Natural Resource exploitation, that would in turn provide jobs for local people and then thered be full employment, and Northern Society would grow. Weve been trying execute that model since the 1950s. And. It doesnt work. This is not the arctics first resource boom. The legacy of colonization dates back to the 19th century when european ships braved these waters to hunt whales for oil to light europes capital cities. Missionaries, and fur traiders followed, and inuit life changed forever. After world war ii, Royal Canadian mounted Police Forced inuit to governmentcreated settlements and a federal Justice System was imposed. Aboriginal children were forced to attend infamous residential schools, where sexual abuse, disease and even death were common. The effects can still be felt today. Certainly the rapid social and economic changes over the last two generations have had a big effect. If you look at the suicide rate its many, many times the National Rate especially for young inuit men. So those things are a crises, theyre leading to more illness, theyre leading to psychological trauma. Resolutes hunters are drawing names to find out who will participate in this seasons polar bear hunt. Until recently, hunting rights like many other like many other parts of intuit life, were regulated by ottowa. In 1993, desperate for a say in their own future, the inuit of the norhwestern territories, signed a Land Agreement with ottowa. Nunavut was born. In return for a degree of selfgovernance the the community surrendered their aboriginal title to their lands. Under those agreements they have given up most of their land, but in compensation, for that, they received capp money. They received capital. And certain certain other provisions, such as the creation of nuvavut. The canadian government controls the lions share of nuvavut. 80 . And ottowa will receive the royalties and tax revenues, from any recource development that takes place on those lands or, on the sea bed. The government of nuvavut is stuggling. One of their big problems is that the federal government retains control of ground land. So the government of nuvavut does not have access to resource revenues. And right now, nunavut is strapped for cash. People here say that the federal government is not channeling enough revenue into the territory. Weve got the structures in place, but we still have societies to build. And everything from infrastructure, adequate housing to education and social services that are adequate to the needs of the population are missing. There is mention of this in the federal governments policies but its not where the attention is, and its not where the moneys going. While you were asleep news was happening. Here are the stories were following. Find out what happened and what to expect. International outrage. A day of political posturing. Every morning from 5 to 9 am Al Jazeera America brings you more us and global news than any other American News channel. Tell us exactly what is behind this story. From more sources around the world. The situation has intensified here at the border. Start every morning, every day 5am to 9 eastern. With Al Jazeera America. Al Jazeera America is a straightforward news channel. Its the most exciting thing to happen to american journalism in decades. We believe in digging deep. Its unbiased, factbased, indepth journalism. You give them the facts, dispense with the fluff and get straight to the point. Im on the ground every day finding stories that matter to you. In new orleans. Seattle bureau. Washington. Detroit. Chicago. Nashville. Los angeles. San francisco. Al Jazeera America, take a new look at news. Al jazeeras Investigative Unit has tonights exclusive report. From coast to coast. People selling fresh water for fracking. Stories that have impact. We lost lives. That make a difference. Senator, we were hoping we could ask you some questions about your legal problems. That open your world. It can be very dangerous. I hear gunshots. The bullet came right there through the widdow. It absolutely is a crisis. Real rep