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General: Alaska’s strategic importance magnified as Arctic ice opens

By The Watch
For many years, scientists have expected that climate change will be more rapid and dramatic at the poles than at lower latitudes, an expectation that has been demonstrated both with climate models and recent observations of snow and ice, surface temperatures, vegetation, and permafrost. The major reason for this of climate change is because snow and ice aren't just the result of a cold climate, they also help create it. The path by which snow and ice influence the climate is obvious in this detailed, photo-like image of Arctic sea ice, captured on June 16, 2001, by NASA's Landsat-7 satellite. Sea ice is spread across the nearly black backdrop of the Arctic Ocean in a broken mosaic. Large blocks of ice swirl against finely crushed ice that looks almost like foam. The dark ocean surfaces absorb incoming sunlight, while sea ice reflects it. A cooling climate increases snow and ice, which increases solar reflection, leading to more cooling. Warming climates cause snow and ice to melt, which increases solar absorption, leading to more warming. Steady declines in Arctic sea ice over previous decades -- and especially rapid declines since around 2000 -- caused Seiji Kato, an atmospheric scientist affiliated with NASA's Langley Research Center through Hampton University, to wonder whether the recent losses were already dramatic enough to have changed the percent of incoming sunlight the Earth reflects back to space. This planetary ''vital sign'' is known as Earth's To answer the question, Kato and several teammates compared a suite of NASA and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) satellite observations of reflected sunlight, clouds, and sea ice and snow cover at polar latitudes from 2000-2004. What they found was a bit of a surprise: while snow and ice in the Arctic declined, the albedo didn't change. To read more about the team's investigation, read the Earth Observatory feature story earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Study/ArcticRefle

THE WATCH STAFF

U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Krumm

If a reminder is needed of Alaska’s strategic importance for the security of the Arctic and North America, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. David Krumm offers two helpful axioms:

  • “It’s all about location, location, location.”
  • “Tracers work both ways.”

One applies to business and real estate; the other references luminescent military ammunition — “tracers.”

Of the first axiom, Krumm, commander of the Alaska Region of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and Alaskan Command, said he can get to anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere from Alaska in less than nine hours. And just 55 miles of water or ice separate Alaska from the Russian coast at its nearest point.

“Alaska is what makes America an Arctic nation,” Krumm said.

“I’ve had people from (U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) come here … and I remind them that I can get to Seoul and I can get to Tokyo faster from here than they can from Hawaii,” Krumm said during a September 16 Arctic eTalk on U.S. Arctic security titled, “Defending the Northern Approaches.”

The Arctic eTalks are a monthly online forum co-hosted in part by U.S. Northern Command, its commander’s magazine, The Watch, and the Center for Arctic Security and Resilience.

Of the second axiom, Krumm said: “And what does that mean? That means not only do we have the ability to … deploy forces anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere very quickly (from) Alaska. It also means that an avenue of approach back to Alaska comes through the Arctic. … The closest point to threaten or put at risk North America is through Alaska as well.”

Those geographic factors have been amplified by climate change and the resulting reduction of Arctic sea ice, which has opened shipping lanes and increased maritime traffic. Krumm displayed satellite photos of the Arctic ice in 1979 and 2020 that showed the changes in stark relief. (Pictured: A satellite view shows Arctic sea ice in 2001.) The ice thaw has also led to greater access to natural resources such as oil and natural gas, minerals and fisheries.

“What’s happening is the Arctic is warming, now it’s not exact, but (at) about twice the rate of the rest of the world,” Krumm said, “and that is having profound changes in the environment up here.”

Another profound change: Even non-Arctic nations — China, for example — are looking at the region’s natural resources with envy.

Beyond the commercial and economic challenges, potential adversaries such as China and Arctic nation Russia are investing in missile technology that’s no longer constrained by a natural Arctic buffer. As a result, Krumm said, they are moving forces into the high Arctic for longer periods with plans for infrastructure that would allow them a year-round presence. Russia, for example, has the largest permanent military presence in the Arctic, according to a July 21, 2020, story from Department of Defense News.

So how best to defend North America and U.S. interests in the Arctic?

Krumm, in a September 15, 2021, column for the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service, wrote: “To do so means a resilient, persistent presence and the ability to operate from both main operating bases and more austere locations across Alaska. This is known as Agile Combat Employment (ACE).”

Krumm pointed out that an ACE example took place in May 2021 during the Operation Noble Defender exercise when U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors were deployed to the tiny community of King Salmon, Alaska. The Air Force’s Arctic Strategy, released in 2020, lists four lines of effort that include vigilance, power projection, cooperation and preparation.

That cooperation includes U.S. allies, and Krumm said the relationship with one of them is paramount.

“The Alliance that we have, Canada, I think it’s unmatched,” he said of the U.S. partner in NORAD.

“I think Canada understands that information is important,” Krumm said. “We get that with domain awareness, we get that by having the right sensor network that’s connected and we’ve got to share it. … What I’d love to see is even more infrastructure placed along the Northern tier that we can integrate and work together.”

IMAGE CREDIT: NASA

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