Campaigners Drop North Pole Flag Beneath Ice to Halt Arctic 'Cold Rush'

In 2007, a Russian submarine planted a flag on the seabed of the North Pole. Located 13,980 feet below the surface of the ice, the flag was dropped in an effort to support Russia's claims to any oil or mineral resources found in the area. Now, activists are fighting back. Four campaigners, backed by Greenpeace, have dropped their own flag and capsule in the same area in a demonstration to ward off any development near the northern reaches of our planet.

As climate change continues to open up the reaches of the Arctic, more countries are setting their eyes on a region where oil and gas reserves have been completely untouched by humans. Already, the oil and gas company, Shell, has started its exploration in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas (though it has abandoned drilling until 2014). It's estimated that the Arctic holds 15 percent of the world's undiscovered oil and 30 percent of undiscovered gas--that makes a tempting target for any entrepreneur.

Yet there are issues with potential drilling. Since the location is so remote and because the environment has remained relatively untouched, an oil spill or other disaster could be devastating for the Arctic ecosystem. According to the World Wildlife Fund, there is currently no effective method for containing or cleaning up an oil spill in ice conditions, which makes oil and gas exploration all the more dangerous. Because of this, many environmental groups have spoken out against drilling and development in Arctic regions.

"We're here to say this special area of the Arctic belongs to no person or nation, but is the common heritage of everyone on Earth," said Josefina Skerk, an indigenous activist and Sami parliament member is Sweden, in an interview with The Guardian. "We're asking that this area be declared a global sanctuary, off-limits to oil companies and politic posturing."

The capsule and flag dropped by the activists contained nearly 3 million signatures asking for the region to be off-limits to exploitation. Whether or not this will have an impact on development is another matter entirely.