In search of control: Arctic weather stations in the early Cold War (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Joint Arctic Weather Stations: Science and Sovereignty in the High Arctic, 1946-1972
University of Calgary Press, 2022
This is the first systematic account of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS), a collaborative science program between Canada and the United States that created a distinctive state presence in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago from 1946-1972. These five meteorological stations, constructed at Eureka, Resolute, Isachsen, Mould Bay, and Alert, became remote hubs for science and sovereignty, revealing the possibilities and limits of modernity in the High Arctic. Drawing on extensive archival evidence, unpublished personal memoirs, and interviews with former JAWS personnel, this book systematically analyzes the diplomatic, scientific, social, environmental, and civil-military dimensions of this binational program. From the corridors of power in Washington and Ottawa to everyday life at the small outposts, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations explores delicate statecraft, changing scientific practices, as well as the distinctive station cultures that emerged as humans coped with isolation in polar environments.
The northern review, 2023
Reviewed by Glenn Iceton During the onset of the Cold War, the Canadian and American governments engaged in a joint effort to establish weather stations in the High Arctic. Th ese developments occurred concurrently with increased American presence in the Canadian Arctic due to other military endeavours. With some exceptions, northern Canadian historiography examining this era has consequently been characterized by a focus on the American presence in the Arctic and associated sovereignty concerns on the part of the Canadian government. In Th e Joint Arctic Weather Stations, historians Daniel Heidt and P. Whitney Lackenbaur substantially broaden this scope of inquiry. While providing a nuanced analysis of sovereignty issues related to the establishment of Joint Arctic Weather Stations (JAWS)-and, in the process, challenging many previously-held assumptions-Heidt and Lackenbaur also provide numerous insights into the civilian components surrounding the establishment of the weather stations and the logistical challenges faced by planners and station personnel as they attempted to construct and maintain these stations in such harsh environments. Th is broad focus allows the authors to provide significant historiographical contributions not only to diplomatic history, but also to scientific and environmental history. The book is divided into nine chapters. Th e first four chapters are chronologically organized. Chapter 1 focuses on the lead-up to negotiations regarding the establishment of JAWS, setting the context of early meteorological and scientific research in the Canadian North as well as Canadian sovereignty concerns in the decades preceding the Cold War. Chapter 2 discusses the negotiations that ensued between Canada and the United States to allay the former's sovereignty concerns and pave the way for JAWS. The following two chapters discuss the logistics of establishing the first weather stations in the High Arctic and expanding the network of stations.
From the 1930s through the 1950s--the decades bracketing the second and third international polar years--research in the physical and biological environmental sciences of the Arctic increased dramatically. The heroic, expedition-based style of Arctic science, dominant in the first decades of the twentieth century, gave way to a systematic, long-term, strategic and largely state-funded model of research which increased both Arctic presence and the volume of research output. Factors that made this change possible were distinct for each of the five circumpolar nation-states considered here. For Soviet leaders, the Arctic was an untamed land containing vast economic resources, all within reach if its long-sought Northern Sea Route became reality; Soviet officials sought environmental knowledge of this region with a range of motivations from economic and strategic concerns to enhancing the prestige of socialism. In contrast, United States officials largely ignored the Arctic until the outbreak of World War II, when military commanders quickly grasped the strategic importance of this region. Anxious that the Arctic might become a literal battleground between East and West by 1947, as the Cold War began, Pentagon leaders funded vast northern research programs, including in strategically located Greenland. Canadian leaders--while appreciating the national security concerns of its powerful southern neighbor--were even more concerned with maintaining sovereignty over its northern territories and gaining knowledge to assist its northern economic ambitions. Norway and Sweden, as smaller states, faced distinct challenges. With strong claims to Arctic heritage but limited resources, leaders of these states sought to create independent research strategies while, especially in the case of Norway, protecting their geopolitical interests in relation to the Soviet Union and the U.S. This article provides the first internationally comparative study of the multiple economic, military, political, and strategic factors that motivated scientific activities and programs in the far north, from the interwar period through World War II and the Cold War, when carefully coordinated, station-based research programs were introduced. The production of knowledge about Arctic's physical environment--including its changing climate--had little resemblance either to ideas of science-based 'progress,' or responses to perceived environmental concerns. Instead, it demonstrates that strategic military, economic, geopolitical, and national security concerns influenced and shaped science undertakings in this region, including those of the International Polar Year of 1932-1933 and the following polar year, the International Geophysical Year of 1957-1958.
Journal of Historical Geography, 2014
From the 1930s through the 1950sdthe decades bracketing the second and third international polar yearsdresearch in the physical and biological environmental sciences of the Arctic increased dramatically. The heroic, expedition-based style of Arctic science, dominant in the first decades of the twentieth century, gave way to a systematic, long-term, strategic and largely statefunded model of research which increased both Arctic presence and the volume of research output. Factors that made this change possible were distinct for each of the five circumpolar nation-states considered here. For Soviet leaders, the Arctic was an untamed land containing vast economic resources, all within reach if its long-sought Northern Sea Route became reality; Soviet officials sought environmental knowledge of this region with a range of motivations from economic and strategic concerns to enhancing the prestige of socialism. In contrast, United States officials largely ignored the Arctic until the outbreak of World War II, when military commanders quickly grasped the strategic importance of this region. Anxious that the Arctic might become a literal battleground between East and West by 1947, as the Cold War began, Pentagon leaders funded vast northern research programs, including in strategically located Greenland. Canadian leadersdwhile appreciating the national security concerns of its powerful southern neighbordwere even more concerned with maintaining sovereignty over its northern territories and gaining knowledge to assist its northern economic ambitions. Norway and Sweden, as smaller states, faced distinct challenges. With strong claims to Arctic heritage but limited resources, leaders of these states sought to create independent research strategies while, especially in the case of Norway, protecting their geopolitical interests in relation to the Soviet Union and the U.S. This article provides the first internationally comparative study of the multiple economic, military, political, and strategic factors that motivated scientific activities and programs in the far north, from the interwar period through World War II and the Cold War, when carefully coordinated, station-based research programs were introduced. The production of knowledge about Arctic's physical environmentdincluding its changing climatedhad little resemblance either to ideas of science-based 'progress,' or responses to perceived environmental concerns. Instead, it demonstrates that strategic military, economic, geopolitical, and national security concerns influenced and shaped most science undertakings, including those of the International Polar Year of 1932e1933 and the following polar year, the International Geophysical Year of 1957e1958.
Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC), Kobe University, 2019
In the high North Atlantic, the dual impact of the Battle of the Atlantic, and America's defense of Greenland and Maritime Canada, would similarly bring modern state power into remote and traditional Inuit territories in Labrador, Baffin Island, and Greenland. Later, during the Cold War, the massive DEW (Distant Early Warning) Line Project and integration of the isolated Arctic coast into North America's air defense would have a similarly transformative impact, extending modern state power deeper into the homeland of the Inuit. Northwest Staging Route for lend-lease aircraft to the Eastern Front during World War II (top); Alaska Highway route (bottom, left); DEW Line, Mid-Canada Line, and Pine Tree Line radar systems (bottom, right).
Setting an Arctic Course: Task Force 80 and Canadian Control in the Arctic, 1948
Northern Mariner, 2011
nord de 1948, les auteurs examinent de façon critique les relations Canadien-Américaines dans l'Arctique au début de la guerre froide. Les données archivistiques indiquent que, plutôt que de sacrifier la souveraineté dans l'intérêt de la sécurité continentale, le gouvernement canadien a scruté et a surveillé les activités de défense américaines dans l'Arctique pour s'assurer qu'il maintienne un niveau de contrôle approprié. Il y avait des inadvertances, des caprices et des malentendus de part et d'autre, mais les officiels ont compris des leçons importantes de la mission de 1948 qui ont été appliquées aux activités ultérieures de réapprovisionnement, prenant le cap vers un rapport opérationnel de plus en plus fonctionnel. On the afternoon of 30 July 1948, the icebreakers United States Ship (USS) Edisto and United States Coast Guard Ship (USCG) Eastwind left the anchorage at Thule, Greenland and set a course for the coast of Ellesmere Island. Along with a third vessel, the cargo ship USS Wyandot, which was on its way to Resolute Bay, the little group was called Task Force 80. Its mission seemed straightforward: resupply the joint Arctic weather stations set up the previous summer and establish a new one on the northern tip of Ellesmere. 2 The voyage, however, proved anything but simple. By the next morning the ships were cautiously picking their way through loose and scattered floe ice. Their helicopters scouted for the best routes, but by evening the two icebreakers ran into thick pack ice as they neared central Kane Basin. Their progress 1 Thanks to Daniel Heidt for sharing research material and for commenting on an earlier draft of this article. This research was supported by SSHRC graduate fellowships, a Fulbright fellowship at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., a St. Jerome's University internal faculty research grant, and an ArcticNet grant on the evolving Arctic security environment. 2 Edisto and Eastwind were two of seven ships built for the U.S. government at San Pedro, California by Western Pipe and Steel Company, which became known as the Northwind Class. Edisto and Burton Island were operated by the USN, and Northwind and Eastwind by the USCG. Captain F.A. Germain, DOT, to
Exploring Greenland: Science and Technology in Cold War Settings
Scientia Canadensis: Canadian Journal of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, 2010
This paper explores a vacant spot in the Cold War history of science: the development of research activities in the physical environmental sciences and in nuclear science and technology in Greenland. In the post-war period, scientific exploration of the polar areas became a strategically important element in American and Soviet defence policy. Particularly geophysical fields like meteorology, geology, seismology, oceanography, and others profited greatly from military interest. While Denmark maintained formal sovereignty over Greenland, research activities were strongly dominated by U.S. military interests. This paper sets out to summarize the limited current state of knowledge about activities in the environmental physical sciences in Greenland and their entanglement with military, geopolitical, and colonial interests of both the USA and Denmark. We describe geophysical research in the Cold War in Greenland as a multidimensional colonial endeavour. In a period of decolonization aft...
NATO in The Very Cold War: Why the US Needs Nato in the Arctic
Jurnal Sentris
Global warming and climate change resulting in the melting of sea ice within the Arctic have subsequently opened the possibility to explore and exploit the region. Previously seen as simply a region full of ice, the Arctic is believed to possess abundant natural resources, with an estimated 13% of undiscovered oil, 30% of natural gas resources in the world, as well as the opening of a new sea route which will be able to serve as a shortcut for countries to exchange goods - attracting states to pay closer attention to the region, be it militarily, politically, or economically, the United States being one of them. The increase in presence and power among Arctic and non-Arctic countries, especially Russia and China, has inarguably created a state of security dilemma among all parties involved, which is why if the US would like to seek a larger presence within the region, it becomes important for the country to involve NATO as one of its key partners, despite issues concerning the count...
Exploring Ice and Snow in the Cold War
Ice and Snow in the Cold War, 2018
In 1962 the American missile and aircraft manufacturer Martin Marietta published an advertisement promoting Antarctica’s fi rst nuclear power plant. Th is small reactor was designed to supply power for approximately one thousand scientists at the US Antarctic Station McMurdo and support a comfortable modern lifestyle that expelled every last trace of the hostile Antarctic environment outside: “Last night in Antarctica, nuclear power lit the bulb, heated the room, fried the eggs, boiled the coff ee, kept the scientifi c instruments running, burned the toast.”1 Small nuclear power plants for ships, submarines, or polar stations are typical components of Cold War–driven approaches to building military infrastructures in remote and oft en extreme environments around the globe.2 Th e hubris of employing technology to overcome obstacles of ice and snow on a global scale, and becoming independent of seasonal weather and climate, is characteristic of the dominant attitude toward nature duri...