Just four years ago, the U.S. Navy released the 2014 U.S. Navy Arctic Roadmap - a policy position that was supposed to outline American objectives in the region through 2030.
But four years later, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson sat in front of a Congressional panel explaining why U.S. Arctic policy needed to be overhauled... completely.
What triggered this sudden revision?
"The Arctic triggered it," Richardson said.
And then Spencer added: "The damn thing melted."
Indeed, the amount of sea ice in the Arctic reached its lowest level in recorded history in 2016 (which was also the hottest year on record). Last year, 2017, ranked as the second hottest year on record, and 2015 ranks third.
The list goes on like that.
The six hottest years in history have all occurred since 2010 and 17 of the top 18 have occurred since 2001.
As the temperature rose, the Arctic melted, just as Navy Secretary Spencer noted.
And the damn thing's still melting.
In fact, it's accelerating, spurring something of a new Klondike gold rush.
Except this time around, it's not just gold. It's gold, oil, gas, diamonds, copper, iron, nickel, platinum, palladium, uranium, zinc, and rare earth metals.
All that ice is melting and, as it recedes, it's opened up a new "Eighth Continent" with vast riches.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that 30% of the world's untapped gas reserves (108 trillion cubic feet), 13% of its oil reserves (about 90 billion barrels), and $1 trillion in minerals rest in the Arctic region.
And EVERYBODY wants a piece of the pie.
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As I mentioned last week, Russia has been the most aggressive Arctic explorer.
Russia has reopened abandoned Soviet-era military installations and begun building new ones. It's added seaports and airfields. And its ships dominate the waters.
Secretary Spencer told the Senate that Russia is paving 12,000-foot runways and building up a military presence in the Arctic. This is under the guise of "search and rescue," he said, making air quotes.
Russia also has 40 icebreakers opening up new shipping lanes. The United States has just two. And fully two-thirds of the ships passing through the Northern Sea Route fly the Russian flag. Virtually all of them are transporting resources.
State-controlled oil company Rosneft is already drilling the northernmost rig in the Russian Arctic shelf, while Gazprom Neft pumps Arctic oil from the Pechora Sea.
China is in the mix, too.
China's new Arctic policy white paper envisions a "Polar Silk Road" that uses the Transpolar Sea Route across the very top of the Arctic, which will open in several decades as the ice disappears.
Of course, China isn't one of the eight countries with actual Arctic territory. It's technically just a "Near-Arctic State." But that's something it's seeking to change by expanding foreign direct investment in Arctic states, and strategically deploying scientific research.
In that way, China intends to use its growing political and economic clout to force its way in - something that seems inevitable.
Beyond that, the other six Arctic nations - Canada, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Finland - will have their say, too.
Thus, the rapid overhaul of the prematurely-outdated U.S. Arctic policy.
But now, let me tell you something else...
Investors have a chance to get in on the game, too.
As I said, the Arctic holds a vast amount of resource wealth. It's the last untapped continent on the planet. And with so many different players rushing to get their share, there's a huge opportunity for investors to do the same.
For example, we recently uncovered a tiny mining company that owns not just one but 12(!) of the Arctic's richest sites. Two of them are located directly inside the "Golden Triangle."
It's a huge find and the potential returns are more than promising.
You can check out our full report on that by clicking here.
Fight on,
Jason Simpkins
Jason Simpkins is Assistant Managing Editor of the Outsider Club and Investment Director of The Wealth Warrior, a financial advisory focused on security companies and defense contractors. For more on Jason, check out his editor's page.