The United States has successfully expanded its continental shelf boundaries, adding an additional one million square kilometers beneath the ocean. This massive claim is equivalent in size to two Californias, making America significantly larger than it was yesterday.
Mead Treadwell, former lieutenant governor of Alaska and chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission, explains that this expansion is not just about claiming new land, but also gaining control over subsurface resources like oil, gas, and minerals. The Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) allows countries to claim rights to the underground parking lot, extending beyond the typical 200-nautical-mile limit.
The U.S. began its quest for an ECS in 2003, requiring a massive data collection initiative that took twenty years to complete. On December 19, 2023, the State Department announced new geographical coordinates of the U.S. ECS, adding territory in the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, and Gulf of Mexico.
The claim involves the Arctic, east coast Atlantic, Bering Sea, west coast Pacific, Mariana Islands, and two regions in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists spent over three years charting new territory, using sonar mapping, geological sampling, and sediment layer analysis. The submission aligns with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which governs our planet’s oceans and seas.
The implications are multifaceted. The U.S. now has the right to control and potentially exploit resources in the expanded territory. However, this does not mean they can suddenly start fishing further off the coast or patrolling new water regions. It’s more like the U.S. government won the mineral rights to some underwater property.
The claim has been shaped carefully to avoid stepping on the toes of other nations, particularly Russia. Challenges persist, including the lack of a formal ratification of UNCLOS by the U.S. Senate and the need for robust scientific backing. The move also widens the U.S.’s jurisdiction to enforce environmental regulations effectively and protect fragile marine ecosystems.
As over 75 countries have already defined their ECS boundaries, it’s clear that the world is entering a new era of ocean governance. How this new territory will be used remains uncertain, but one thing is for sure: how we navigate these waters will affect not only our economy but also the health of our oceans, the climate, and our future.
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/us-added-over-one-million-square-kilometers-to-its-territory-ecs-unclos/