Globalization, Natural Resources and Borders

C H A P T E R

2 Globalization, Natural Resources and Borders Abstract To have a better understanding of various natural resources, we need to investigate the mechanisms under which the earth works. The internal structure of the earth, the distribution of the various natural resources thereof and the natural borders of existing nations are correlated with each other. More precisely, the various tectonic plates of the earth are the key by which to understand various environmental influences on the natural and even political systems of the world as a whole. Throughout history many borders have been formed naturally. And, thanks to their natural advantages of separating peoples and regimes, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, bays and straits have been usually selected as international borders. However, the ongoing climate change and the sea-level change stemming from it are all gradually changing existing coastal and maritime boundaries of the world, all of which will pose challenges to cross-border resource exploitation and management. Keywords: Border; globalization; earth; tectonic plate; topography; natural resource; sea-level change; border change

2.1 GLOBALIZATION AND RESOURCES 2.1.1 Earth Is Becoming Smaller Globalization
an increasingly driving force behind the vibrant economies throughout the world since the last decades of the 20th century
is shaping a new era of interactions among various political, cultural and economic groups. As a result, it is increasing the contacts between people across various boundaries
geographical, political and cultural. When people say that ‘the world is becoming smaller every day’, they are referring not only to the increased speed and ease of transportation and communications but also to the increased use of international and intercultural market to buy and sell goods. Today, the

Cross-Border Resource Management. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64002-4.00002-7

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© 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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2. GLOBALIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS

interactions among people with different national and cultural identities are deeper than ever before. There is no doubt about the increasing awareness of the importance of cross-border transactions in our daily life. When people say that ‘the world is becoming smaller every day’, it is referred not only to the increased speed and ease of transportation and communications but also to the use of the expanded international and cross-border market to buy and sell goods. The overall heightened presence of foreign goods, foreign producers and even foreign-owned assets causes many to question the impact and desirability of all international and cross-border transactions. An increasing number of companies are now relying on production chains that straddle many politically distinctive areas. Raw materials and components may come from different linguistic or religious areas and be assembled in another, while marketing and distribution take place in still other venues. Consumers’ decisions in, for example, New York or Shanghai may become information that has an almost immediate impact on the products that are being made
and the styles that influence them
all over the world. At pre-modern times the spatial spread of ideas and technology could have been a much difficult job than it is today. Inter-continent journeys, which now only need a few hours via air, would have taken several months before airplanes were invented in the 20th century.

TABLE 2.1 Declining Costs of Transportation and Communication

Year

Average ocean freight and port charges per ton (US$)

Telephone call (3 min, New York/London) (US$)

Computers (index, 1990 5 100)

1920

95







1930

60

245




1940

63

189




1950

34

53




1960

27

46

12,500

1970

27

32

1947

1980

24

5

362

1990

29

3

100




,1

50b

a

2000 a

Calculated by the author. Based on the data estimated by Kanamori and Motohashi (2007) for Japan and Korea. Source: From IMF. (1997). World economic outlook. Washington, DC: The International Monetary Fund (IMF), except those that are noted otherwise. b

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25

Now, the various advances in communication technologies have made it possible for decision-makers to know in an instant what is happening in a household or factory or on a stock market half a world away. At the same time, thanks to the continuing improvements in transportation technology and information technology (IT), the costs of shipping goods by water, ground and air have dropped sharply. As a result, the specialization of labour increases. What is more important, the improvement in IT has made it easier to manage new interconnections worldwide it was than before. Among them is the Internet, the fastest growing tool of communication. The Internet has provided a new means of commerce, with significant speed and cost advantages. Economic globalization has increasingly benefited from the declining costs of transportation and communication (Table 2.1).

2.1.2 Demand for Resources In the past, the demand for natural resources has usually been known to be correlated with economic growth. In fact, there are more factors at play than simple economics. Factors such as population change and its structural change, income growth, environmental change, advances in technology and price pressures all have a part to play in the demands for natural resources. At present, urban population is increasing at a much higher rate than it was before, thus creating tremendous stress on the environments and natural resources at both local and global levels. As of the early 21st century, over half of humanity has lived in cities and this proportion was expected to increase to about 60% by the year 2050 (Yeh & Huang, 2011, pp. 355
371). In summary, urbanization is now changing the traditional way humans consume natural resources. At present, most natural resources are commonly accepted as being scarce throughout the world. They not only include oil, natural gas, food and forests; water and air are also increasingly becoming scarce resources. To some extent, however, resource scarcity is contextually subjective. This is largely determined by the diversity and inequality of the world. For example, in wealthier places in which people can afford to pay premium prices for resources that may not be in plentiful supply, the shortage is not likely to be felt as severely as in economically deprived locations. Over the course of the past decades, the demand for various natural resources has been growing sharply. Let us have a simple comparison of the elements in an electrical device of the mid-20th century and those in a present-day phone. The phones of the 1960s and 1970s contained just nine metals for the frame, conductors, magnets, springs and contacts,

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FIGURE 2.1 The elements in electrical devices of the mid-20th century and in presentday phones. Notes: (1) In the periodic table critical materials are coloured red, other materials used in the product are darker yellow. (2) Abbreviations (only for the elements selected): Ag, Silver; Al, Aluminium; Am, Americium; As, Arsenic; Au, Gold; Ba, Barium; Be, Beryllium; Bi, Bismuth; Br, Bromine; C, Carbon; Ca, Calcium; Cl, Chlorine; Co, Cobalt; Cr, Chromium; Cs, Caesium; Cu, Copper; Er, Erbium; F, Fluorine; Fe, Iron; Ga, Gallium; Gd, Gadolinium; Ge, Germanium; H, Hydrogen; Hf, Hafnium; I, Iodine; In, Indium; Ir, Iridium; K, Potassium; Li, Lithium; Mg, Magnesium; Mn, Manganese; N, Nitrogen; Na, Sodium; Nd, Neodymium; Ni, Nickel; O, Oxygen; P, Phosphorus; Pb, Lead; Pd, Palladium; Pt, Platinum; Rb, Rubidium; S, Sulphur; Sb, Antimony; Sc, Scandium; Se, Selenium; Si, Silicon; Sn, Tin; Sr, Strontium; Ti, Titanium; Tl, Thallium; Tm, Thulium; V, Vanadium; W, Tungsten; Y, Yttrium; Zn, Zinc and Zr, Zirconium. Source: From Ashby, M. F. (2015). Materials and sustainable development. Waltham, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann, p. 14, with author’s revisions.

plus the carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen of the plastic casing (Fig. 2.1). Smart phones of today, however, contain at least 53 elements of which 21 (all coloured red in Fig. 2.1) are listed as ‘critical’. (The elements are based those in iPhone as identified in a Sheffield Hallam University study (Ashby, 2015, p. 13).) They are as follows: Americium (Am), Antimony (Sb), Barium (Ba), Beryllium (Be), Cobalt (Co), Erbium (Er), Gadolinium (Gd), Gallium (Ga), Germanium (Ge), Gold (Au), Indium (In), Iridium (Ir), Lithium (Li), Neodymium (Nd), Palladium (Pd), Platinum (Pt), Scandium (Sc), Thallium (Tl), Thulium (Tm), Tungsten (W) and Yttrium (Y).

The same is true of almost all consumer electronics, of communication systems and transport and (above all) of defence and securityrelated equipment. For example, the Space Shuttle
a partially reusable low earth orbital spacecraft system operated by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
was officially called Space Transportation System. It was launched in the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in 1969. The first of four orbital test flights occurred in 1981, leading to operational flights beginning in 1982. Five complete Shuttle systems were built and used on a total of over 100 missions from 1981 to 2011. Compared with other airplanes, the Space Shuttle is much more complicated:

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The Space Shuttle is composed of three major components when configured for launch; the Shuttle, solid rocket boosters, and external tank (ET). The harsh conditions to which the Space Shuttles are exposed during flight required the development and use of many unique materials. These materials were specially designed to withstand extreme temperatures, in some cases over 1600 C, while other material must withstand the cryogenic conditions of 2253 C, and others must operate while under extreme loads. All of these materials must not only operate in the harsh condition but they must be light weight as well. The different heat shields of the Shuttle make up the thermal protection system (TPS); this system consists of many different types of components designed to operate on various parts of the vehicle. The body of the Shuttle and ET are composed mainly of aluminum alloy and graphite epoxy. The TPS consists of reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) used on the wing leading edges and nose cap areas while the upper forward fuselage areas, the entire underside of the Shuttle, the Orbiter maneuvering system, and reaction control system utilize blacc high temperature reusable surface insulation (HRSI) tiles. Cited from Kim (2008)

2.2 A STORY ABOUT EARTH 2.2.1 Some Basic Facts According to the famous Big Bang theory, the Universe started about 13.8 billion years ago. It was originally in an extremely hot and dense state and began expanding rapidly thereafter (Planck Collaboration, 2014). About 380,000 years later, the Universe cooled, which allowed protons and electrons to combine and form hydrogen and eventually allowed photons to travel freely through space (Turner, 2009). (A more detailed narrative can be found in the work of Silk (2000, pp. 105
308).) Earth formed about 4.54 billion years ago. This is estimated based on radiometric dating and other sources of evidence (see, e.g., Dalrymple, 2001; Manhesa, Alle`gre, Dupre´a & Hamelin, 1980). Earth interacts with other objects (especially the sun and the moon) in space. Moving around the sun, earth creates about 365.26 solar days. Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted about 23.4 away from the perpendicular of its orbital plane, which thus produces seasonal variations on its surface within a period of one tropical year of about 365.24 solar days (Yoder, 1995, p. 8), which is slightly shorter than one sidereal year. On the other hand, given its proximity to earth, the moon has a larger fraction of gravity to earth than any other planets do. As a result, when moon moves earth, the water of the oceans on earth bulges out towards and away from it accordingly. Without good reason, the usual tidal bulge can slow the rotation of earth. Even though this process does not behave significant, the mean solar day, which is nominally 86,400 s long (McCarthy, 2008), was actually shorter. This kind of mechanism has been working since oceans were formed on earth billions of years ago.

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Scientists have found geological and palaeontological evidence that supports the view that earth rotated faster and that the moon was closer to earth in the past than at present: About 620 million years ago, the day was about 21.9 6 0.4 h, and there were 13.1 6 0.1 synodic months per year and 400 6 7 solar days per year (Williams, 2000). In general, earth’s lithosphere is composed of several rigid tectonic plates that migrate across the surface over the period of millions of years. At present, about 70% of earth’s surface is covered with sea water; while the remaining is land mass that consists of continents, islands, lakes, rivers and other sources of water. Inside earth are an active solid iron inner core, a liquid outer core that generates earth’s magnetic field and a connecting mantle that drives plate tectonics. As a matter of fact, earth is made up of three main layers: crust, mantle and core (Fig. 2.2), which can be compared to a boiled egg. The crust, earth’s outermost layer, is rigid and very thin. The thickness of the crust beneath continents is much more variable; under large mountain ranges, such as the Alps or the Himalaya, however, the crust can be as much deeper than elsewhere. Below the crust is the mantle, a dense, hot layer of semi-solid rock. The mantle contains more iron, magnesium and calcium than the crust. One can still compare the mantle as the white of a boiled egg. At the centre of earth lies the core, which is much denser than the mantle.

FIGURE 2.2 A cutaway diagram of earth’s internal structure. Source: http://pubs.usgs. gov/gip/dynamic/inside.html.

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2.2 A STORY ABOUT EARTH

TABLE 2.2

29

Data on Earth’s Interior Density (g/cm3)

Internal structure

Depth (km)

Top

Bottom

Types of rock found

Crust

0
35

2.2

2.9

Silicic rocks. Andesite, basalt at base.

Upper mantle

35
60

3.4

4.4

Peridotite, eclogite, spinel, garnet, pyroxene. Perovskite, oxides.

Lower mantle

60
2890

4.4

5.6

Magnesium and silicon oxides.

Outer core

2890
5100

9.9

12.2

Iron 1 oxygen, sulphur, nickel alloy.

Inner core

5100
6378

12.8

13.1

Iron 1 oxygen, sulphur, nickel alloy.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/interior/ Accessed 28.11.16.

Earth’s core includes two distinct parts: a 2200 km-thick liquid outer core and a 1250 km-thick solid inner core. Earth’s interior can be divided into layers by their chemical or physical properties (Table 2.2). The outer layer (crust) is of chemically distinct silicate solid. The crust and the upper mantle are collectively known as the lithosphere, and it is the latter that sets the foundations for earth’s tectonic plates (see, e.g., Ahrens, 1995).

2.2.2 Earth’s Tectonic Plates There are seven or eight (depending on how scientists define them) major plates and many minor plates on earth’s lithosphere. Where the plates meet, their relative motion determines the type of boundaries. Broadly speaking, different types of plate boundaries exist, and, sometimes, a mixed type, characterized by the way the plates move relative to each other, is considered (Meissner, 2002, p. 202). In brief, the three types of plate boundaries are conservative/transform plate boundary, constructive/divergent plate boundary and destructive/convergent plate boundary (Fig. 2.3): 1. Wherever two lithospheric plates slide (or more accurately, grind past each other along transform faults), a transform (conservative) boundary occurs (see Fig. 2.3A). These plates are neither created nor destroyed by this kind of tectonic motion. The motion of the two plates is either sinistral (left side towards the observer) or dextral (right side towards the observer). Strong earthquakes can be induced by transform (conservative) boundaries. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a transform boundary exhibiting dextral

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FIGURE 2.3 The three types of plate boundaries. Source: From Domdomegg, 20 August 2016; with the text being added by author.

motion, which has had some notable earthquakes in historic times, including Fort Tejon earthquake (in 1857, with a Richter magnitude scale, or RMS, of about 7.9), San Francisco earthquakes (in 1906, with a RMS of 7.8; and in 1957, with a RMS of 5.7), Loma Prieta earthquake (in 1989, with a RMS of about 6.9), Parkfield earthquake (in 2004, with a RMS of 6.0) and Ferndale earthquake (in 2016, with a RMS of 6.5). (Data source: Author based on miscellaneous news clippings.) 2. Divergent (constructive) boundaries usually occur where two tectonic plates move apart from each other (see Fig. 2.3B). Because earth’s crust is very thin at the ridges of oceans due to the pull of the tectonic plates, the release of pressure leads to adiabatic expansion and the partial melting of the mantle, causing volcanism and creating new oceanic crust. Most divergent plate boundaries are located at the bottom of the oceans; therefore, most volcanic activity is submarine, forming new seafloor. Where the mid-oceanic ridge is above sea level, volcanic islands are usually formed (e.g., Iceland is a typical case of this situation). 3. Convergent (destructive) boundaries usually occur where two plates slide towards each other, thus forming a subduction zone, that is

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31

case that one plate moves underneath the other, or vice versa (see Fig. 2.3C). Subduction zones are places where two plates
usually an oceanic plate and a continental plate
collide. In this case, the oceanic plate subducts, or submerges, under the continental plate, thus forming a deep ocean trench just offshore. In a process called flux melting, water released from the subducting plate lowers the melting temperature of the overlying mantle wedge, creating magma. When the magma reaches the surface, a volcano is formed. Typical examples of this kind of volcano are Mt. Etna and the volcanoes in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain-building and oceanic trench formation occur along earth’s plate boundaries. The relative movement of these tectonic plates usually ranges from 0 to 100 mm on a year-to-year base (Read & Watson, 1975, pp. 13
15). (See Scalera and Lavecchia, 2006, for a more detailed description of the consequences resulting from inter-plate dynamics.)

2.2.3 Earth’s Varied Topography Without good reason, different topographies can be formed between different tectonic plates. Specifically, lakes can usually be easily formed along most transform (conservative) boundaries, while divergent (constructive) plate boundaries between continental plates usually create upland rift valleys. Nevertheless, convergent (destructive) boundaries between continental plates usually create uplands (including mountains and ranges) from which various rivers usually run towards lakes and seas. It should be noted that all these are not mandate since most of the surface shapes and features of the earth were formed quite a long time ago and, during the past period of time, there have been other forms of natural and geological changes, all contributing to the current topography of the earth. However, one thing is certain: Had not been these tectonic plates and their different forms of boundary conditions, the earth should not have so many mountains, rivers, lakes or seas as they are today. Indeed, given the large amount of water that the earth carries, the earth with a flat surface should be bad news to us. Imagine how could a human civilization, if it still exists, work on a flat and water-surrounded earth? Over the course of the past billions of years, the motion of tectonic plates has been reconfiguring earth’s lands and oceans, thus generating a varied topography. This has affected, at both global and local levels, the patterns of climate change. In addition, geologic evidence has suggested a ‘mega-monsoonal’ circulation pattern during the time of the

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2. GLOBALIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS

supercontinent Pangaea, showing that the existence of the supercontinent was conducive to the establishment of monsoons. The size of each continent is also important. Specifically, compared with smaller continents or islands, a larger supercontinent usually has larger spaces in which climate is strongly seasonal (see, e.g., Bruckschen, Oesmanna, and Veizer, 1999; Forest, Wolfe, Molnar, and Emanuel, 1999 and Parrish, 1993 for more details). See Section 9.1.1 for a more detailed description of the earth’s varied climate zones.

2.3 TOPOGRAPHY AND BORDERS Throughout history, many borders have been formed naturally. Thanks to their natural advantages of separating human activities or natural features, mountains, rivers, lakes, seas, bays and straits have been usually adopted by territorial rulers to serve as political borders. After a brief look at the world map, we may simply find that many mountains, rivers, lakes, bays/gulfs and straits/channels have still served as international borders.

2.3.1 Mountains as Borders If a mountain exists between adjacent countries, it has often been served as a natural border between them. Mountains, when serving as military borders, usually have the advantages of being easy to defend but difficult to attack, while they have economic disadvantages for the countries or regions to develop cross-border exchange and cooperation due to the geographic barriers. A detailed description of mountain boundaries is needed. In general, a waterparting (or watershed in the UK usage) is by no means a barrier, or along a line of a hill or mountain, or even invisible. Its chief advantages as a political boundary are that it is precise, and that it separates drainage basins that, for many economic purposes, are best treated as units under a single government. Many mountains have been used to serve as political borders in the world. For example, Switzerland, Italy and France jointly use the Alps to separate their territories; Argentina shares the southern Andes range with Chile along the Pacific Ocean; the Himalayas separates India, Nepal, Bhutan and China; the Pyrenees lies between Spain and France; and the common land border of Malaysia and Indonesia includes Upper Kapuas Mts and Iran Mts in Kalimantan. Other mountains serving as international borders include the following: • Belukha, Gol’tsy (4506 m): Kazakhstan
Russia • Blanc, mont (4807 m): France
Italy CROSS-BORDER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

2.3 TOPOGRAPHY AND BORDERS

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

33

Elgon, Mt. (4321 m): Kenya
Uganda Changbai-shan/Paektu-san (2744 m): China
North Korea Everest, Mt. (8848 m): China
Nepal Fairweather, Mt. (4663 m): Alaska
Canada Gasherbrum (8068 m): China
Pakistan Haltiatunturi (1328 m): Finland
Norway K2 (Godwin Austen) (8611 m): China
Pakistan Kamet (7756 m): China
India Kanchenjunga (8598 m): India
Nepal Karisimbi, Volcan (4507 m): Rwanda
D. R. Congo Korab (2751 m): Albania
Macedonia Llullaillaco, Volcan (6723 m): Argentina
Chile Makalu (8481 m): China
Nepal Margherita, Pk. (5109 m): D. R. Congo
Uganda Matterhorn (4478 m): Italy
Switzerland Neblina, Pico da (3014 m): Brazil
Venezuela Ojos del Salado, Nevado (6893 m): Argentina
Chile Pobedy, pik (7439 m): China
Russia Rosa, Monte (4634 m): Italy
Switzerland St. Elias, Mt. (6542 m): US
Canada Tupungato, Portezuelo de (6800 m): Argentina
Chile Zugspitze (2962 m): Austria
Germany. (The figures within parentheses are the heights (in metres) of these mountains (data source: World Atlas, 1994).)

2.3.2 Rivers as Borders Because rivers have distinctive extensions and that they are cadastral or property boundaries, the adoption of a river as an international boundary may have some advantages in respect to local government and the operation of farms, mines or other properties. When demarcating a border along a river between two political units, it has been commonly suggested that the possible borderline may be set as the following (Jones, 1943, pp. 106
108): • the middle or median (i.e., a line every point of which is equidistant from the nearest points on opposite shores at mean water or other specified stage), • the channel (if there is more than one channel, the main or principal channel might be the one used, the deepest, the widest or the one carrying most water), • the thalweg (it is usually defined as the line of continuously deepest soundings in a river),

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2. GLOBALIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS

• a bank, • an arbitrary line between turning points. Many rivers have been used to mark existing international borders. The Oder River flows between Germany and Poland. Bulgaria, Romania, Yugoslavia, Czech Republic and Hungary meet at the Danube. The Rio Grande River is the border between the United States and Mexico. The Amur (known as Heilong-jiang in China), the Ussuri and Argum rivers divide three sections of the Sino
Russian border. Other major rivers running between nations and thus serving as international borders include the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Abuna: Brazil
Bolivia Amu Darya: Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Afghanistan
Tajkistan Amur: China
Russia Arauca: Venezuela
Colombia Argun: China
Russia Cassai: Angola
D. R. Congo Congo: Congo
D. R. Congo Courantvne: Guyana
Surirame Cuando: Angola
Zambia Cuango: Angola
D. R. Congo Danube: Hungary
Slovakia; Bulgaria
Romania
Yugoslavinia Douro: Spain
Portugal Drava: Hungary
Croatia Drina: Yugoslavia
Bosnia and Herzegovinia Faleme: Senegal
Mali Gavalla: Liberia
Cote d’lvoire Guapore: Brazil
Bolivia Javari: Peru
Brazil Lainoalven: Sweden
Finland Limpopo: South Africa
Botswana Logone: Chad
Cameroon Maroni: Brazil
French Guiania Mekong (Lancang): China
Myanmar
Laos
Thailand Meta: Venezuela
Colombia Mloomou: D. R. Congo
Central African Republic Niger: Niger
Benin Oder: Germany
Poland Okavango: Angola
Namibia Orange: Namibia
South Africa
Lesotho Oued Drad: Morocco
Algeria Oyapock: Brazil
French Guiania Prut: Moldova
Romania
Ukraine Pupumayo: Peru
Colombia
Ecuador

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2.3 TOPOGRAPHY AND BORDERS

• • • • • • • • • • • •

35

Rhine: France
Germany
Switzerland Rio Grande: US
Mexico Rio Orinoco: Venezuela
Colombia Rio Paraguay: Brazil
Paraguay
Argentina Rio Uruguay: Uruguay
Argentina
Brazil Ruvuma: Tanzania
Mozambique Sava: Croatia
Bosnia and Herzegovinia Tumen: China
North Korea
Russia Ubangi: D. R. Congo
Congo Ussuri: China
Russia Yalu: China
North Korea Zambezi: Namibia
Zambia
Zimbabwe.

Even inside an independent country there still are administrative borders that can be identified by rivers. For example, under topographical influence, Brazil is administratively divided by many internal rivers between the Atlantic Ocean and the Andes. In ancient China, the Yellow River was used to separate the provinces of Henan (meaning: ‘south river’) and Hebei (meaning: ‘north river’). Table 2.3 shows various rivers used by the United States in as its inter-state borders.

TABLE 2.3 River

The Principal Rivers as Inter-state Borders, USA Length (mile) a

State
state

Colorado

1450

California
Arizona
Nevada

Columbia

1200

Washington
Oregon

Connecticut

407

Vermont
New Hampshire

Delaware

301

New York
Pennsylvania
New Jersey b

Mississippi

2348

Illinois
Missouri
Kentucky; Missouri
Tennessee
Arkansas
Mississippi
Louisiana

Missouri

1392b

South Dakota
Nebraska
Iowa; Missouri
Nebraska
Kansas

Ohio

981

Illinois
Kentucky
Indiana; Kentucky
Ohio
West Virginia

Red

1270

Texas
Oklahoma

Savannah

301

South Carolina
Georgia

Snake

1078

Oregon
Idaho

Wabash

503

Indiana
Illinois
Kentucky

a

A section of the river is located in Mexico. The total length of entire Mississippi
Missouri is 3740 miles. Source: World Atlas. (1994). World Atlas. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, compiled by author. b

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2.3.3 Lakes/Seas as Borders Characterized by clear segregations and convenient for shipping, lakes are also regarded as suitable natural screens in which political borders may be established between adjacent regimes. A border along a shallow lake may follow the middle of the navigable channel, if the latter exists. In deeper lakes or shallow lakes without navigable channels, a median line may be defined as that for a river (as mentioned above). Unless it is understood that a lake undergoes no significant changes of water level, it is wise to specify the water stage to which the description applies. If the boundary follows the bank of the lake, generally not a satisfactory arrangement, it is especially important to give the stage. Dams or other physical structures that raise or lower the lake level may change the banks and the median line. Without bilateral or multilateral agreements concerning the boundaries between the waters and banks, disputes might arise (see Box 11.1: Who Owns Lake Weishan for an interesting case study in this regard). A number of lakes constitute elements in the international borders of the world. The Five Great Lakes (Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario) are located between Canada and the United States; Lake Khanka (Xingkai-hu) lies on the Sino
Russian border; Lake Buir Nur covers a section of the border between China and Mongolia; Lake Victoria separates Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania; Lake Tanganyik is the borders of Tanzania, Zambia, Domestic Republic of Congo and Burundi; Switzerland meets France and Italy at Lakes Geneva and Maggiore, respectively; and Lake Titicaca (Spanish: Lago Titicaca; Quechua: Titiqaqa Qucha) is located on the Andes and serves as the border of Peru and Bolivia. Other lakes serving as international borders include the following: • • • • • • • •

Lake Lake Lake Lake Lake Lake Lake Lake

Albert (between D. R. Congo and Uganda), Chad (between Niger, Chad, Nigeria and Cameroon), Constance (between Germany, Switzerland and Austria), Kanba (between Zambia and Zimbabwe), Mweru (between D. R. Congo and Zambia), Nyasa (between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania), Rudolf (between Ethiopia and Kenya), Tianchi (heaven lake) (between China and North Korea).

Lake Constance is the only area in Europe that has no agreed international borders. There has still been no legally binding agreement as to where the borders lie between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. However, Switzerland holds the view that the border runs through the middle of the lake, Austria has an opinion that the contentious area belongs to all the states on its banks. At present, Germany holds an ambiguous opinion.

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37

Like lakes, seas also have significant segregation and are suitable for shipping. International borders can be easily established between territorial and international waters. For example, the Sea of Azov straddles Russia and Ukraine and the Black Sea separates Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. The Red Sea is surrounded by seven nations (Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen). The Aral Sea lies between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It is worth noting that the exploration and exploitation of underground resources in internationally shared seas could lead to disputes. Examples would include the bilateral disputes in the Timor Sea (Australia vs East Timor) and the East China Sea (China vs Japan), and the multilateral disputes in the Spratly islands (wholly or partially claimed by Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam).

2.3.4 Bays/Gulfs as Borders A bay or gulf is often applied to a very large tract of water around which the land forms a roughly concave boundary; it can also be defined as part of a sea or lake indenting the shoreline. A gulf, which is generally known to be larger than a bay, refers to as an arm of a sea or ocean that is partially enclosed by land, or a portion of an ocean or sea extending into the land or a partially land-locked sea. In bays and gulfs, borders may be set either by their medians or by their arbitrary lines. The bays and gulfs that are shared by nations include the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bay of Bengal: Bangladesh
India
Myanmar Bay of Biscay: France
Spain Bight of Benin: Ghana
Togo
Benin
Nigeria Bight of Biafra: Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea Golfe de St. Malo: France
Is. Jersey/UK Golfo de Fonseca: Elsalvador
Honduras
Nicaragua Golfo de Guayaquil: Ecuador
Peru Golfo de Venezuela: Venezuela
Colombia Gulf of Aden: Yemen
Djibouti
Somalia Gulf of Aqaba: Egypt
Israel
Jordan
Saudi Arabia Gulf of Bothnia: Sweden
Finland Gulf of Danzig: Poland
Russia Gulf of Finland: Finland
Russia
Estonia Gulf of Honduras: Honduras
Belize
Guatemala Gulf of Mannar: India
Sri Lanka Gulf of Mexico: Mexico
USA Gulf of Oman: Oman
United Arab Emirates
Iran Gulf of Riga: Latvia
Estonia Gulf of Tonkin/Beibu: China
Vietnam

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• Persian Gulf: Iran
Iraq
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Qatar
United Arab Emirates • Rio de la Plata (also as the mouths of Rio Parana and Rio Uruguay): Argentina
Uruguay.

2.3.5 Straits/Channels as Borders Unlike a bay (or gulf) boundary, which reaches a seacoast on the one hand and continues through the sea on the other, a strait (or channel) boundary is only connected with sea(s). Examples of strait (or channel) boundaries include the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Bab el Manadeb: Yemen
Eritrea
Djibouti Balabac Strait: Malaysia
the Philippines Beagle Channel: Chile
Argentina Bering Strait: Russia
Alaska/USA English Channel: England
France Korea Strait: Korea
Japan Mona Passage: Dominica Rep.
Puerto Rico/USA Palk Strait: India
Sri Lanka Phillip Channel: Indonesia
Singapore
Malaysia Singapore Strait: Indonesia
Singapore
Malaysia Soya Kaikyo: Japan
Russia St. George’s Channel: England
Ireland Strait of Dover: England
France
Belgium Strait of Gibraltar: Spain
Morocco Strait of Hormuz: Iran
Oman Strait of Juan de Fuca: Canada
USA Strait of Malacca: Indonesia
Malaysia Strait of Otranto: Albania
Italy Torres Strait: Australia
Papua New Guinea Windward Passage: Cuba
Haiti Yucatan Channel: Mexico
Cuba.

2.4 NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS 2.4.1 Natural Resources: Formation Conceptually, resources refer to as materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge or any other assets that can be used to produce benefits and/or in the process may be consumed or made unavailable. Natural resources are those that exist naturally and are without actions by mankind.

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Petroleum, which is now widely used in industrial production and daily life, formed in the earth’s crust from the remains of once-living things. Evidence indicates that millions (or even billions) of years of heat and pressure have changed the remains of microscopic plants and animals into crude oil and natural gas. With regard to the formation of seabed oil and gas reservoir, Roy Nurmi described the process as follows: Plankton and algae, proteins and the life that’s floating in the sea, as it dies, falls to the bottom, and these organisms are going to be the source of our oil and gas. When they’re buried with the accumulating sediment and reach an adequate temperature, something above 50 to 70 C they start to cook. This transformation, this change, changes them into the liquid hydrocarbons that move and migrate, will become our oil and gas reservoir. Cited from http://www.zoominfo.com/p/RoyNurmi/509610082 (accessed 22.12.16)

The formation of an oil or gas reservoir not only requires a sedimentary basin but also passes through four steps: 1. 2. 3. 4.

deep burial under sand and mud, pressure cooking, hydrocarbon migration from the source to the reservoir rock, and trapping by impermeable rock.

It has been suggested that, in the United States, the Ohio River valley could have had as much oil as the Middle East at one time, but that it escaped due to a lack of traps (see, e.g., Gluyas and Swarbrick, 2004, p. 10). The North Sea, on the other hand, though having endured millions of years of sea-level changes, successfully resulted in the formation of more than 100 oilfields (Watts, 1987). Of course, timing is also very important for the formation of an oil or gas reservoir.

2.4.2 Natural Resources: Classification Many natural resources are the daily necessities of human beings, while others are only used for satisfying human desire. Natural resources can be categorized by various methods or criteria including source of origin, stage of development and by their renewability, among others. On the basis of their origins, natural resources may be divided into the following two categories: • Biotic resources: They are derived from the biosphere, which include forests and animals, as well as those that can be obtained from them. • Abiotic resources: They are those that come from non-living, non-organic material.

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Fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum, are included in the category of biotic resources because they are formed from decayed organic matter. Examples of abiotic resources include land, freshwater, air and heavy metals (such as gold, iron, copper, silver, etc.). Natural resources, given their different stages of development, may be defined via the following ways: • Actual resources: They are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined and can be used at present times. • Potential resources: They are those that exist in a specific area and may be used in the future. • Reserve resources: A reserve resource equals an actual resource minus the amount that has been utilized. The development of resources is subject to the technology available and the costs involved. In addition, natural resources can be categorized according to their renewability: • Non-renewable resources: They formed over a very long geological period. Usually, minerals and fossils are included in this category. Since the formation of non-renewable resources is extremely slow, these resources, once depleted, can seldom be replenished. • Renewable resources: They can be replenished or reproduced at a relatively high rate. Forests and fisheries are renewable resources. Of course, some non-renewable resources can be used by more than one time (examples include metallic minerals); however, some non-renewable resources cannot be easily or even cannot be recycled (examples include coal and petroleum). Some renewable resources, such as sunlight, air and wind, are also called perpetual resources because they can be available continuously, though restricted by rate and size. According to their physical features, natural resources can be: • Liquid (fluid or gaseous) and • Hard (solid). Obviously, the physical differences of these resources will largely decide the whole process from exploration, to exploitation or production, storage, transportation and utilization. In addition, natural resources can also be categorized based on distribution: • Ubiquitous resources: They are found everywhere (such as air, freshwater and sunlight). • Localized resources: They are found only in certain parts of the world (such as petroleum, gold and iron ore).

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2.4.3 Old Boundary, New Boundary Stemming from their geographical nonlinearity, rivers, when serving as political borders, need particular attention. Hydraulically, when water flows through a river with uneven topographies, it will make a curve movement by which to produce a centrifugal force. Under the influence of the force, the flow of surface water tends to be meandering in a concave bank, and at the bottom of the river, water under pressure will flow from the concave course to a convex one, thus forming a bend circulation. Influenced by the bend circulation, deposition occurs on the convex bank. In contrast, both lateral erosion and undercutting occur on the cut bank or concave bank (i.e., the bank with the greatest centrifugal force). Continuous deposition on the convex bank and erosion of the concave bank of a meandering river cause the formation of a very pronounced meander with two concave banks getting closer. The narrow neck of land between the two neighbouring concave banks is finally cut through, either by lateral erosion of the two concave banks or by the strong currents of a flood. When this happens, a new straighter river channel is created and an abandoned meander loop, called a cut-off, is formed. When deposition finally seals off the cut-off from the river channel, an oxbow lake is formed. The oxbow lake usually is a U-shaped body of water that forms when a wide meander from the main stem of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. This landform is so named for its distinctive curved shape, resembling the bow pin of an oxbow. This process can occur over a time scale from a few years to several decades and may sometimes become essentially static. For example, the Nowitna River
a tributary of the Yukon River in the US state of Alaska
is one of the meandered rivers in the world. The river flows northeast from the Kuskokwim Mountains through the Nowitna National Wildlife Refuge and enters the larger river 38 miles (61 km) northeast of Ruby and southwest of Tanana. From Fig. 2.4, one can see that various oxbow lakes are common sights along the old channels of the river and that a new oxbow lake is going to be formed in the future. Of course, after the formation of an oxbow lake, a river’s course now looks straighter than the old one. But as long as the topography is uneven, the new river as a whole still is a curved one and thus the changes of its course are inevitable later on. At least since the last glacial episode, the frequent changes of many, if not all of the world’s river courses have been decided by this mechanism, which have also influenced the evolution and development of civilizations during the past thousands of years or so. For example, China’s a popular Chinese proverb says that ‘Thirty years on the east, and thirty years in the west of the river’ (30 nian hedong, 30 nian hexi). Its extended meaning is that

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FIGURE 2.4

2. GLOBALIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS

Meanders of Nowitna River, Alaska. Source: From Oliver Kurmis, September

2002.

many things are too hard to predict, but it is almost certain that in the long run they will have experienced a period of boom at first, which is followed by a period of decline at last (or vice versa). In some places, especially in a low-lying plain where the river banks are easy to be eroded, the abovementioned changes of watercourses could become disasters to the riverine people living there. And, when the rivers serve as political borders, they could also bring about troubles and challenges to policymakers (see, e.g., Box 2.1). However, none of the negative consequences resulting from these hydraulic phenomena can be compared to those related to global sea-level rise. (See the case study at the end of this chapter for a more detailed explanation.) A changeable or uncertain boundary will always pose challenges to policymakers and entrepreneurs. In Chapter 6, Exploiting Natural Resources in Cross-Border Areas, we will present a more specific analysis of cross-border exploitation of natural resources, in which crossborder resources are classified into four categories: (1) solid resources, fixed boundaries; (2) fixed boundaries, fluid resources; (3) solid resources, uncertain boundaries and (4) uncertain boundaries, fluid resources.

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BOX 2.1

WHO OWNS THE ABAGAITU SANDBARS? The sandbars on the Argun River are called Abagaitu Zhouzhu on the Chinese side and Bolshoi on the Russian side. Located at lat 49 400 N and long 117 500 E, it is composed of a few of uninhabited islets and sandbanks. It has a total land area of about 55 km2 during the dry season. The major city near to these sandbars is Manzhouli of Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the People’s Republic of China; on the northern side of the Argun River is the Chita region of the Russian Federation. In 1911 the Sino
Russian boundary was formally fixed for the Argun River area, following the principle that boundary demarcation is according to the median line along the main water channel. At that time, the Abagaitu and its surrounding areas were geographically continuous to the other land territory of China at the southern side of the Argun River (i.e., the Sino
Russian boundary). Several years later, however, a new branch was formed along the southern side of today’s Abagaitu Zhouzhu. The result was an islet of 14 km2 in area. After 1950, and as a result of the changing courses of the Hailar River
the upstream of the Argun River, the new branch became the mainstream of the Argun River. In the meantime, the old water channel of the Argun River ran dry, which enables some islets and sandbanks of the Abagaitu Zhouzhu to be located at the northern side of the new Argun River. After the end of the Cold War, China and Russia readjusted their domestic and external strategies in order to construct a new era for the Sino
Russian relations. On the one hand, China implemented a policy of solving disputes through peaceful negotiations based on respecting historical and present circumstances. On the other hand, the Russian Federation, realizing that Chinese position on the territorial request was reasonable, pursued a pragmatic policy on their boundary issues. This provided a flexible environment for both Russia and China to solve their boundary redemarcation issues. On 2 June 2005, China and Russia signed, through careful examination and verification, the result of joint field mapping made in the disputed stretch of island-studded river along China’s north-eastern boundary with Russia. According to the agreement, Russia returned the Abagaitu Zhouzhu (Bolshoi Island) to China.

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2. GLOBALIZATION, NATURAL RESOURCES AND BORDERS

2.5 CASE 2. SEA-LEVEL CHANGES AND THE BORDERS Sea level has changed over geologic time. During the most recent ice age, that is, at its maximum about 20,000 years ago, the world’s sea level(s) was (were) about 120 m lower than it is today. Obviously, this has been due to the large amount of sea water that had been deposited as snow and ice. Most of this, which is called the Laurentide ice sheet, had melted by about 10,000 years ago. The above mentioned process can be witnessed by the dramatic rise in sea level since the end of the last glacial episode (Fig. 2.5). It was constructed by adjusting a number of specified tie points, typically placed every 1000 years but at times adjusted for sparse or rapidly varying data. A small number of extreme outliers were dropped. For example, global sea levels were about 120 m lower around 18,000 years ago and rose until 8000 years ago when they reached current level. The lowest point of sea level during the last glaciation is not well constrained by observations (shown as a dashed curve in Fig. 2.5). However, it is

FIGURE 2.5 Sea-level changes after the last glacial maximum. Source: Created by Robert A. Rohde based on data from Fleming, K., Johnston, P., Zwartz, D., Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck, K., & Chappell, J. (1998). Refining the eustatic sea-level curve since the Last Glacial Maximum using far- and intermediate-field sites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 163(1
4), 327
342 (Fleming et al., 1998); Fleming, K. M. (2000). Glacial rebound and sea-level change constraints on the Greenland ice sheet (PhD thesis). Australian National University, Canberra, ACT (Fleming, 2000); Milne, G. A., Long, A. J., & Bassett, S. E. (2005). Modeling Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean and South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(10
11), 1183
1202 (Milne, Long, & Bassett, 2005). Courtesy of Global Warming Art.

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generally argued to be approximately 130 6 10 m below present sea level and to have occurred at approximately 22 6 3 1000 years ago. It has been estimated that sea-level rise has been on an average of 2.6
2.9 mm per year (with an estimated error of 6 0.4 mm) since 1993 and that is has accelerated in recent years. For the period from 1870 to 2004, global average sea levels are estimated to have risen by a total of 195 mm, and by 1.7 mm (with an error of 6 0.3 mm) per year, with a significant acceleration of sea-level rise of 0.013 mm (with an error of 6 0.006 mm) per year (Watson et al., 2015). One study of sea-level measurements available for the years from 1950 to 2009 shows an average annual rise in sea level of 1.7 6 0.3 mm per year during that period, while the satellite data shows a rise of 3.3 6 0.4 mm per year from 1993 to 2009 (Nicholls & Cazenave, 2010). Indeed, global climate change has been the major, if not the only reason behind the ongoing sea-level rise. In 2014 the United States Global Change Research Program National Climate Assessment projected that the average sea-level rise will have been between 300 and 1200 mm by the end of the 21st century (see http://s3.amazonaws.com/nca2014/ low/NCA3_Full_Report_02_Our_Changing_Climate_LowRes.pdf?download 5 1 Accessed 20.11.16.). The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that it was most likely that anthropogenic (human-induced) warming was responsible to the sea-level rise observed in the latter half of the 20th century. For example, the 2013 IPCC report stated, [T]here is high confidence that the rate of sea level rise has increased during the last two centuries, and it is likely that the global mean sea level has accelerated since the early 1900s. See http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/wg1/ WG1AR5_Chapter13_FINAL.pdf Accessed 20.11.16.

The cumulative changes in sea level for different oceans throughout the world since 1880, which are estimated based on a combination of long-term tide gauge measurements and recent satellite measurements, are shown in Fig. 2.6. This figure shows average absolute sea-level changes, which are measured by the height of the ocean surface, regardless of whether nearby land rises or falls. The shaded band, which is mainly designed for the earlier period, shows the likely range of values (see Section 9.4 for a more detailed prediction of sea-level rise in the coming 500 years). Sea-level rises can considerably influence human civilizations, especially in coastal and island regions. Low-lying wetlands and even dry land can be inundated by the rising of sea level. In addition, with shorelines being easily eroded, the rising of sea level also contributes to coastal flooding and increases the flow of salt water into inland river systems and nearby groundwater aquifers. As a result, coastal infrastructures and buildings are more vulnerable to damage from storms, earthquakes and other natural disasters. CROSS-BORDER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

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FIGURE 2.6 Global average sea levels from 1880 to 2015. Notes: (1) The original data are from Church and White (2011) and NOAA (2016). (2) The shaded band shows the likely range of values, based on the number of measurements collected and the precision of the methods used. Source: https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-level.

It is expected that sea-level rise will continue in the decades to come. In the IPCC report of 2007, it is estimated that the accelerated melting of the Himalayan ice caps and the rise in sea levels that results from them would likely increase the severity of flooding in the short term during the rainy season and would greatly magnify the impact of tidal storm surges during the cyclone season. In a more precise estimation, a sea-level rise of 400 mm in the Bay of Bengal would put 11% of Bangladesh’s coastal land underwater and would thus create 7
10 million climate refugees in this country (see http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/ assessment-report/ar5/wg1/WG1AR5_Chapter13_FINAL.pdf Accessed 20.11.16). Of course, the negative effect of sea-level rise, like that of many other natural incidents or disasters, is not expected to be globally uniform. More often than not, deltas and small island states are particularly vulnerable to sea-level rise. Most existing low-lying, both coastal- and island-based, countries are at the highest level of risk. The UN’s IPCC has warned that the sealevel rise, at current rates, would be able to make the Maldives uninhabitable by the end of 21st century (see https://ayearcookingtheworld.com/2016/07/10/maldives/ Accessed 29.11.16). Similarly, some island nations of the Pacific, such as the Polynesian islands of Tuvalu, would also be ‘sinking’ due to the sea-level rise and severe flooding

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REFERENCES

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resulting from it. Once this happens, all rights on the surrounding area (sea) are removed. Various policy options and measures that have been proposed to assist island nations to adapt to rising sea level include abandoning islands, building dikes and building upwards. However, whatever these measures can be achieved, they will be never effective in the long run. And, without stopping the trend of sea-level rise, all the political boundaries
land or maritime
of coastal nations will change accordingly. In addition, stemming from global warming and its positive contributions to flooding in the mountainous, inland nations, the courses of rivers serving as international boundaries will also be affected, with the possibility of border changing. While sea-level rise in general is bad news to humans, it does help policymakers solve some long-lasting boundary and territorial disputes. In 2010 scientists found that the tiny island in the Bay of Bengal, which is named ‘South Talpatty’ in Bangladesh and ‘New Moore’ in India, has completely been merged by waters (Arnoldy, 2010). In recent years, there has also been similar news about rising sea levels and their subsequent damage on small islands in many other places of the world. This is really bad news, especially to those who are living in or depending on those islands. In the meantime, however, it is indeed good news to some specific international arenas. The rising sea levels in the Bay of Bengal have effectively helped resolve the long-lasting territorial disputes between Bangladesh and India
two of the world’s most populated countries. In 1974, a United States satellite discovered a few of small islets (which became a single, larger island in the following years) in the Bay of Bengal. In the following decades, this discovery has posed a series of political and diplomatic challenges to the governments of both Bangladesh and India. This island is called ‘South Talpatty’ in Bangladesh; but in India it has a different name: ‘New Moore’. Bangladesh and India have never demarcated their joint maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Since the islet was located at the mouth of the Hariabhanga River (while the latter also serves as the common land boundary between the two nations), it would never be an easy task for Bangladesh and India to settle the dispute over the ownership of the islet. Nevertheless, thanks to the sea-level rise, policymakers in Bangladesh and India would no longer be troubled by this tiny islet.

References Ahrens, T. J. (1995). Global earth physics: A handbook of physical constants. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union. Arnoldy, B. (2010). Global warming as peacemaker? Disputed island disappears under rising sea. The Christian Science Monitor.

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Ashby, M. F. (2015). Materials and sustainable development. Waltham, MA: ButterworthHeinemann. Bruckschen, P., Oesmanna, S., & Veizer, J. (1999). Isotope stratigraphy of the European Carboniferous: Proxy signals for ocean chemistry, climate and tectonics. Chemical Geology, 161(1
3), 127
163. Church, J. A., & White, N. J. (2011). Sea-level rise from the late 19th to the early 21st century. Surveys in Geophysics, 32, 585
602. Dalrymple, G. B. (2001). The age of the earth in the twentieth century: A problem (mostly) solved. Geological Society of London (Special Publications), 190(1), 205
221. Fleming, K., Johnston, P., Zwartz, D., Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck, K., & Chappell, J. (1998). Refining the eustatic sea-level curve since the Last Glacial Maximum using far- and intermediate-field sites. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 163(1
4), 327
342. Fleming, K.M. (2000). Glacial rebound and sea-level change constraints on the Greenland ice sheet (PhD thesis). Australian National University, Canberra, ACT. Forest, C. E., Wolfe, J. A., Molnar, P., & Emanuel, K. A. (1999). Paleoaltimetry incorporating atmospheric physics and botanical estimates of paleoclimate. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 111(4), 497
511. Gluyas, J., & Swarbrick, R. (2004). Petroleum geoscience. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. IMF (1997). World economic outlook. Washington, DC: The International Monetary Fund (IMF). Jones, S. B. (1943). The description of international boundaries. Annuals of Association of American Geographers, 33(2), 99
117. Kanamori, T., & Motohashi, K. (2007). Information technology and economic growth: Comparison between Japan and Korea. RIETI Discussion Paper Series 07-E-009. Tokyo: Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI). Kim, H.-S. (2008). The characterization of the selected materials for Space Shuttle. Cocoa Beach, FL: NASA Kennedy Space Center. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa. gov/20130012061.pdf Accessed 19.12.16. Manhesa, G., Alle`gre, C. J., Dupre´a, B., & Hamelin, B. (1980). Lead isotope study of basicultrabasic layered complexes: Speculations about the age of the earth and primitive mantle characteristics. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 47(3), 370
382. McCarthy, D. D., Hackman, C., & Nelson, R. A. (2008). The physical basis of the leap second. Astronomical Journal, 136, 1906
1908. Meissner, R. (2002). The little book of planet earth. New York: Copernicus Books. Milne, G. A., Long, A. J., & Bassett, S. E. (2005). Modeling Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean and South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(10
11), 1183
1202. Nicholls, R. J., & Cazenave, A. (2010). Sea-level rise and its impact on coastal zones. Science, 328(5985), 1517
1520. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). (2016). Laboratory for satellite altimetry: Sea level rise. Available at www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/sod/lsa/SeaLevel Rise/LSA_SLR_timeseries_global.php Accessed 29.11.16. Parrish, J. T. (1993). Climate of the supercontinent Pangea. Chemical Geology, 101(2), 215
233. Planck Collaboration (2014). Planck 2013 results. I. Overview of products and scientific results. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 571, 1. Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/ 0004-6361/201321529. Read, H. H., & Watson, J. (1975). Introduction to geology. New York: Halsted. Scalera, G., & Lavecchia, G. (2006). Frontiers in earth sciences: New ideas and interpretation. Annals of Geophysics, 49(1), 451
482. Silk, J. (2000). The big bang (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan. Turner, M. S. (2009). Origin of the universe. Scientific American, 301(3), 36
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Watson, C. S., White, N. J., Church, J. A., King, M. A., Burgette, R. J., & Legresy, B. (2015). Unabated global mean sea-level rise over the satellite altimeter era. Nature Climate Change, 5, 565
568. Watts, N. L. (1987). Theoretical aspects of cap-rock and fault seals for single- and twophase hydrocarbon columns. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 4, 274
307. Williams, G. E. (2000). Geological constraints on the Precambrian history of Earth’s rotation and the Moon’s orbit. Reviews of Geophysics, 38(1), 37
60. World Atlas (1994). World Atlas. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company. Yeh, C.-T., & Huang, S.-L. (2011). Global urbanization and demand for natural resources. In R. Lal, & B. Augustin (Eds.), Carbon sequestration in urban ecosystems (pp. 355
371). New York: Springer. Yoder, C. F. (1995). Astrometric and geodetic properties of earth and the solar system. In T. J. Ahrens (Ed.), Global earth physics: A handbook of physical constants (pp. 1
12). Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union.

Further Reading Anderson, J. (2010). Understanding cultural geography: Places and traces. London and New York: Routledge. Carraro, C., & Siniscalco, D. (1993). Strategies for the international protection of the environment. Journal of Public Economics, 52, 309
328. Frey, F. (1993). The political context of conflicts and cooperation over international river basins. Water International, 18, 544
568. Morgan, J. W., & Anders, E. (1980). Chemical composition of Earth, Venus, and Mercury. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 77(12), 6973
6977.

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