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As oil giant Shell calls a temporary halt to its exploration activities in the Arctic because of concerns over safety, lawmakers in Britain are urging international governments to seek a moratorium on offshore drilling in the region. Environmentalists say an oil spill could cause catastrophic, irreversible damage. But with global energy demands set to rise, some say it’s time to look at such ‘unconventional resources.’ Last winter in the Arctic, the Russian tanker ‘Renda’ carved its way to the remote Alaskan port of Nome. Not long ago this voyage - made in December and January - would have been impossible. The warming climate means thinner ice. More and more vessels are plying these routes year-round. Many of them are involved in the search for oil and gas. The US Geological Survey estimates there are 26 billion barrels of recoverable oil beneath the United States' Arctic waters alone. Oil giants, including state-owned Russian firm Rosneft and Royal Dutch Shell, have already spent billions of dollars prospecting for hydrocarbons. But Glada Lahn from the policy institute Chatham House, says climate change can create problems as well as opportunities. “With the warming temperatures in the Arctic, the frequency of ice breaking off, that speeds up and so you perhaps have more icebergs in the way of operations," said Lahn. "The other problem is increasing severity of storms and as the ice retreats from the coastlines, there’s more chance of larger waves leading to coastal erosion and damage to infrastructure.” | 
