Spy Agency Maps Show How the Arctic Is Heating Up | WIRED
▻http://www.wired.com/2015/10/arctic-maps/#slide-1
The Arctic is heating up, both literally and geopolitically. Climate models point to melting sea ice in the coming decades, opening up new shipping routes, potentially vast new oil and gas reserves, and plenty of opportunity for international conflict. All that has prompted a flurry of activity at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the mapmaking organization for the US military and intelligence community.
Naturally, most of the maps made by the NGA aren’t for the likes of you—unless, of course, you’re a spy or a military officer with high-level security clearance. But not all of them. The agency recently released a slew of unclassified maps and geospatial data for the Arctic region, including some of the most detailed terrain maps of Alaska available to the general public.
The maps, which you can browse on the NGA’s website, include things like shipping lanes, ports and airfields, and the potential for oil and gas discovery across the region. There are maps of national boundaries—including some that are well agreed upon, some that have been submitted as claims to the United Nations, and some that are disputed.
NGA Arctic GEOINT Services
▻http://nga.maps.arcgis.com/apps/PublicGallery/index.html?appid=dc06e1570de14885bb6c7adbaa5bfec5