Environmental Characteristics of The Arctic

As global temperatures have risen, so have the Arctic in recent years. Ice is shrinking in the Arctic Ocean, melting in Greenland in northeastern North America, and shrubs are creeping into the Tundra of Alaska. Greenland is going through a period of warming not seen since the 1930s. Since 1979, ice loss has increased by 16 %, causing sea levels to rise and shrinking the amount of ice covering the entire Arctic Ocean to a record low. One of these changes might seem to indicate a warming trend in the region, but the phenomena confirm that the climate change is a real problem.

Behind these surface changes lies a shift in nature and human activity may be to blame, according to the scientists. Over the past 20 years, melting ice in the Arctic has raised global sea levels by an average of about 7.62 centimetres, and these changes in the Arctic region are the first manifestation of the environmental and social effects of global warming. Ultimately, we conclude that the Arctic is warming, and the rate of warming is much faster than the figure for other regions on the earth, which would directly influence on human survival. The Arctic is an important source of global oil, gas and fishery resources, and the fact that the Arctic will continue to accelerate warming should be taken seriously. In addition, the continued warming of the Arctic will wreak havoc for polar animals such as polar bears that live there.

Energy Exploitation Leads to Ecological Changes

New research suggests that drilling for oil in the Arctic is leading to a series of adverse environmental effects. Most of the roads are built along the beach with a thick sand and gravel layer, which will cause flooding and dust generation, and change the habitat of animals; seismic studies for oil exploration can have an impact on permafrost that has lasted for decades. Moreover, bowhead whales are migrating deeper into the ocean in response to the noise of seismic surveys off the coast. Thus, local hunters must sail their boats farther out to sea, risking all kinds of dangers to catch bow heads. So far, only 1% of the habitat destroyed has been restored, and recovery through natural degradation is slow.

Environmental Pollution Is Becoming Increasingly Serious

What worries the Arctic residents more than the ecological balance are the sudden and significant pollution events. For example, oil spills have caused widespread damage to Marine ecosystems. On March 24, 1989, the tanker Valdez crashed on Brye Reef near the Prince William Sound, north of the Gulf of Alaska, pouring 10.9 million gallons (40 million liters) of Arctic crude oil into the waters of the Channel. Until then, staff of tanker oil company had repeatedly assured that a spill would never happen, and that even if it did, they had sufficient equipment and capacity to deal with it quickly. But after the accident, due to the short of equipment and manpower, staff of tanker oil company was helpless and had to watch as the oil spread rapidly, pushed by winds and currents, over a vast area of ocean 500 kilometres away. The accident not only caused serious pollution and damage to the waters where fish was most abundant as well as caused great losses to the residents, especially the fishermen, in this area, but also nearly wiped out a large number of Marine animals, such as walruses, seals, sea lions and whales, as well as more than 400,000 local birds and more than 1,000,000 migratory birds. The long-term impact on the wider ecological environment is even harder to estimate.

Mining and smelting of mineral resources will also cause unavoidable pollution to the Arctic environment. The reason is that the exploitation of mineral resources will inevitably lead to the construction of roads, the erection of derricks and the excavation of mines, as well as a large number of solid wastes. Then, the loss of natural vegetation may disrupt the thermal radiation balance of permafrost regions, resulting in land erosion. In addition, the streamed is widened and deepened. Thus, the water becomes muddy; since the direction and velocity of the river are changed, the gravel areas suitable for fish to spawn are buried or washed away. Therefore, water and land ecosystems have also been polluted by toxic substances washed from mining areas, such as increased acidity of water, changes in soil chemical composition. Changes in groundwater and surface water also cause a series of changes in soil microbes, plants, water regime, and accumulation of chemical elements in living organisms.

Environmental Protection in The Arctic Requires Multi-Party Cooperation

The Arctic ecosystem is extremely fragile and difficult to recover once damaged, which is the biggest difference between the Arctic and mid-latitude regions. Therefore, both local resource exploitation and industrial development in the Northern Hemisphere countries must take into account the impact and damage to the Arctic environment. Otherwise, industrial development often fails completely in pursuit of short-term results. Besides, unsustainable development is bound to aggravate existing environmental problems. In view of this, it is scientific and reasonable to propose ‘development without destruction’ as the ultimate goal of sustainable development to be implemented by mankind in the Arctic or in the Northern Hemisphere. Achieving this goal will benefit not only indigenous peoples, but also the environment and development of the Northern Hemisphere and even the world.

Under the current international governance framework, indigenous people in the Arctic region play a unique and important role in the Arctic governance. To promote economic development, environmental protection and technological innovation in the Arctic, we shall attach importance to cooperation with indigenous peoples. It is recommended to learn from the experience of the United Kingdom, Japan and other near-Arctic countries in cooperation with the indigenous peoples of the Arctic, and strengthen support for their production, life and community development through health programs, cultural exchanges, popular science education and participation in scientific researches. What’s more, we should respect the culture and lifestyle of the indigenous people and support their claims for survival and development.

Protecting the ecological environment and biological resources of the Arctic is significant. Therefore, we should increase financial support and actively participate in international activities and plans with the mission of protecting the Arctic ecological environment. With the theme of Arctic and global change, Arctic pollution prevention and emergency management, and Arctic fishery resources management, we could encourage research institutions, enterprises and social organizations to participate in the ecological and environmental protection activities of Arctic countries, so that they would become advocates and promoters of ecological and environmental protection in the Arctic.

By Xin Wang