[PDF] Arctic Environmental Problems eBook

Author : Oleg S. Pokrovsky
Publisher :
Page : 425 pages
File Size : 43,52 MB
Release : 2020
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781536173079

GET BOOK

"The importance of the Arctic in many fields of human activity strongly increased over the past decades. The academic scientific research demonstrates a 3-fold increase in the number of journal articles dealing with "Arctic": from 1,400 in 2000 to 4,200 in 2018. This increase is not fortuitous but certainly stems from double importance of Arctic regions for humanity. The first importance is the role that the Arctic plays in the on-going environmental changes, mostly linked to climate warming and environmental pollution. Here, the first key issues are the Arctic Ocean, ice melt, permafrost thaw, greenhouse gases emission, and organic carbon mobilization from soils to rivers. From the other hand, highly fragile Arctic ecosystems and biota are strongly affected by environmental pollution, be it organic compounds or toxic metals and radionuclides. The rising concern of humanity to the key role of the Arctic in climate regulation on the planetary scale and the extreme fragility of its ecosystem, biota and native population to on-going environmental change can certainly explain an explosive interest of scientific researchers to the Arctic in connection with 'climate change'. The second big issue of the Arctic is its eminent role in problems of natural resources. The Artic shelf contains vast amount of hydrocarbons (gas and oil), whereas the terrestrial polar regions, now liberating from ice, may turn out to be highly important sites of future ore industry. The importance of possibly ice-free Arctic Ocean as future maritime shipping routes will further enhance the accessibility of natural resources in this region. Taken together, this can be the main driving factors of almost exponential increase in the interest to natural resources in the Arctic over past few years. The present book addresses a wide variety of environmental, social and economic issues of the Arctic, in response to rising interest to this region in academic science, sociology and business. The 14 chapters represent state-of-the art reviews written by the experts on problems of native communities, climate change, political issues, implementation of large-scale projects, natural resources and conservation, environmental monitoring and assessment of pollution issues"--

Author : Lassi Heininen
Publisher :
Page : 140 pages
File Size : 16,77 MB
Release : 1990
Category : Environmental protection
ISBN :

GET BOOK

Volume of papers is one of five reports from the TAPRI Arctic workshop "Alternative security and development in the Arctic regions". Considers environmental threats in the Arctic including military presence, and exploitation of oil and gas reserves. Also considers prospects and possibilities for Arctic environmental cooperation.

Author : Linda Nowlan
Publisher : IUCN
Page : 92 pages
File Size : 32,34 MB
Release : 2001
Category : Law
ISBN : 9782831706375

GET BOOK

For many years, concerns have been expressed about environmental issues in the Arctic. While the Arctic region, unlike Antarctica, has been inhabited for thousands of years, it is under unique threat because of its vulnerability toward resource exploitation and the deposition of various airborne pollutants. With its varied populations, and with eight Nations asserting territorial interests, the Arctic needs a careful approach to its protection and development. This report describes the current Arctic environmental legal regime. It also discusses the possibility of negotiating a sustainability treaty for the Arctic with high standards of environmental protection similar to those in the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. It is hoped that this review of the legal and policy contrasts between the Arctic and Antarctic can help in the consideration of future directions for the Arctic legal regime.

Author : Joanna Grigorjeva
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 114 pages
File Size : 35,31 MB
Release : 2016-08-30
Category : Nature
ISBN : 3668287465

GET BOOK

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Environmental Sciences, grade: 2:1, Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, course: Oil and Gas Law - Environmental Law, language: English, abstract: Melting of the Arctic ice, caused by global warming and energy security issues, has led Arctic states to prospect further North for new petroleum opportunities. Consequently, the already fragile Arctic marine environment has been further compromised. The Arctic coastal states, under the Ilulissat Declaration, agreed that UNCLOS will provide a legal basis for the regulatory framework in the Arctic, supplemented by Arctic Council soft-law. Consequently, the environmental issues in the Arctic, arising as a result of O&G activities, mainly have to be dealt under the discretion of the Arctic coastal states’ regulations. By analysing current environmental regulation in the Arctic, the paper aims to discover if the framework can ensure that petroleum activities are carried out in an environmentally safe fashion. To make sure that the Arctic states can address the aforementioned issues, under national legislation, the paper will examine Russia’s and Norway’s petroleum regulations applicable to the Arctic. In the light of the performed analysis, the paper will propose to address the regulatory gaps created as a result of environmental issues arising from petroleum activities in the Arctic under the Arctic Framework Treaty. To address topical issues at the sub-regional level, an ecosystem-based management plan will be analysed, and suggesting its implementation on the Russian continental shelf.

Author : National Research Council
Publisher : National Academies Press
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 33,90 MB
Release : 2014-08-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 030929889X

GET BOOK

U.S. Arctic waters north of the Bering Strait and west of the Canadian border encompass a vast area that is usually ice covered for much of the year, but is increasingly experiencing longer periods and larger areas of open water due to climate change. Sparsely inhabited with a wide variety of ecosystems found nowhere else, this region is vulnerable to damage from human activities. As oil and gas, shipping, and tourism activities increase, the possibilities of an oil spill also increase. How can we best prepare to respond to such an event in this challenging environment? Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment reviews the current state of the science regarding oil spill response and environmental assessment in the Arctic region north of the Bering Strait, with emphasis on the potential impacts in U.S. waters. This report describes the unique ecosystems and environment of the Arctic and makes recommendations to provide an effective response effort in these challenging conditions. According to Responding to Oil Spills in the U.S. Arctic Marine Environment, a full range of proven oil spill response technologies is needed in order to minimize the impacts on people and sensitive ecosystems. This report identifies key oil spill research priorities, critical data and monitoring needs, mitigation strategies, and important operational and logistical issues. The Arctic acts as an integrating, regulating, and mediating component of the physical, atmospheric and cryospheric systems that govern life on Earth. Not only does the Arctic serve as regulator of many of the Earth's large-scale systems and processes, but it is also an area where choices made have substantial impact on life and choices everywhere on planet Earth. This report's recommendations will assist environmentalists, industry, state and local policymakers, and anyone interested in the future of this special region to preserve and protect it from damaging oil spills.

Author : Elena Conde
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 475 pages
File Size : 40,19 MB
Release : 2016-08-05
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 1317128052

GET BOOK

Bringing together interconnected discussions to make explicit the complexity of the Arctic region, this book offers a legal discussion of the ongoing territorial disputes and challenges in order to frame their impact into the viability of different governance strategies that are available at the national, regional and international level. One of the intrinsic features of the region is the difficulty in the determination of boundaries, responsibilities and interests. Against this background, sovereignty issues are intertwined with environmental and geopolitical issues that ultimately affect global strategic balances and international trade and, at the same time, influence national approaches to basic rights and organizational schemes regarding the protection of indigenous peoples and inhabitants of the region. This perspective lays the ground for further discussion, revolving around the main clusters of governance (focusing on the Arctic Council and the European Union, with the particular roles and interest of Arctic and non-Arctic states, and the impact on indigenous populations), environment (including the relevance of national regulatory schemes, and the intertwinement with concerns related to energy, or migration), strategy (concentrating in geopolitical realities and challenges analysed from different perspectives and focusing on different actors, and covering security and climate change related challenges). This collection provides an avenue for parallel and converging research of complex realities from different disciplines, through the expertise of scholars from different latitudes.

Author : Gunhild Hoogensen Gjørv
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 49,48 MB
Release : 2013-10-08
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 1134634854

GET BOOK

This is the first comprehensive exploration of why human security is relevant to the Arctic and what achieving it can mean, covering the areas of health of the environment, identity of peoples, supply of traditional foods, community health, economic opportunities, and political stability. The traditional definition of security has already been actively employed in the Arctic region for decades, particularly in relation to natural resource sovereignty issues, but how and why should the human aspect be introduced? What can this region teach us about human security in the wider world? The book reviews the potential threats to security, putting them in an analytical framework and indicating a clear path for solutions.Contributions come from natural, social and humanities scientists, hailing from Canada, Russia, Finland and Norway. Environmental Change and Human Security in the Arctic is an essential resource for policy-makers, community groups, researchers and students working in the field of human security, particularly for those in the Arctic regions.

Author : Annika Nilsson E.
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 130 pages
File Size : 45,36 MB
Release : 2019-05-21
Category : Science
ISBN : 0429576463

GET BOOK

Arctic Geopolitics, Media and Power provides a fresh way of looking at the potential and limitations of regional international governance in the Arctic region. Far-reaching impacts of climate change, its wealth of resources and potential for new commercial activities have placed the Arctic region into the political limelight. In an era of rapid environmental change, the Arctic provides a complex and challenging case of geopolitical interplay. Based on analyses of how actors from within and outside the Arctic region assert their interests and how such discourses travel in the media, this book scrutinizes the social and material contexts within which new imaginaries, spatial constructs and scalar preferences emerge. It places ground-breaking attention to shifting media landscapes as a critical component of the social, environmental and technological change. It also reflects on the fundamental dilemmas inherent in democratic decision making at a time when an urgent need for addressing climate change is challenged by conflicting interests and growing geopolitical tensions. This book will be of great interest to geography academics, media and communication studies and students focusing on policy, climate change and geopolitics, as well as policy-makers and NGOs working within the environmental sector or with the Arctic region. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9780367189822 has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Author : Mark Nuttall
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 25,40 MB
Release : 2005-10-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1135297371

GET BOOK

Protecting the Arctic explores some of the ways in which indigenous peoples have taken political action regarding Arctic environmental and sustainable development issues, and investigates the involvement of indigenous peoples in international environmental policy- making. Nuttall illustrates how indigenous peoples make claims that their own forms of resource management not only have relevance in an Arctic regional context, but provide models for the inclusion of indigenous values and environmental knowledge in the design, negotiation and implementation of global environmental policy.