So far the Artic is a naive environment, humans have not yet fully explored the region. But as people search for the resource, more and more people will move into to the area to take what they can, this can tip the balance of the environment, resulting in pollution and destruction of this once perfect environment if the proper management steps are not in place ahead of the rush.
Polar climate describes the Arctic, which means much of this area has a freezing cold climate and covered with ice all year. Harsh winters, low temperatures, and little snow or rainfall characterizes the arctic climate. In winter the days are shorter because the North Pole faces away from the sun, the sun does not set till midsummer and it is only strong enough to warm the top layer of the earth. Three feet below the surface the ground stays frozen. Frozen ground, called permafrost, covers most of this region. The shallow layer is called the active layer, because this layer freezes and thaws throughout the year. In the summer the active layer can thaw just long enough for plants and microorganisms to grow. The thickness of the frozen ground below this active layer varies from a few feet to hundreds of feet.
The Arctic Circle is the border of a zone where the sun doesn’t rise at least one day in winter and never sets during at least one day in summer. The North Pole is not the coldest spot in the Arctic because the ocean moderates its climate. Oymyakon in northeastern Siberia holds the record low temperature of -68° C (-90° F). The coldest recorded temperature for North America is -65° C (-85° F), at the city Snag in Yukon Territory. The low precipitation averages less than 250 mm (10 in) per year (refer to appendices Fig.2), the moisture being received in almost all locations. Regardless of their distance from industrialized areas, smog like haze sometimes blankets the Polar Regions.
The Arctic area is a cold desert and is mostly flat land from the end of the forest to the ocean. This landscape is a barren place (refer to appendices Fig.3). Rocks are scattered across the ground and the constant freezing and thawing breaks the rocks into smaller pieces. Trees cannot grow in this region because the soil is always frozen from the cold weather. Only small, strong plants are able to survive in the arctic. Plants grow close to the ground where they find protection from cold winds. Over time, plants adapt, so they can get as much sunshine and water as possible for making food. The animals that live on the tundra rely on these plants for food.
For thousands of years people have been fishing to meet their own needs in the Arctic but only recently it becomes commercialized, professional fishermen are taking all kinds of fish including whales and seals. Some of these fishermen have become so good at their job that the government had to put a limit or even stop the capture of certain animals. In Alaska, fishing provides more jobs than any other industry. Fishing is now done on a very large scale using the latest technology.
Canada: uranium, copper, nickel, lead, zinc, tungsten and iron ore. The digging out of minerals would disturb the habitats of animal and can also harm the environment.
Industry that is designed to make minerals, produce lot waste products that are harmful to the environment of the Artic. Because of this there are no very large industries in the Arctic. However Russia, Canada, Greenland and Iceland have several small manufacturing plants there.
The conifer forest at the edge of the Arctic region is another important resource. Forestry is a major industry in Arctic Russia, Sweden and Finland. The government of these countries gives financial support to it because it provides a lot of employment in the arctic areas.
The largest industry in the Artic is oil. The rush began in 1968 when a large oil field was discovered, there was a great deal of protest about the development of the oil field because of the environment concern, but the development went ahead.
Extracted oil from the field makes its way through a 1300-kilometer pipeline to Port Valdez. Although steps were taken to limit the pipelines affecting on the environment it still disrupts the migration of caribou.
In 1989 the super tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground, spilled millions of gallons of crude oil into the Prince William Sound (refer to appendices Fig.4). In a week workers counted 24000 Dead Sea birds and 1000 sea otters. The effects of the slick were felt throughout the food chain from photo plankton to bears. The Exxon company funded the clean up but there was no compensation for the hundreds of people that lost their job as a result of the slick.
Social Patterns
Outsiders think the Arctic as a barren, inhospitable and largely unexplored tracts of wilderness. The arctic region is home to a various number on indigenous peoples who have lived there for thousands of years on the resources of land and sea, as hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders (refer to appendices Fig.5).
The Arctic is one of the world's least populated areas. The natives are thought to be descendants of a people who migrated northward from central Asia after the ice age and then spread west into Europe and east into North America. The indigenous peoples of the Arctic can trace similar origins in Central Asia. The total Inuit population is about 125, 000 and occupies a large geographical area, stretching from east Greenland across the north of Canada to the coasts of Alaska and Chukotka. The arctic region is home to dozens of indigenous people (refer to appendices Fig.6) with a remarkable history. Natives that live in the Arctic include the Inuit, Denй, and Mйtis nations of Canada; the Inuit of Kalaalit Nunaat; the Eskimo (Aleut, Yupik), Denй, and Tlingit of Alaska; the Sami people of Scandinavia; and the Chukchi, Evenk, Yakut, Lamut, and Koryak of Siberia. The art and culture of these peoples is remarkable and is characterized by resourcefulness, adaptability, and innovation.
The chief groups are now the Lapps of Europe; the Samoyedes (Nentsy) of W. Russia; the Yakuts, Tungus, Yukaghirs, and Chukchis of E. Russia; and the Eskimo of North America. There is a sizable Caucasian population in Siberia, and the people of Iceland are nearly all Caucasian. In Greenland, there is a mixture of Eskimos and northern Europeans, predominate.
The indigenous peoples of the Arctic have their own distinctive cultures, economies and forms of social organizations, but they have a special relationship to the Arctic environment and to the animals they depend upon which is essential for their economic survival. The arctic peoples, once totally nomadic, are now largely sedentary or semi nomadic. The indigenous people do hunting, fishing, reindeer herding, and indigenous arts and crafts. The arctic peoples are slowly adapting to the society of the country in which they are surrounded by. With the Arctic's increased economic and political role in world affairs, the regions have experienced an overwhelming flood of personnel charged with building and maintaining such things as roads, mineral extraction sites, weather stations, and military installations.
There are not many large cities located in the Arctic areas of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland, the largest cities in the Arctic barely has a population of 10,000. The Arctic regions of Scandinavia and Russia contain several communities of large size, such as Murmansk and Noril'sk, in Russia, and Tromsш, in Norway. Reykjavнk in Iceland is an important urban center.
In 1999 Canada had a major political change with the creation of the 2.2 million sq km territory of Nunavat, which was carved off the Northwest Territories, leaving the latter with 1.17 million sq km in the western Canada Arctic.
Impact of Human Activity
Tourism vs. Conservation.
In the battle between tourism and conservation, tourism seems to always win. Tourism in the arctic is a fast growing industry and increasing numbers of tourist regard indigenous cultures as the main attraction in visiting the Arctic, after wildlife and scenery. The problem is the possible social and environmental impact that may result for tourism development in the arctic. The problems are that tourism can scare animals that live in the arctic and can ruin the extremely sensitive vegetation there caused by footsteps. The Artic tourism has had little effect (compared to other human activity) on the environment. The scenery and wild life of the Artic are seen as so special that people pay thousands of dollars for a little look at the arctic
People believe Artic tourism will cause harm to the environment as it develops. If it is not managed properly people will destroy what they have come to see. Tourism will always clash with conservation and it is many peoples opinion that tourism should be stopped in the Artic altogether, but if there is money to be made someone will be there to provide the service.
Pollution of the Artic
Transboundry pollution and bioaccumaltion cause most of the pollution in the Arctic. Transboundry pollution is when pollution comes from other countries. The ocean currents and wind conditions bring in large amounts of pollution being deposited in the Artic. When the sun arises during the winter a low thick blanket of haze can be seen over the Artic.
Bioaccumulation is the process where pollutants build up in the Artic because the weather is too cold to break it down. Harsh chemicals find their way into the food chain, and will be trapped in the animals and sediments.
Acid rain is the result of increased pollutants in the atmosphere. Sulphur and Nitrogen dioxides flow from developed countries and when they mix with water in the atmosphere they produce acid rain as strong as lemon juice. The acid snow melts in summer and spring producing an acid shock that can kill animals and plants alike.
In 1986 the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl exploded sending a nuclear cloud into the atmosphere that among other places contaminated plants and animals in the Artic region. The most affected were lichens; lichens are a plant that makes up the majority of a reindeers’ diet. When the reindeers ate the lichens they became radioactive and many thousands had to be shot.
Interconnections
There are three different aspects to the arctic environment: the physical environment, the economic environment and human impacts. These three components are linked together and as a result, affect each other. The major physical component is the large quantity of snow and ice for most of the year. For the people and animals that live in the arctic, the ice conditions have an enormous impact on biological activity, accessibility, and lifestyle.
As the native peoples are incorporated into modern society, for the sake of their economic and cultural survival they will continue to use the natural resources, but as they are being more and more attached to the global economy, the global processes impact them. Industrial development like oil and gas exploitation, environmental problem, social change, immigration and tourism all threaten the traditional lands, livelihoods and cultures.
The Arctic environment is connected with global climate and sea level. Global warming will have a great impact on the Arctic environment and on the lives of indigenous peoples. The amount of sea ice will be reduced, fish stocks will fluctuate, and permafrost will thaw more quickly in spring, but take longer to refreeze in autumn. Climate changes are can interfere the animal migration routes, which will impact upon the hunting, trapping and fishing economies of many small, arctic settlements.
Tourism cause social and environmental impact. Footsteps and automobile tracks can cause prints to persist in the ground for many years, which disruption of vegetative cover, and causes permafrost to melt, causing collapse of ground and loss of soil. The tundra wildlife is helpless to habitat destruction, to over hunting, and to extinction through loss of any of the animal or plant species that make up Arctic community of life. But for indigenous people, tourism in the Arctic offers economic opportunities and if it is developed and managed properly it can contribute to the community.
This sparsely populated has been an unlimited resource open for exploitation as well as for the dumping of waste. Humans have lived in the Arctic areas since the end of the last Ice Age, but the population has always been low. The human influence used to be limited to local fishing, hunting and gathering, simple agriculture, and pastoralism-widespread but not extensively damaging the area. The more activities in the region include exploiting ocean fisheries, the forest industry, mining, metallurgic industry, petroleum exploration, tourism, and military activity. The changing life-styles of the indigenous people, infrastructure development, urbanization, and local waste problems are creating additional pressures. These human activities, together with long-range transported pollutants, threaten many of the natural species and habitats and the Arctic.
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