TOPIC: MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL

ISSUES IN ARCTIC WITH RESPECT TO

POLLUTION
Introduction
Although the Arctic contains few large-scale industrial development projects and
the region is sparsely populated, it is under threat from environmental stresses
largely originating in distant southern regions. Three main interrelated issues are
affecting the Arctic environment: climate change, changes in biological diversity
and the accumulation of toxic substances. The Arctic appears to be both a
harbinger of environmental change and a key determinant of that change,
particularly as it relates to climate.
Climate change, changes in biological diversity, and the accumulation of toxic
substances are three main interrelated issues affecting the rapidly shifting Arctic
environment. While these issues, with climate change as a dominant driver, are
largely the result of human activities in distant southern regions, they have serious
cultural, socio-economic and health impacts on residents of the Arctic, especially
on many Indigenous peoples, as well as adverse effects on the wildlife of the
region.Further action, both in Canada and internationally, will be needed to
conserve and protect the Arctic environment.
Climate Change
Anthropogenic climate change (brought about by human activity) is caused by
greenhouse gasses (GHGs) accumulating in the atmosphere, which is largely the
result of fossil fuel use since the Industrial Revolution and of deforestation caused
by land use changes. These gasses trap heat in the atmosphere that would
otherwise escape into space.
In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded in its
Fifth Assessment Report that "[w]arming of the climate system is unequivocal, and
since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to
millennia.The report also indicated that increased emissions of GHGs, together
with other anthropogenic drivers, are extremely likely to have been the dominant
cause of the observed warming.
While there is uncertainty related to the effects, they are expected to be significant,
including sea-level rise and increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme
weather events and wildfires. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the
globe, and the consequences are already affecting the lives of the people of the
region.Permafrost is degrading, damaging the limited infrastructure, including
roads, buildings and pipelines; animal ranges are changing, making hunting and
fishing for traditional foods more difficult; and sea ice loss is drawing increased
interest to resources in the Arctic Ocean while making sea ice roads, used as
transportation highways by Inuit, unsafe.
● The environmental impacts of climate change show profound regional
differences, both within and between the polar regions.
● Climate change impacts on the food security, health and well-being of Arctic
residents are serious and projected to increase, especially for many
Indigenous peoples.
● A less severe Arctic climate will produce economic benefits for some
communities.
● Changes to snow, water, ice and permafrost have a significant impact on
Arctic freshwater and near-shore marine systems.
● The retreat of Arctic sea ice over recent decades has led to improved marine
shipping access in some parts of the Arctic but has the potential to make
shipping more hazardous in Canada's Northwest Passage.Changes in coastal
ecology and biological production, adverse effects on many ice-dependent
marine mammals and increased coastal erosion have also been noted.
● Future climate change in the polar regions will produce feedback effects that
will have globally significant consequences over the next 100 years.
Changes in Biological Diversity
The people of the Arctic are heavily reliant, both for food and for social and
cultural reasons, on the variety and abundance of organisms (biodiversity) in their
region. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, completed in 2005,
"biodiversity benefits people through more than just its contribution to material
welfare and livelihoods. Biodiversity contributes to security, resiliency, social
relations, health, and freedom of choices and actions. Biodiversity is changing
dramatically in the Arctic, the result of global habitat loss in wintering and staging
grounds used by migratory species, and, most significantly, climate change.
Changes in biodiversity in the Arctic are expected to be widespread as,

Insects;The range of insect species, usually determined by climatic factors, may

move northward into previously inhospitable areas.

Birds;The Arctic is a breeding ground for many migratory birds that overwinter
elsewhere throughout the world. Climate change should favour the migration of
bird species to more northerly locations. However, habitat loss and changes in food
availability may also affect some of these species.

Marine Life;Reductions in the extent and thickness of sea ice are predicted to alter
the seasonal distributions, geographic ranges, migration patterns, nutritional status,
reproductive success and abundance of Arctic marine mammals. For instance,
many species inhabiting regions covered by seasonal sea ice, such as seals and
walruses, rely directly on suitable ice for resting, foraging, pupping and moulting.
Fish populations may be affected by increases in the productivity of algae and
changes to the distribution of predators.Regional warming may extend the range of
certain species of fish. As sea ice conditions change, commercial fishing access
and available species will expand in the Arctic. The increasing abundance and
wider geographic occurrence of Pacific salmon in the Canadian Arctic is a tangible
example.

Terrestrial Life;The Arctic treeline, the northernmost point that trees can grow, is
moving northward as tundra is converted into forest under more favourable climate
conditions, although the rate at which this is happening is difficult to measure, and
factors other than temperature have an influence.
The thawing of permafrost could convert large areas of well-drained lands into
wetlands.
Mosses and lichens, which constitute a key winter food for caribou and reindeer,
could become less abundant as vascular plants (higher and more evolved plants,
including flowering plants, conifers and ferns) become more prominent. Some
species of herbivores with wide dietary flexibility could expand from the boreal
forest to Arctic tundra. Alternatively, other herbivores, notably some caribou
populations that are already under stress, might be negatively influenced by
insects, extreme weather events and forage availability.
As southern species expand northward, resident species are forced to compete for
habitat and resources. For example, the red fox has expanded northward into the
habitats of the smaller Arctic fox, threatening the survival of the latter.
Hybridization may occur more often, changing the genetic makeup of species.

Accumulation of Toxic Substances

Wind and ocean currents carry persistent chemicals, many of which are toxic, to
the Arctic. Local mining and oil development could increase the chemical load in
the Arctic. Increased marine shipping as a result of climate change will expose the
Arctic to a greater risk of pollution. In addition, radioactive waste – much of it the
result of Cold War activities in the former Soviet Union – is found in the Arctic.
The accumulation of toxic compounds in the Arctic threatens the health of the
people and wildlife of the region. Pollutants that persist in the environment and
accumulate in tissue (persistent organic pollutants, or POPs) are of particular
concern in the Arctic because they are carried in the atmosphere and oceans,
ending up in the food that people eat, such as whale fat. POPs include such
compounds as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
(DDT) and some organophosphate pesticides. Other contaminants include heavy
metals such as mercury, which also persist in the environment.
Many toxic substances accumulate in fat, and animals with long lifespans tend to
have high levels of chemical contaminants in fatty tissues. Because these
contaminants become more concentrated as they move up the food chain, top
predators, such as polar bears and wolves, acquire the highest concentrations.
Arctic Indigenous peoples, who depend on local wildlife for sustenance, have daily
intakes of toxic substances that can be 10 times higher than is tolerable, and such
pollutants pass through blood and breast milk to the fetuses and children of
affected adults.
More recently recognized POPs include polybrominated flame retardants, such as
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE); perfluorinated compounds, such as
perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), used in stain repellents; and perfluorooctanoic
acid (PFOA), used in non-stick coatings.
The levels of some POPs have been decreasing in the region due to regulations
introduced before and after the entry into force of the Stockholm Convention on
Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2004.However, climate change and melting sea
ice could affect the transport and release of legacy POPs with the potential for
these contaminants to be reintroduced into Arctic aquatic food webs

Arctic Oil Drilling

Arctic Ocean drilling is a gamble with catastrophic consequences for the people,
wildlife and the sensitive ecosystem of the region. And yet major companies like
Shell and Exxon are making aggressive moves to usher in a new “oil rush” in the
Arctic Ocean. Although the Obama administration made the Arctic Ocean off
limits to offshore oil drilling for two years, those protections are at risk. We need a
longer term fix — we need to keep the Arctic Ocean off-limits to oil drilling
forever.

Ocean acidification

Acidification of the world's oceans has became an important issue in the

Arctic.Tere is a decline of pH in the water as a result of increasing carbon
dioxide(co2)in the atmosphere. The ocean absorbs more CO2,which in turn disturb
the balance of the marine ecosystem.ocean acidification is of particular interest to
arctic countries as the region is dependent upon fisheries.ecosystem have adjusted
to changes in the past at a rate which makes it impossible for many plant and
animals to adapt.scientists working on a project affiliated with the fram center in
arctic Tromso,Norway-for theArctic Council is working group Arctic Monitoring
and assessment Programme(AMAP)-have found the ArcticOceanis particularly
vulnerable as CO2is absorbed more quickly in cold water,and increasing quantities
of freshwater entering the Arctic from rivers and melting ice are reducing the
oceans capacity to neutralize acidification

Pollution: plastic waste

Another warning to the world has come through an international project to fight
plastic waste in the seas. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – approximately 3 times
the size of Spain and Portugal – is one of several swirling garbage zones in the
oceans. Tiny pieces of broken-down plastics, so-called microplastics, are a serious
threat to millions of marine birds, sea turtles, fish and other organisms in the sea.
They block the sunlight for algae and plankton, and many animals that mistake
these and larger pieces of plastic for food end up dying with bellies full of
indigestible material. The plastics may also contain hazardous substances. It has
been estimated that 1 million seabirds worldwide die of plastic waste every year .

Conclusion
Three main environmental issues are apparent in the Arctic: climate change,
changes in biodiversity and the accumulation of toxic substances. Climate change
is an overriding factor, affecting all aspects of life in the Arctic, yet the GHG
emissions responsible for recent warming in the region emanate from industrial
activity and land use changes far removed from the region. Biodiversity changes
are largely the result of climate change but are also caused by habitat changes
elsewhere in wintering zones and along migratory pathways. Toxic substances,
which travel thousands of kilometres from their origins in the south, are building
up in the food chain.
International action is therefore necessary to address environmental concerns that
have far-reaching cultural, socio-economic and health impacts in the Arctic.
Multilateral cooperation has been focused on the Arctic Council, but domestic
initiatives also play an important role in the management of the Arctic
environment. Whether it is on the international scene or domestically, Indigenous
peoples of the Arctic have been providing an increasingly significant contribution
to environmental management decisions. In fact, large portions of the Canadian
Arctic are co-managed by Inuit and federal, provincial and territorial governments
through devolution and land and resource management regimes established by five
comprehensive Inuit–Crown land claims agreements.