Essay/Term paper: The arctic

Essay, term paper, research paper:  History

The Artic is a region at the upper most tip

of the Northern Hemisphere. The Artic includes the area

around Greenland, USSR, Canada and Alaska. Much of the

Artic circle is permanently frozen ice. The Artic is a pristine

environment, clean and void of human interference. However

as humans move into these areas and begin to extract what

ever they can be balance can be tipped, resulting in pollution

and destruction of the environment. Climate. The Artic

winters much longer than the Summer. In the winter the sun

never rises and in the summer it never sets. The average

temperature for the Artic is zero degrees of less. Industry

and the Artic. There was once a time when the land of the

Artic Circle was considered useless and only hospitable to

those native to it. However once vast quantities of oil and

fish had been found there was a rush of interest in the land.

Fishing in the Artic has occurred for thousands of years but

in recent years man has been fishing the Artic; in greater

numbers and taking more fish. Professional fishermen are

taking all kinds of fish as well as whales and seals. In some

areas fishermen have become so efficient at their job that

quotas have needed to be put on to limit or stop the capture

of certain animals. There are many mineral deposits within

the Artic Circle. In Russia: nickel, iron ore, apatite,

diamonds, gold, tin, coal, mica, and tungsten. In Sweden:

iron ore. In Greenland: lead, zinc, molybdenum and cryolite.

Spitsbergen: coal. Canada: uranium, copper, nickel, lead,

zinc, tungsten and iron ore. The digging out of minerals

would inevitably disturb the natural habitat as well as the

environment there would be a great cost to maintain the site.

Industry that is designed to process various minerals have

waste products that would be most unwelcome in the Artic.

A good example of this is the pollution that has arisen as a

result of the smelting of metals in the Artic. It is for this

reason that there is very little industry in the Artic. However

Russia, Canada, Greenland and Iceland have several small

scale manufacturing plants. 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 but the

development went ahead. Oil extracted from the felid makes

its way to Port Valdez via a 1300 kilometre pipeline.

Although steps were taken to limit the pipelines affect on the

environment it still disrupts the migration of caribou. In 1989

the unthinkable happened and the super tanker Exxon

Valdez ran aground spilling millions of gallons of crude oil

into the Prince William Sound. The effects of the slick were

devastating. Within a week workers counted 24000 dead

sea birds and 1000 sea otters. The effects of the slick were

felt throughout the food chain from photoplankton 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. Pollution of the Artic A large threat to

the Artic is transboundry pollution and bioaccumulation.

These are both complex subjects but are easily explained.

Transboundry pollution is the pollution of the Artic from

other countries. The ocean currents and wind conditions

result in large amounts of pollution being deposited in the

Artic. In winter when the sun is low thick blankets of haze

can be seen over the Artic. Bioaccumulation is the process

where pollutants build up in the Artic because they cannot be

broken down due to the extreme cold. Once harsh

chemicals find their way into the food chain they stay there

forever, trapped in the animals and sediments. A result of

increased pollutants in the atmosphere is the occurrence of

acid rain. Sulphur and Nitrogen dioxides drift from

developed countries and when they mix with water in the

atmosphere they can 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 Chernoybl exploded sending a nuclear

cloud into the atmosphere that among other places

contaminated plants and animals in the Artic region.

Particularly 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. Tourism vs conservation. In the

battle between tourism and conservation, tourism seems to

always win. However in the Artic tourism has so far 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 small

glimpse of the Artic. It is believed by many that Artic tourism

will spread a general concern for the environment. There is

no denying that if tourism is not controlled people will

destroy what they have come to see. Tourism will alway

clash with conservation and it is many peoples opinion that

tourism should be stoped in the Artic altogether, but if there

is money to be made someone will be there to provide the

service. Conclusion. Human's have had a great deal of

impact on the Artic environment. Mining, tourism

bioaccumulation and transboundry pollution mean that this

land is a great threat. Tourism is the latest threat with huge

potential for damage. The Artic is one of the few unspoilt

wilderness areas in the world and must be conserved.