Glaciers EPQ 4 Flashcards
Case study for a glaciated landscape
Greenland 80% Ice cover
What are the environmental values of Greenland
Scientific research, economic exploitation, water cycle
What % i I f the global ice mass does Greenland contain
10%
What is the average rate of ice loss from the Greenland ice sheet
Increased from 34 gigatonnes per year between 1992 and 2001 to 215 gigatonnes per year between 2002 and 2011
How much has the melting of Greenland’s ice caps contributed to the sea level rise
0.33mm per years to global mean sea rise between 1993 and 2010
What has the IPCC calculated as the average global sea rise if the whole of the Greenland ice sheet melted
Sea level rise of up to 7m meaning places like Florida , London and Shanghai would be underwater as well as countries like Bangladesh and the Maldives
What is Greenland’s cultural value
For the native Inuit people the landscape maintains there traditional lifestyle of hunting, fishing and herding as well as providing scientific information about past climates
What is Greenland’s economic value
Economic opportunities from HEP to valuable deposits of oil, gas, metals and minerals aswell as tourism
Fact for the economic opportunities of Greenland
Worlds largest unexploited hydropower capacity
What are the threats to the fragile glacial environment due to climate change
Ice loss opening areas for Economic exploitation, stresses on the environment from increased industrial activity and new commercial shipping routes in the northwest passage risking marine pollution.
How is overfishing a threat to the glaciated landscape
Introduce invasive species that may outcompete and displace the native species
What glacial species are under threat
Polar bears threatened by climate change as there hunting ground is reduced an pollution affects there ability to reproduce
What are the political threats to the fragile glacial landscape
In 2007 Russia claimed part of the sea bead at the North Pole which caused conflict with other arctic nations such as Denmark and Canada which have now staked there own claims
Cast study for a peri glaciated landscape
The Yamal peninsular, Russia
What is the environmental value of the Yamal peninsular
Biodiversity although low had a global value for birds providing a summer home and contributing to the food web , also as a carbon sink storing twice as much carbon as what’s in the atmosphere
What is the cultural value of the Yamal peninsular
To the native Nenets’ the ecosystem has allowed them to live sustainably with there reindeer migrating to avoid the extreme cold weather
What is the economic value of the Yamal peninsular
Reindeer herding supports over 10000 nomads who gets herd over 300,000 domesticated reindeer and own 80% of the pastures . But also the area is rich in natural resources containing the biggest gas reserves on the planet
How does climate change pose a threat a threat to the Yamal peninsular
Earlier melts in spring and delay in autumn freezes affect reindeer’s and herders ability to cross frozen tundra, large sinkholes have also appeared due to the release of methane from the permafrost
How has attempts to exploit gas on the Yamal peninsular a threat
Exploitation of the Bovanenkovo gas field destroyed pasture causing overgrazing of the tundra and disruption to migration routes meaning conflict
Which energy giant is exploiting the Yamal peninsular
Gasprom
What infrastructure projects have taken place due to the exploitation of gas on the Yamal peninsular
A 572 km railway line , a gas pipeline and several bridges
Joe many native reindeer herders have been evicted fire to gas exploitation of the Yamal peninsular
160 reindeer herders
Case study for management of threats to glacial landscape
The Antarctic treaty
What is the Antarctic treaty
International agreement to regulate international relations on Earths only continent without a native human population
