Human Impacts on Cold Environments Flashcards
Give the impacts of tourism in the Alpine regions
- Mountain areas are put under huge pressure as mountain events need snow to support the tourism industry (80% of jobs)
- 100 million tourists annually
- As lower resorts no longer have as much snow, must rely on artificial snow which consumes huge volumes of water, harms soil, plants, and uses lots of energy
- 800 tonnes of water needed to cover 2.5 acres of land with snow 8” deep
Give the impact of oil and gas exploitation in the Arctic
- Shell plans to drill or oil, this could cause 150 tonnes of CO2 to be released into the atmosphere
- The melting ice ironically maks the oil reserves more accessible
- Estimated 30% of world’s undercover gas and 13% oil in Artic
- Drop-in oil prices from $115/barelle to $65
What is the impact of oil spills in Siberia
- Extreme weather conditions, along woth the lack of maintenance have resulted in a slow but constant seepage of oil from pipeline ruptures
- 5 million tonnes of crude oil is spilt in Russian oil fields each year
- At least 500,000 tonnes (18,325 oil trucks) end up in Arctic ocean
Spilt oil from toxic lakes, suffocates vegetation and seeps into groundwater
What will a rise in 1ºC cause
Small glaciers in the Andes disappear completely
Permafrost thawing damages buildings and roads in parts of Canada and Russia
Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation starts to weaken
Potential for Greenland Ice sheet to start melting irreversibly
What will a rise in 4ºC cause
Loss of around half the Arctic Tundra
The rising risk of collapsing West Antarctic Ice sheet
Possible disappearances of large glaciers in the Himalayas affecting 1/4 of China’s population and hundreds of millions in India
The collapse of the Antarctic Thermohaline Circulation
2016 was the………year on record
Warmest
Nineteen of the 20 warmest years have all been since…..
2000
Average temperatures in Greenland have risen by…ºC
3
What is the Antarctic Treaty of 1959
Military activity is banned
Only for scientific research
Cooperation between scientists promoted
Rules managing tourist activities
What is the Madrid Protocol (1991)
Protects the aesthetic and scientific value of the wilderness
Bans all activity relating to mineral resources other than for scientific research
Protected areas established
What is CCAMLR
Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Mine Living Resources
Establishes concern over increased krill catches
AIms to conserve marine life
What is bioprospecting
Antarctica is of particular interest because of the extreme environment including temperature, aridity, and salinity meaning that biota have evolved unique characteristics for survival that could be used to produce commercial means
Ant-freeze glycoproteins found in some species of Antarctic fish could be used to improve fish farm production in cold climates, extend the shelf life of frozen food and improve the preservation of transplanted tissue
Give some reasons why Antarctica shouldn’t be developed
Scientists from over 25 different countries have already shown the importance of Antarctica in learning about life on Earth, both present and future
Essential place for measuring changes in global climate and air pollution
1985 - British Scientists from Antarctica discovered the hole in the ozone layer since then there has been an international effort to stop the causes
What measures could be put in place to protect Antarctica
Satelite technology to track illegal fishing boats and prevent them from entering Antarctic waters
Stricter controls of tourism
All research stations to be powered by renewables
Give some reasons why Antarctica should be developed
Majority of people have no interactions or reasons to care about Antarctica
Huge value for tourism, a treasure trove of minerals that lie beneath the ice
In future, global companies could become more powerful than governments and pressure them to give up the Antarctic Treaty
