The living world: cold enviroenmnts Flashcards
what are cold environments?
They are environments that experience temps at 0degrees or lower for long periods of time
what are the 2 main types of cold environments?
polar and tundra
what are the characteristics of polar and tundra environments?
Polar:
-Found ij the inland areas that are away from the influence of sea. They inculude: greenland, northern canada, russia and antartica.
- Average monthly temp are always below freezing with very low chances of passing above it.
- Partially or completly covered in ice caps
- Precipitation falls mostly as snow and is minimal due to cold weather unaable to store much water vapour
- Covered in ice/permafrost
- Some plants such as mosses and lichens are found on the fringes of the ice.
-Animals: Polar bears are well adapted to the polar environment. To retain heat they have thick fur, an insulating layer of fat, with
a black nose and foot pads to absorb sunshine.
Tundra:
- Thermal growing seasons last just 6-10 weeks.
- In decemberm there is complete darkness 24/7
-very harsh climate in winter wit some temp falling below -40 degrees
- Temps are less extreme than polar with temps ranging below -20degrees in winter
- brief summer cna be very warm compared to the rest of the year
- Precipitation falls as snow inwinter and possibly rain in summer but precipitation is still low.
-Soils are frozen (permafrost) but in summer will melt closer to the surface.
-Low bushes and small trees may grow in warmer regions.
-Soils become waterlogged because water is trapped by permafrost.
Animals: With more food options and a less extreme climate, several animals live here, including the Arctic fox and Arctic hare.
How are plants and animals adapted?
Plants:
- many plants have shallow roots as te permafrost prvents deep root growth.( Therefore trees are unable to live here due to the inability to grow deep roots.
- Adapted to suvive contrasting weathers (extremely cold to v wet seasons
-adaptations to maximise photosynthesis for the short growing season (light is very weak in the summer days as wel.
For example: the snow buttercup and arctic popy are adapted by producing flowers quickly while the snow i still melting. They aslo have cup shaped flowrrs so that the petals face up to the sun and the rays can be directed at the centre.
- Some grow close together to prevent heat los and some grow near to the ground to prevent water loss and keep warm
-airy stems to keep warm.
- thin and waxy leaves to prevent water loss
Animals:
1) Polar bears:
- Thick fur
-layer of fat of insulation
2) brown bears:
-Hibernate in the winter
-insulated by a thick layer of fat and a thick fur
3) teh preys of the arctic fox and tundra wolf:
- camoflage (eg. the snow shoe rabot has wite fur to blend into the snow)
- Thick fur (eg. the carabuand musk ox has 2 layers of fur to survive the cold. as well as large hoofs to help them travel over soggy grounds and to break through ice to find water during winter months.
In cold countries have the biotic and abiotic components start relying on earch other?
yes, for example, the plants are low growing to preevent heat and water loss but at the same time, it protects the soil from soil errosion.
describe the interdependence of people with plants and animals:
Tundra birds and smlall mamalsuse moss to line their nests for warmth against the icy winds. Tribes have depended on animal skin and feathers for clothing. Depended on marine animals for food for those tribes close to teh coast.
Case study: Svalbard
Savlabard is a norweigan territory located between norway and the north pole. It is the most northerly permently inhabited group of islands in the world
-60% of land are covered by glaciers
-Most of the land is frozen even if some of it is tundra
-no arable farming meaningthat there is no available land for farming
-Temps rarely exceed 10 degrees even in the summer and it can fall below -20 in winter
- Most of the popuyulation of 2700 live in Longyearbyen
what are teh developement opportunities in svalbard?
1) Mineral extraction:
Svalbard is rich in coal reserves but the mining in svalbard has become controversal due to environmental groups being against this as burning coal is a major source of greenhouse gases.
Mining was the major source of economy for svalbard in the past but in the present day mining has decreased due to a sdop of pice in coal.
The developement opportunities:
- main source of income which gave them developemnt opportunities
-provided more jobs for people and more than 300 people was employed in this industry but towards the present there are a lost of jobs
- In 2014, a new mine opened and to get access a road was built over the glacier to reduce damage
2) Energy:
Majority of teh energy comes from teh coal that ahs been mined locally and it is used to generate electricity and energy in the Longyearbyen power station. This power station is the inky coal fired power station in Norway. Environementalist eblieve that it should be closed down and instead, svalbard shoul explore the use of renewable energy resources.
Developement opportunities:
-most likely fututre source of energy is geothermal energy. This is because svalbard is close to the mid alantic ridge which means that they may be able to harness this energy in tghe future
-Another option is carbon capture and storage
3) Fishing:
Barents sea in svalbard aere one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Estimated 150 species of fish. It needs to be protected because teh waters are extremely importnat breedinga nd nursery grounds for fish stocks so it neds to be protected.
There are 2 main sectorsL commercial and subsistnec
Developement opportunities:
- Waters are jointlky controlled by Norway and Russa to ensure that teh fishing i sustainable and ecosystem is protected (make sure species do not become extinct)
- could become one of svalbards major economic activity (trade fish to other countries)
-Provides many jobs to other people (1 in 10 alaskans are employed in this sector)
5) Tourism: This has rapidly growj in the recent years due to more peope wanting to come and see the natural beauty and scenery of cold environments. Aprox 60% of summer tourists are cruise ship passengers, Tourism attracts 1 in 2million people.
Many people come here to see the northern lights, polar bear and hiking
Developement opportunities:
-Provides around 300 jobs for local people
-one of svalbards major income
what are teh challenges of developement in svalbard?
Challenge questions: How are water going to be supplied to homes without freezing and how are homes going to be built without damaging the environment?
1)Extreme temps:
The temp can fall below -30 degrees and daylight hours are very short and a few months are in complete darkness.
- This measn that when you go outside, you would have to wear many layers of clothing which can make it very hard to work.
-There is a serious risk of frostbite
- much of the food is imported becasue the growing of food is almost impossible.
2) Constructuon and infrastructure:
There have been many contruction and maintenance in svalbard.
-Working outdorrs in extreme temp and little light ib winter is very demanding so most of teh construction has to be done in the short summer period
-Permafrost provide a good solid foundation to the housing so it has to be protected. However, due to warming climate this has caused the ice to melt and some building becomming unstable and sink into the waterlogged ground.
-10% of longyearbyens population ahd to be evacuated due to the risk of avalanches making it dangerous to live in.
3) Services:
Services include: water, electricity and sanitation. These are important for a living.
-Most services have to be provided to individual buildings through heated water pipes which have been built overground to minimalise ice thining and thawing off the permafrost. this also allows easy maintenance.
-The water has to be heated before enetering the home to prevent it from freezing.
4) Ascesability:
The accessability is very limited due to its remote location and it can only be reached by plane and ship. Mostly plane as in the winter, the sea is frozen so ships are hard to travel throiugh the ice.
-the challenges of accessability have limited the transportation of goodsto and from svalbard
-there is onlyt 50km of road in longyearbyen and no communities are connected by roads so the only way to travel to otehr communities are by boat in summer and snowmobile in winter
-mountains and glaciers cover lots of the landscape making many areas completly inaccessable and kimits the development opportunities.
what happens to strcuture when permafrost melts?
This could lead to the construction becomming unstabke and crack
How has constrcution happened to protect the permafrost?
Roads and buildings are raised above ground making it easy to maintain and repair.
What are the risks caused by developement?
-fishing:
even though it can bring economic developemnt this may mean that there are smaller amounts of certain species which cause them to be endangered and could disrupt the food chain
-oil spills:
They contaminate the water and the water becomes lifeless, many trees and animals are killed and there is a risk of fire. This also causes pollution
-Electricity pylons:
This means there will be a need of cleaarage of tres which causes environmental damage and this causes a loss of habitat and destroy the already fragile environment
- Adaptations:
Species are already highly specialised and adapted to these extreme weathers and would find it hard to adapt to further changes
For exmaples: polar bears are adapted to hunt on sea ice and due to the sea ice melting each year, their numbers are decreasing
how are cold environments fragile?
While they are very easily damaged, they take a long time to recover.
why do cold environments take a long time to recover?
Taking a long time is becasue the extreme temps make it already hard for plants to grow so if a human tramps or drives over the plnatation, it makes it harder for plants to grow.
What are the ways of managing cold environemnts?
To minimlalise the damage to cold environments, the development and management has to be carefully balanced. This is achieved with the help of technology, gov, conservation groups and international agreements
1) Technology: The trans alaskan pipeline:
Winter sea ice had prevented the transportation of oil because ships were the only available transporttation. So the TAP was constructed so oil could be transported from prudhoe bay to valdec (1300km)
- The oil from teh ground is very hot which helps to keep teh oil flowing but it could met the permafrost. To solve this, the pipline is rasied above the ground to help retain heat and prevent it from melting the permafrost
-The earthquakes could cause cracks in the pipeline which causes oil leaks. To solve this, the pipeline is supported and can slide if an earthquake happens. If oil leak actually happens and is detected, the transportation stops immediately.
2) Action by Gov:
The gov have the power to create laws and regulation which the community have to follow and they can enforce these by issuing fines if not followed
-They can create nature reserves her oil drilinh and devlopement is banned. For example: the western arctic reserve map which is a 9million hectare of protected land which is home to many wildlife
-They can invest into the environmental sceience sector. For example, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration in the USA works to protect marine habitats and oversees fisheries to check taht the activity is sustainable.
3) International agreements:
This helps to ensure that countries abide by regulations.
-the archtic treaty
this is part of the antarctic treaty system which is a collection of international agreements that work to protect the Antarctic fro damage. Ots main aim is to prtect the natural environment of the largest wilderness on earth. Despite the caluable minerals, this treaty has successfully prevented too much economic acticity from happening. It also limits tourism and this treaty shows the population that they recognise the importance of the contry for scientific research.
4)Conservation/ charoty groups:
The world wildlife fund is a conservation froup and charity that helps to protect the Arctic environment in canada.
-they work with local communities to manage critical ecosystems such as the beaufort sea
-they support scientific researc to help protect important speciessuc as polar bears
- They create prtitions and lobying and campaigns for change
- they report issues and findings to the gov and the public whcih can help spread the awareness on issues in cold environments
