Yamal Peninsula, Russia case study

Question 1

how much area does it cover

Answer 1

47,100 square miles

Question 2

what is the total length and width of the peninsula

Answer 2

435 miles and 150 miles

Question 3

how deep does permafrost penetrate

Answer 3

300m

Question 4

what does the underlying permafrost do to the landscape

Answer 4

limits drainage and provides moisture for plant growth

Question 5

what type of landscape is the Yamal peninsula

Answer 5

periglacial

Question 6

what % of Nenets people are nomadic and herd reindeer

Answer 6

50% (of 10,000)

Question 7

who is the peninsula home to

Answer 7

Nenets, nomadic reindeer herders

Question 8

fauna species

Answer 8

Arctic fox, lemmings, reindeer and over 50 different species of nesting birds

Question 9

flora species

Answer 9

lichen-moss, shrubland areas separated by bare ground or wetlands, marshes are influenced by spring floods in Autumn.

Question 10

what global value does the permafrost layer have

Answer 10

large-scale carbon sink, storing an immense amount of carbon and methane (twice as much carbon as in the atmosphere) when released these gasses will add further warming

Question 11

what do the reindeer provide the Nenets

Answer 11

transport, clothing, hides for tents, meat and income

Question 12

what is the temperature in winter

Answer 12

-50 degrees

Question 13

how many nomads does reindeer herding support

Answer 13

10,000

Question 14

how many domesticated reindeer do they herd

Answer 14

300,000

Question 15

what % of the land is privately owned

Answer 15

80%

Question 16

what does the Yamal peninsula contain and what % of the worlds gas reserve does it hold

Answer 16

the largest gas reserve on the planet and 25%

Question 17

what happened in the 1980s

Answer 17

infrastructure exploited the Bovanenkova gas field destroying the pasture fields, disrupting migration routes and causing conflict with the Nenets

Question 18

in what month and year were sinkholes discovered

Answer 18

July 2014

Question 19

what are three of the infrastructure projects

Answer 19

572km railway line, a gas pipe and 7 bridges

Question 20

over the last 30 years, what has the temperature increased by

Answer 20

2 degrees

Question 21

how many reindeer herders have been evicted

Answer 21

over 160

Question 22

how many oil spill incidents are recorded per year

Answer 22

870

Question 23

what happened between 2002 and 2012 as a result of the indigenous population moving away from their normal lifestyle

Answer 23

the suicide rate among the Nentsy people was 72.7/100,000 compared to 50.7/100,000 non-indigenous people

Question 24

what is a threat to the global climate system

Answer 24

change in the carbon cycle

Question 25

how much is planned to be spent on reindeer meat production

Answer 25

$30 million

Question 26

what is venison production set to increase from

Answer 26

400 annual tonnes to 3000 annual tonnes