- Details
- Written by: ofurpaur
- Category: YAR & Features
- Hits: 6979
The 2nd Polar Law Symposium was held at the University of Akureyri the past weekend, September 10-12. This years Symposium was environment oriented having an indication of environment in all four themes. The themes this year were New Shipping Routes and Environmental Implications for the Polar Regions, Effective Environmental Governance, The Exploration and Exploitation of Resources and Human Rights and Polar Regions.
Many distinguished speakers discussed the issues from different perspectives, but perhaps the most interesting or rather most anticipated information being shared at the Symposium was about the new Arctic policy of the Russian Federation by H.E. Victor Tatarintsev, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Iceland.
Due to the new environmental developments in the Arctic and the international attention the area has gained in the past few years in international politics the Russian Federation has adapted a new Arctic Strategy to 2020 and beyond.
The importance of the Arctic for the Russian Federation can not be undermined knowing the fact that it contains 1% of the Russian population and 18% of the territory, but produces 20% of the GDP and 20 % of Russia's total export.
According to H.E. Victor Tatarintsev the peace and international cooperation are the key issues in the Arctic in coming years. Russia will emphasize the cooperation through already existing framework, namely the Arctic Council and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council and does not aim at increasing its military presence in the area.
The Arctic sea route will be of high importance for Russia as a strategic national transport route and reconstruction of the existing infrastructure on the Arctic coast-line will be one of the main tasks on national level. The sea route will not be important only because of the immense oil and gas production in the Russian north but also because of the development gap between the north and south, which must be cut down for the benefit of the people living in the area. New ports must be built to the remote areas to enable import of new technology and development and new kind of tourism in these areas must be made possible.
Arctic Indigenous peoples play also a role in the new Russian Arctic Policy Russia committing itself to the existing international standards for the protection of indigenous livelihoods and will follow.
Despite the fact that Russia is very committed to the existing cooperation regime and intends to obey the international law in all matters, H.E. Victor Tatarintsev reminded people not to simplify the situation too much. Certain unresolved legal and political issues remain in the Arctic and cooperation should be enhanced to abolish uncertainties around these issues. As an example he pointed out the Russian flag in the bottom of the Arctic sea incident, which according to him was purely scientific expedition and did not imply the political contention as it taken by the international community.
As a conclusion, it can be said that the Russian Arctic policy aims to intensify the national development with the utmost goal of protecting legitimate aspirations of the Russian Federation while working within the international community.
- Details
- Written by: ofurpaur
- Category: YAR & Features
- Hits: 6640
Between September 10-12 The Second Polar Law Symposium 2009 Will be held at the University of Akureyri Iceland to present and debate current legal challenges in the polar regions. The First Polar Law symposium was held September 7-10 2008 and brought together several of the world's leading Polar lawyers and senior scientists and coincided with the launch of a new Masters program in Polar Law at the University of Akureyri.
The symposium gathered over 60 participants, from a variety of institutions including distinguished guests Dr. Bakary Kante, Director of the Division of Environmental Law and Conventions at the United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), and President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Republic of Iceland.
The symposium was divided into four themes, which addressed the legal challenges of protecting polar UNAK Lake Myvatn biodiversity, improving sustainable development in the North, re-evaluating environmental governance and questions surrounding emerging jurisdictional claims in the Polar Regions. One particular concern for researchers was the need for developing a new legal framework to address the Arctic environment. The Symposium was regarded as a success and the upcoming symposium can be expected to be similarly interesting. This years theme will be
- Theme I: New Shipping Routes and Environmental Implications for the Polar Regions
- Theme II: Effective Environmental Governance
- Theme III: The Exploration and Exploitation of Resources
It is clear that this years symposium will be just as exiting as last years and will coincide with a APECS meeting held in connection with the conference. The full schedule of the conference can be downloaded here and further questions addressed to Dr. Natalia Loukacheva
- Details
- Written by: ofurpaur
- Category: YAR & Features
- Hits: 6003
For the past two years, the Icelandic Marine Research Institute has been conducting experiments by tagging whales dwelling on Icelandic waters with satellite senders to track their
migration route around the island and map their departing points of Icelandic waters.
In the fall 2008 four whales, two Minke Whales and two Humpback Whales, were marked by shooting them with a special air gun developed for this purpose especially. In February 2009 another two Humpbacks were tagged and finally in June this summer one more Humpback and a Blue Whale were tagged.
This is a first time that the migration pattern of a Blue whale has been tracked and thus very important and interesting information for both the public and the research community. The Blue Whale was marked in Skjálfandi bay in northern Iceland in June 23 and has since travelled almost 8000km from north-coast of Iceland to the southeast coast, visiting west-coast Greenland on its way.
The travelling pattern of the Blue Whale is characterized by rapid sprints, while it can dwell in restricted areas for several days, most likely for food gathering.
The migration of Blue Whales to south is soon getting started and the research institution hopes that the senders will continue to send signals through that period giving them thus valuable information on the migration pattern itself and a hint of their hibernation.
It is possible to follow the Blue Whale's migration pattern HERE.
Further information can be found on the Icelandic Marine Research Institute’s website, and other Arctic Portal features
- Details
- Written by: ofurpaur
- Category: YAR & Features
- Hits: 6068
Introduction
The Arctic has a unique climate within the earth’s ecosystem. Fearly little of low angle sunlight reaches the Arctic and more energy is radiated from the polar regions than is received. This makes the Arctic climate very harsh and difficult for growth and survival. Great variation in temperature and the contrast between the long and dark winter and the brief and light summer require extreme adaptability of plants and animals. The Arctic contains many species not found elsewhere, and many habitats and ecological processes and adaptations that are unique.
To survive the Arctic conditions, animals have developed many behavioral and morphological adaptations. They use snow as shelter throughout the winter, accumulate large fat deposits when food is available and change the color and texture of their fur or plumage in winter to insulate their bodies and retain their cryptic
coloration year round.
Several mammalian species spend the winter in torpor to escape the coldest period of the year and species such as bear and badger spend their winter sleeping under the snow.
One of the characteristics of almost all Arctic animals is their ability and willingness to migrate even very long distances in search for food and easier environment.
Some Arctic species
The Arctic Char
The Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus (L.)) is the most northern distributed freshwater fish, and part of the small group of salmonid fishes (i.e., salmons, trouts, whitefishes). Chars are a significant component of aquatic and near shore marine ecosystems in the Arctic. Often the only freshwater fish available, they play a major role for the subsistence of local people who fish returning upstream migrants of sea-run char in late summer and early autumn. Arctic Chars are threatened by a wide range of impacts ranging from local exploitation and habitat fragmentation and degradation mostly through oil and gas development, to widespread and pervasive impacts such as climate change and atmospheric contaminant deposition. Moreover, pervasive threats such as climate change affect Arctic aquatic ecosystems in a dramatic way, clearly having a huge impact on its most sensitive ecosystem components. Yet, many aspects of ecological roles of chars are still unknown at present for most northern ecosystems. Clearly, the integrity and continued health and viability of northern aquatic ecosystems are intimately connected to the biodiversity of chars present in those systems.
Reindeer and Caribou
Reindeer and Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) are distributed circumpolar in every Arctic country. Caribou represent the most dominant large mammal species in 
Arctic habitats and are an extremely valuable component of Arctic biodiversity and cultural identity of many northern peoples. Caribous are the only member of the deer family where both males and females grow antlers. Pregnant females will retain their antlers until after calving, allowing them to dominate the social hierarchy in late winter. During deep snow years, caribou will move in search of more favorable snow conditions, as more energy is expended digging to the lichens than is derived from feeding. Reindeer and Caribou are a vulnerable yet crucial source of income from Arctic terrestrial ecosystems for northern peoples. Close monitoring of these wild and domestic Rangifer populations is vital in assessing the impact of climate change.
Gray Wolf
Gray wolves (Canis lupus arctos) currently number about 150,000 worldwide. Some 80% live in the circumpolar countries, although the number actually living in the Arctic is unknown. Canada has the most wolves of any arctic country, with some 50,000 to 63,000 animals inhabiting about 86% of their historical range. About 16,000 of the wolves live north of 60°N. Most of these Arctic populations are considered stable and not at risk. While wolves are abundant in Alaska, northern Canada, and Russia, local overharvests may occur. Habitat loss continues to be a concern for wolf conservation, especially in areas with recovering wolf populations. Wolves are regarded by many as a nuisance species, hampering thus management and recovery plans. The challenge continues to be the development and public acceptance of a flexible conservation plan that accommodates wolves in wilderness, but allows for local conflict management.
Ivory Gull
The Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnean) is a high Arctic seabird breeding at high latitudes in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic and often associated with sea ice throughout the year. In
spite of an early discovery the Ivory Gull still remains one of the most poorly known seabird species in the world. There is growing concern in the circumpolar Arctic that the Ivory Gull may be in decline. The most recent information on population trend of Ivory Gulls exists for Canada, Svalbard and Russia. In Canada, the Ivory Gull has a highly restricted range, breeding exclusively in Nunavut Territory. Recent surveys in Svalbard suggest that only a few of the known colonies are still being used there and that the total population is smaller than previously estimated. Information obtained currently on Russian breeding grounds indicate stable populations breeding at some key colonies, although considerable annual fluctuations in numbers of breeding birds occurs. The Ivory Gull has been protected in West Greenland since 1977 under the Greenland Home Rule Order of 5 May 1988 concerning the protection of birds in Greenland. In Svalbard, it has been protected since 1978, under the Svalbard Environmental Protection Act. In Russia, it was listed in the Red Data Book of the USSR (1984) and now is registered as a Category 3 (Rare) species in the Red Data Book of the Russian Federation.
Climate change
Climate change is perhaps the greatest threat to the Arctic environment as it exists today. Observed changes in species abundance and distribution, and to permafrost and sea ice, are evidence that climate change is already having an impact. Although the predictions cannot tell what will happen, they do indicate the types of ecological impacts that may occur.
The impacts are likely to include melting of discontinuous permafrost, changes in distribution of moisture and the northward expansion of the forest. The climate change is further likely to affect the distribution of most plants and animals of the tundra and polar desert and affect the fish and shellfish distribution in the Arctic waters. Loss of permanent sea ice altogether would clearly have tremendous impacts on algae, plankton, fish, and marine mammals that use sea ice.
Monitoring to detect the impacts of climate change and ultraviolet radiation on Arctic ecosystems is vital, as is further research to understand the dynamics of the systems that will be affected.
Reference:
All the information presented above is gathered from the Arctic Council’s Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF) Working Group’s homepage
and from the Arctic Flora and Fauna: Status and Conservation report.
- Details
- Written by: ofurpaur
- Category: YAR & Features
- Hits: 35133
In the recent years, the world’s attention has turned to the Arctic, not least because of its vast energy resources. Due to the climate change and its significant impact to the Arctic environment resources that have long been unreachable are becoming feasible for exploitation. It is estimated that up to fifth of the world’s undiscovered petroleum resources are to be found in the Arctic while the Arctic’s share of the worlds known resources today is around 12%.
Russia is by far the most important gas producer in the Arctic. Almost all proven Arctic gas reserves are located in Northern Russia as well as 90% of the proven oil reserves. Together produce Northern Russia and Alaska 97% of the total Arctic oil and gas the Arctic’s total global share of production being around 16%. Furthermore, Russia is considered to contain by far the largest volume of the undiscovered petroleum reserves. Other significant regions where petroleum is to be found are Alaska and the Norwegian Sea, which will in future introduce new oil producing states within the Arctic, namely Greenland and Iceland.
In the face of the petroleum race in the Arctic, some concerns have been raised about the very fragile Arctic environment. In addition to the actual drilling, transportation of the petroleum will impose the Arctic environment to a severe threat in case of an oil spill or shipwreck.
Even though the conventional petroleum industry is still today dominant in the Arctic, some renewable energy developments are also taken place in the Arctic. The renewable energy sector is however still quite small compared to the conventional one, but can be expected to grow in the future.
The newly published Arctic Energy Portal aims at providing a comprehensive information gateway to the Arctic energy projects, new developments and controversies concerning the resource exploitation. At present, the Portal will concentrate mostly on oil and gas, but as new projects and developments take place in renewable energy sector the Portal will broaden its scope of information and cover renewable sector as well.