Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTAL
HAZARD - MOOSE FARTS
Global warming. Fossil fuels. Moose farts… Although it doesn't quite roll off the
tongue as a serious threat to the environment, a moose with gas can actually be more
dangerous to the environment than your average family car.
According to a report in London's The Times newspaper in August 2007, by doing
nothing more than farting and belching every year a single adult moose releases the
methane equivalent of 2100kg of carbon dioxide emissions, equal to about 13,000km
of travel in a car. Or, to put it another way according to Reidar Andersen, the scient-
ist at the Technical University in Trondheim who came up with this startling fact,
'shoot a moose and you have saved the equivalent of 36 flights between Oslo and
Trondheim'. With an estimated 120,000 wild moose roaming the Norwegian wilds -
the Norwegian authorities authorise an annual nationwide hunting quota of around
37,000 - that adds up to a disturbingly high output of methane, not to mention a
heightened state of nervousness among otherwise innocent moose.
In 2004, the fjords were voted first for environmental sustainability out of 115 major tourist destinations by
National Geographic Traveler magazine. In 2009, the fjords again came out on top although this time with
an even bigger margin and at the summit of 133 destinations.
Commercial Fishing
Fishing and aquaculture (fish farming) remain the foundation of Norway's coastal eco-
nomy,providingworkforanestimated28,000peopleinthefishingfleet,andahostofsec-
ondary industries such as shipbuilding, fish feed, processing, packaging, fishing gear and
the transportation of fish products. With an annual catch of around 2.5 to 3 million tonnes,
Norway is the 10th-largest fishing nation in the world and one of the world's largest ex-
porters of seafood.
A major factor in the success of Norwegian offshore fisheries has been the warm Gulf
Stream waters entering the northern seas, although this varies from year to year. The larger
thevolumeofwarmwater,thegreaterthegrowthofplanktoninthefarnorthandthegreat-
er the amounts of food available to fish and marine mammals.
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