Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
The Arctic Environmental Problems
6.1 Introduction
Arctic region is currently undergoing unprecedented warming and drying, as well as
dramatic changes in human use. Global climate change science includes important
themes related to the understanding of annual and inter-annual balances of carbon,
methane, water and other greenhouse gases and their stability. In cases when the
concentration of the main greenhouse gas is continuing to increase at an alarming
rate, the Arctic Basin obtains important role as possible global climate regulator.
Speci
c importance in this aspect belongs to arctic soils in the tundra and permafrost.
Due to microorganism activity, thawing tundra releases the CO
2
with increasing rate
when atmospheric temperature is growing.
Arctic- wide inter-governmental cooperation protecting the Arctic environment
formally began in 1991 with the establishment of the Arctic Environmental Pro-
tection Strategy (AEPS), which was later transformed into the Arctic Council in
1996. Recent growing attention to the Arctic environmental problems is motivated
by a number of circumstances, including (AMAP 2010; Walker et al. 1998, 2008;
Callaghan et al. 2011; Girnis et al. 2003; Krapivin and Mkrtchyan 2009b, c, 2010,
2012; Nitu et al. 2010; Peterson and Krantz 2008; Prestrud et al. 2007; Schneider
2006; Shapovalov 2010; Shultze et al. 2001):
(1) a stronger sensitivity of high latitude environment to various external forcings;
(2) better understanding of the importance of numerous interactions and depen-
dencies between components of the Earth
'
s system; and
(3)
increasing necessity to use natural resources located at high latitudes (Arctic
shelf especially).
the Arctic system constitutes a
unique and important environment with a central role in the dynamics and evolution
of the Earth system
It is fair to say (V
ö
r
ö
smarty et al. 2001) that
“
”
. Some of the recent scienti
c results have been highlighted in
the ACIA Implementation Plan (ACIA 2000):
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