The Arctic Environmental Problems - New Ecoinformatics Tools in Environmental Science: Applications and Decision-making - page 499

clouds) and the stratospheric ozone loss. The latter would allow substantial
enhancement to the biologically effective ultraviolet radiation to reach Earth, with
potential adverse effects on ecosystems.
In conclusion, a multi-component and large-scale

field campaign over Arctic and
Sub-Arctic regions will address questions about the major adverse effects of the
global warming to the local ecosystems, improving the reliability of relevant
models and the current understanding of the above-mentioned key processes.

6.3 Arctic Basin Pollution Problems

The Arctic region exploration strategy in a broad context of biospheric studies has
been discussed in details by Morgan (2008). A necessity of ecosystem s approach to

studying land and marine biota has been particularly emphasized, as well as, con-
ditions of socio-economic development in high-latitude regions. Aibulatov (2000)
have discussed general problems of high-latitude environmental dynamics with
special emphasis on radioactive pollution as an echo of the cold war. Aibulatov
(2000) has analyzed principal sources of arti

'

cial radioisotopes in the Russian Arctic
seas such as: atomic explosions at Novaya Zemlya, the global radionuclide back-
ground as a result of the overall nuclear tests conducted on the planet, Russian
chemical and mining plants, Chernobyl accident, West-European radiochemical
plants, solid and liquid radioactive waste dumping in the Barents and Kara Seas, the
Northern Military Marine and its bases, atomic submarine construction and main-
tenance facilities and Atom fleet) of the Murmansk Shipping Company.

Studying of the distribution of 137 Cs, 90 Sr and 239,240 Pu in the water masses of
the Northern, Norwegian, Barents, Kara, White and Laptev Seas has resulted in the
following conclusions (Aibulatov 2000):

fl ot (atomic fl

1. The general level of radioactive contamination of the waters of Arctic seas,
except for several local areas, is characterized at the present time by little
difference in comparison with background level ( 6 Bq/kg).

2. The radioactive pollution of the waters of the Northern and Norwegian Seas is
entirely due to the emissions from radiochemical plants located in Western
Europe.
3. The contamination of waters of the Barents, White, Kara, and Laptev Seas is due
to both local (Russian) sources and West-European plants.
4. The

*

1995 have resulted in the
conclusion that there have been no substantial radioactive emissions from the
burial sites in the area.
5. The contribution of the Ob and Yenisei river runoff to the overall radioactive
transport is not signi

field observations in the Kara Sea in 1992

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cant at the present time, except cases of extremely heavy

floods which happen very rarely.
6. Compared to open waters of the Arctic Ocean, shelf seas of the Russian Arctic
are more heavily contaminated.

fl