The Arctic Ocean, its marine wildlife, and the people it supports face changes unparalleled anywhere on Earth. Over the last 100 years, the Arctic has, on average, warmed at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. Foremost is the rapid loss of sea-ice. Scientists predict that the Arctic will be seasonally ice-free within a mere ten to 20 years.
Rapid warming in the Arctic places extreme adaptation pressure on Arctic species and on the people whose subsistence culture has been supported for thousands of years. The Arctic Ocean is home to dozens of species of marine mammals including polar bears, bowhead, beluga and gray whales, narwhal, walruses and bearded, ringed and ribbon seals. In the U.S., several species dependent on the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, including the polar bear, bowhead whale and spectacled eider, are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
The unprecedented loss of sea ice has prompted demand to expand unregulated maritime shipping and offshore drilling for oil and gas without adequate protections for environmentally and culturally sensitive areas. Because relatively little is known about the abundance, distribution, and role of fish and other marine species in the Arctic, there is no way to anticipate the impact of industrial development on its ecosystems.
U.S. Arctic Fishery Management Plan In August 2009, the Obama administration approved this plan closing nearly the entire U.S. Arctic Ocean to commercial fishing until scientific research demonstrates that such activities will not harm the fragile ecosystem or local communities. The Alaska fishing industry, community leaders and conservation groups support the moratorium. This approach can be a precedent for other development such as oil and gas drilling and shipping.
Oil and Gas Leasing in the U.S. Arctic Ocean and Bristol BayThe acreage available for oil and gas leasing in the U.S. Arctic Ocean has increased almost eightfold since 2001. Pew’s U.S. Arctic program is working to ensure that oil and gas development is deferred until a precautionary, science-based plan can determine where and how these activities can be safely conducted and adequate consultation occurs with indigenous communities. The administration is currently reviewing a 2010-2015 oil and gas leasing plan that would open most of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas and Bristol Bay to development. Four hundred scientists from the U.S. and 20 other countries have signed a letter (PDF) urging that this plan be put on hold.
Feb 05, 2010 - While many studies have examined the mechanisms by which the frozen Arctic and global climate are interrelated, this report, "An Initial Estimate of the Cost of Lost Climate Regulation Services Due to Changes in the Arctic Cryosphere," is the first attempt to estimate the dollar cost of global warming brought about by shrinking ice, snow and permafrost.
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Scientists, Lend Your Support Here: Call for "Time Out" in the U.S. Arctic Ocean: Science-Based Precautionary Approach Needed
A new advertisement calls on President Obama to defer large-scale oil and gas leasing in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the northern coast of Alaska.
