Greenland is contaminated with considerable amounts of pollution, caused by large-scale atmospheric circulations, especially in winter. The pollutants in the Arctic are primarily sulfur, which is highly acidic, in both gas and aerosol form. Most of these pollutants are from anthropogenic sources deriving mainly from industrialized areas in the Eurasian continent. In addition to threatening environmental stability, pollution is speeding the unraveling of traditional Inuit culture in Greenland.
Climate change is affecting the entire world, yet Greenland is especially sensitive to slight fluctuations due to its dependency of the natives’ traditional lifestyles on the environment. Melting ice and permafrost restrict access to hunting grounds making a traditional way of life consisting of hunting seal and caribou more difficult.2 Every four years, the Inuit living in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, and Siberia convene the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) to discuss issues of concern. The ICC lobbied successfully to ban a dozen organic pollutants, carried north by winds, that do not evaporate in the Arctic cold. These pollutants were infecting meat and berries, staples of the Inuit diet, as well as the breast milk of nursing mothers.3 There are many more problems facing the sustainability of Greenland, such as trans-boundary pollution and the fact that the Inuit are not an effective lobbying group due to differences in culture, dialect, and lack of communication.
In November of 2004, a report by 250 scientists warned that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the global average, which threatens to wipe out several species including polar bears, and melt summer ice around the North Pole by 2100.4 One of the reasons for the increased warming is that the dark water and ground in the arctic soak up more heat from the atmosphere than ice or snow. The levels of carbon dioxide today are about 379ppm and increasing, a comparable level to 55 million years ago when there was no ice on the planet due to the warmth of the atmosphere.5 If the Greenland ice cap melts, the sea level will rise six or seven meters. Although this is a worst-case scenario, it seems clear that steps must be taken to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide and other pollutants in our atmosphere.
Investigations of pollutants in Greenland during the past fifteen years show that the troposphere is burdened with high levels of trans-boundary pollution. The major anthropogenic contributors to this “Arctic haze” are central Europe, and northern Russia.
The planet we live in, the earth is a tiny composition in this huge universe. It has diversities ranging from highly variant temperature and pressure belts as well as various ecosystem types. One such remarkable feature of the earth is the polar ice caps. There are three major prominent features, the Antarctic ice on the South Pole, the Arctic ice on the North Pole and Greenland on the north between North America and Europe. Antarctica consist about 90 percent of the world's ice (and 70 percent of its fresh water). It is covered with ice an average of 2,133 meters (7,000 feet) thick. If all of the Antarctic ice melted, sea levels around the world would rise about 61 meters (200 feet). The Arctic ice is not so thick in comparison and it mostly floats in the Arctic Ocean. Greenland, on the other hand would add another 7 meters (20 feet) to the oceans if it melted because Greenland is closer to the equator than Antarctica, the temperatures there are higher, so the ice is more likely to melt. Scientists from the Universities of London and Edinburgh say that ice loss in Antarctica and Greenland together contribute approximately 12 percent of the rise in sea levels. The melting of these enormous ice bodies can significantly impact the global changes in climate and reversely, this climate changes also impact the melting of the ice bodies. It is a two way process and the causes are mostly anthropogenic.
amount that the United States lets into the air. In fact, the essay claims that, “Each year the eastern United States belched forty-eight million metric tons of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides; Canada emits seven million tons.” This device helps to show the readers the vast differences between the two countries as w...
Smog From the Middle Kingdom (1998, Summer). Earth Island Journal, 13 (3), p. 3. [Online]. Available: http://insite.palni.edu/WebZ/Authorize:sessionid=0.
In the “Ice Watch,” Olafur Eliasson uses a whopping one hundred tons of ice directly cut from icebergs from Copenhagen, Denmark, Olafur’s hometown. He strategically puts twelve ice blocks in Greenland, City Hall Square, Copenhagen; The ice pieces were imported in four refrigerated containers to Denmark before being left to melt in the city halls plaza. Here is where the people witnessed first hand the death of arctic ice. Olafur uses this “sculpture” to strike the effects of global warming; he emphasizes that the increase of greenhouses gasses cause arctic ice to melt. Frank Jensen, Copenhagens mayor and the Danish Minister of Climate stressed that to prevent the melting of Arctic; we must reduce our use of coal and use our electricity cautiously
Climate change has been a growing issue in Canada’s arctic that the nation has seen over the past few decades, and protecting the arctic environment is crucial task that needs to be exercised. Though strategies have been developed in prior years, Canada’s arctic is now facing severe consequences of climate change more than ever, and it is vital that future strategies are made to be effective enough to minimize the threat of climate change. After examining many potential policies that could be beneficial to help diminish the negative effects of climate change in Canada’s arctic, I have discovered three prominent ones to address in this policy brief. The first policy I am analyzing is having Canada sign the Paris Agreement. I then will evaluate
The use of fossil fuels has greatly increased the amount of atmospheric and oceanic CO2 to a point where it’s ruining the natural flow of the world; the earth’s temperature is rising. As a result, the polar ice caps are melting causing the seas to rise. With only a 1 meter increase in sea level the United States alone could lose over 10,000 square miles of land, and thousands of houses will be destroyed. The effects will be just as prominent around the world: many islands will become submerged, 17% of Bangladesh will be underwater, and tens of thousands of people will be displaced (“Global Warming” 3).
The change in climate has already been apart of consideration for major developmental projects (Fergal & Prowse). Not only are companies preparing for climate change but also the communities are concerned with how the impact will change their access to survival resources such as fish, water, wildlife and forestry (Fergal & Prowse, 2007). It is projected that in 25-30 years, sea ice in the Canadian arctic will be completely melted and which could strongly affect the northern communities (Fergal & Prowse, 2007). This essay will discuss the positive and negative impacts of climate change on transportation for Northern Canadian communities and their accessibility to resources as the sea ice melts.
One point I would like to mention, is that Global Warming is causing sea level to rise. Some evidence to back that idea up, is that with temperatures rising abnormally, scientist think that with temperatures rising, ice caps on the North and South Pole are losing ice, that could maybe lose all of the animals living there, like polar bears, or walruses. Also, even though “CNN” states that
Earth’s carbon levels have followed a natural cycle throughout the past 800,000 years where the carbon dioxide concentration varied from 180 ppm (parts per million) and 280 ppm which resulted in several changes in the environment.. In the grand scheme of Earth, these changes are miniscule and have stayed within the natural cycle. But when looking through the eyes of humans, these changes are drastic causing ice ages, draughts, and rain for years (Goldstein 6). During the last century carbon dioxides levels in the atmosphere have become significantly larger than they ever have in the past 800,000 years. Today these levels are at 390 ppm and show no signs of stopping which will cause temperatures to rise because carbon is a greenhouse gas. When a greenhouse gas, such as carbon dioxide or water vapor are present in the atmosphere, they absorb the heat that the Earth is giving off, creating a thermal blanket over Earth trapping in heat (Houghton 20).
One of the most compelling and difficult environmental problems society faces today is climate change. People do not realize how much the environment has changed for the worse in the last ten years, until they are told that the last two decades of the 20th century have been the hottest in the last 400 years, according to climate studies (Conserve Energy Future). Today, the carbon dioxide levels have reached 396.81 parts per million (ppm). “Carbon dioxide (CO2) has also increased over the last 100 years-- from about 300 ppm to 370 ppm. Interestingly, the majority of these additions have occurred in the last 50 years, when temperature increases have been the slowest” (geocraft).
Inuit are geared toward small businesses, accountants and individuals who want to do their taxes at home. There are many factors that affect the environment of an industry. Some factors include economic, technological, and sociaocultural, factors all affect I...
Global warming is the greatest challenge facing our planet. It is one of the widely discussed topics because global warming is a threat to all living things on Earth. The animals and people in the arctic are already experiencing this. The earth’s temperature dramatically increased during the past 50 years and now, ice caps are melting w...
Chasing Ice covers the long debated topic of global warming and whether or not human activity is currently causing global temperatures to rise. Evidence suggests that increased carbon dioxide emissions over the past couple hundred years are responsible for the warming of the Earth’s surface, and thus increasing the levels of the ocean due to an accelerated rate of ice melting. We discussed this same topic in class and how humans are contributing to the greenhouse effect which plays a large role in trapping these unnatural amounts of gases such as carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere and causing a rise in the number of natural disasters around the world.
Air pollution is a type of pollution that can severely damage our environment as well as the earth’s atmosphere. Air pollution occurs all the time when the air contains many substances ...
The polar regions are most affected and vulnerable to the warming temperatures because the poles are covered in ice. The world’s ice sheets are melting faster than ever and temperatures in the Arctic region are rising twice as fast as anywhere else on Earth according to the NRDC. This will have a serious impact on people, wildlife and plants in that region. The National Climate Assessment has said that “By the year 2100, it 's estimated our oceans will be one to four feet higher, threatening coastal systems and low-lying areas, including entire island nations and the world 's largest cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami as well as Mumbai, Sydney, and Rio de Janeiro”. Polar bears are in great threat as the ice sheets melt because they use the ice to travel across the land and hunt. As the sea-ice platforms move further apart, the swimming conditions become more dangerous. The U.S Geological Survey done by the National Wildlife Federation predicts that by the year 2050, two thirds of all polar bears will disappear. Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the Adelie penguins in Antarctica and reported the numbers have fallen from 32,000 to only 11,000 over the last 30