Date: 7/12/2012

Title: Greens sue to block Shell drilling in Arctic Alaska

            National conservation groups are taking Shell to court in one last attempt to stop them from drilling exploratory wells in the Arctic waters. The conservation groups are worried that an oil spill will happen based on past drilling experiences with other companies. They are going to court to make sure they are prepared and know the risks, especially if they are now finished by October before the bad winter storms. The U.S department of Interior has given Shell the ok but others are not ok with the decision. The oil spills would affect many endangered animals in and around the waters where the drilling will occur. The green groups do not trust the oil spill equipment since it is most of the same back from 2000 that is unreliable as it has not been tested in Arctic waters. Even in relatively good conditions less than 10% of the oil was cleaned up from the Exxon Valdez spill. Shell has no way to know if they can prevent a spill, all they can do is hope and tell people it is safe for them to drill. I believe that they should not drill until they can do safety tests on their equipment and wait until all the talk about it calms down. Shell needs to work on their equipment and research more before they go in and drill. They say that they would not be there if they were not absolutely confident that they could execute a responsible exploration program. They expect to start drilling in August with the drilling rig the Noble Discoverer.

http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/2012/07/12/greens-sue-to-block-shell-drilling-in-arctic-alaska/

Arctic oil rush will ruin ecosystem, warns Lloyd's of London

Lloyd’s of London has become the first major business to speak out about the severe potential risks of environmental damage that can arise from drilling oil in the Arctic. As the temperatures are warming, the ice in the region is melting, drawing much commercial attention from oil companies. These areas that were once covered by ice could possibly hold a quarter of the world’s remaining hydrocarbon reserves.  One hundred billion dollars in investments has been estimated to go into Arctic oil drilling projects over the next decade. Among the companies planning these projects are Cairn Energy and Shell, who hope to establish wells off the Greenland and Canadian coasts.  

The Arctic is made up of several ecosystems which are “highly sensitive to damage,” and any mistake could lead to long-term negative impacts.  Authors write in a new report from Lloyd’s that a potential oil spill is “the greatest risk in terms of environmental damage, potential cost, and insurance.” In addition to the stresses already caused by changes in climate, future economic activity in the Arctic will only further disturb the fragile ecosystems. Aside from the pollutants that would be released into the environment, other negative factors include road and pipeline construction, noise pollution from drilling, seismic survey activity, and the breaking up of sea ice, which could cause the natural migration patterns of whales and caribou to be altered.

Furthermore, an oil spill cleanup would pose a “unique and hard-to-manage risk.” Lloyd’s chief executive, Richard Ward, hopes companies will take a step back and consider the consequences before going through with the drilling. The Lloyd’s report states the “inadequacies” of both the company and government were displayed in the Macondo blowout in 2010, calling for much needed research to “close knowledge gaps, reduce uncertainties, and manage risks.” Lloyd’s also finds it essential that companies participate in exercises based on worst-case scenarios. However, enabling “safe economic activity” comes at a sizeable expense. With the delicacy and unpredictability of the Arctic environment, some even say that no compensation is worth the risks of drilling.

With the changing climate already impacting the Arctic wildlife, why should man purposely disturb it further? I do not think that companies have taken the time to fully consider and prepare for the potential risks of drilling, but have instead kept their focus on what can be gained. Oil spills can have major consequences for the environment, endangering animals’ lives and possibly tipping the balance of the food web. Without thorough preparation for what could go wrong, companies are risking damaging the environment permanently for monetary profit. Although participating in worst-case scenario exercises and conducting more research will reduce the chance for mistakes, the risk of harming the Arctic is always there.

Original Article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/12/lloyds-london-warns-risks-arctic-oil-drilling

Arctic Warming At High Rate Due To Melting Sea Ice, Global Warming

A study at the University of Melbourne in Australia has shown that the warming across the globe and the melting of the sea ice are contributing to the rise in the Arctic temperatures. 

Researchers say that the melting of the sea ice is a contributing factor to the ground level warming but the warming of the atmosphere increases the atmospheric circulation which raises the temperature.

Ian Simmonds, a Professor from the University of Melbourne’s School of Earth Science, said that the loss of the sea ice is contributing to the warming of the ground while global warming is intensifying the atmospheric circulation and is contributing to the increase in temperature in the Arctic.

                The sea ice acts as a lid on top of the Arctic Ocean. The lead author of the study, Dr. James Screen said that when the ice is heated it reflects most of the incoming light back into space. When the sea ice has melted more heat is absorbed by the water which in turn heats the atmosphere above it.

Original Artical

ScienceDaily: Biodiversity Articles

ScienceDaily: Biodiversity Articles

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Thinning Arctic Ice Allows Plankton Bloom

NASA scientists exploring the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic were surprised to discover massive phytoplankton blooms under the sea ice.  In the past, the ice was too thick for sunlight to penetrate and spur phytoplankton growth; however, global warming has drastically thinned the ice in many areas.  The ice where the phytoplankton bloom was discovered is 3-foot-thick first year ice that will melt in the spring.  A decade ago, this ice was 10 feet thick and did not ever melt.  This discovery, besides providing more evidence of global warming, astonished the scientists who had thought that this region did not sustain much life.  The thinner ice that allows 50% of sunlight to pass through and the nutrient-rich waters provide all the necessities for phytoplankton to thrive.  This particular phytoplankton bloom was 70 miles wide and over a hundred feet deep.  These phytoplankton blooms create new questions about the balance of the Arctic food web.  Animals that feed on plankton used to have to wait for spring to come before the plankton blooms reached their peak.  However, now that blooms are occurring under the ice, the scientists worry that it will throw off the migratory patterns of plankton-eating animals such as Arctic terns and California gray whales.  However, many birds are unable to reach their food, fish that eat under-ice plankton.  Sea animals, however, will be able to feast on this plankton with less competition than in the past.  The scientists are unsure how these plankton blooms will alter the Arctic food webs in the future, and look forward to investigating more.

            I can see how the phytoplankton blooms could upset the delicate Arctic food web.  Since there is no way to know just yet what the effect will even be, scientists cannot begin to look for solutions.  This is a scary idea because the Arctic is so rapidly changing that solutions are needed as soon as a problem arises.  By the time the effect of these plankton blooms becomes evident, it may be too late to fix the problem!  There is just no way to know; however, I will say that the animals that are predicted to benefit the most from these phytoplankton blooms (gray whales, walruses, and Eider ducks) are not endangered or even threatened species.  This could create overpopulation of these species in the future, which will obviously create problems.  Then again, with global warming threatening these species, perhaps the added food source will stabilize the population and prevent future endangerment of these species.  Only time will tell the effects of phytoplankton blooms.

Scientific American link:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=thinning-arctic-ice-allows-plankton-bloom

Freeze Out: Can Polar Bears Survive a Melting Arctic?

           The polar bear, perhaps the most iconic native to the arctic, is suffering the consequences of global warming. The polar bear’s diet consists mainly of ringed seals, and in order to hunt them, the bears must swim from the mainland to offshore ice floes where the seals go to rest. As temperatures rise, massive portions of offshore sea ice are melting, forcing the polar bears to swim further in freezing water to find the ice floes.

            This fatal situation first came to the attention of scientists in 2004 when 4 drowned polar bears were discovered in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska’s coast. In response to this, researchers from the United States Geological Survey attached tracking collars to Alaskan polar bears to study the distance they are traveling and the amount of hunting they are doing. One mother bear swam continuously for 687 km with its cub on its back in search of food, only to lose her cub shortly after. Without serious change and much lower green house gas emissions the future of the polar bear looks bleak.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=too-late-for-polar-bears