Global Warming and Increased Shipping Threaten Arctic Wildlife

The Arctic Council has recently reported that global warming is causing more shipping to travel through the Arctic region, resulting in actual and potential harm to marine wildlife. As is already well known, marine based birds and seal pups are highly sensitive to oil and frequently die of hypothermia if oil pollution damages their feathers or fur. As more shipping—ranging from container vessels to oil tankers to cruise ships—is using Arctic waters, the risk of major oil spillages increases but the actual incidence of minor spills resulting from trimming vessels or flushing tanks is growing and remains largely unreported by shipping lines.

Mammalian communication suffers when ships pass in the night

However, this isn’t the only risk that is likely to damage the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Research has shown that whales and walruses can have difficulty finding prey and communicating with each other if local waters become noisy through increased marine traffic using sonar. And there are increased risks of introducing invasive and predatory species through the emptying of ballast in the form of water or cargo, or simply through transportation on the hulls of ships. Rodents arriving on islands where seabirds ground nest can be devastating. On the Aleutian Islands, rats have caused an uninhabited island to be renamed Rat Island since a Japanese shipwreck in 1780 led to the devastation of the breeding ground of millions of seabirds which had no defence against such predators.

Sea ice retreat causes increased shipping

The reduction in sea ice as a result of climate change means that several Straits are becoming much more widely used than previously, particularly the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia. In addition, the popularity of adventure and expedition cruising means that major cruise lines are increasingly viewing the Arctic as a potential source of income, which is not always unpopular, as tourist income can make a big difference to the economic situation of native communities.

The report makes several recommendations such as Arctic nations passing laws to limit the emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants from ships, to lower the risk of oil spills, and to create reserves in areas of the Arctic Ocean to ensure environmental protection for more threatened species.

Aleutians courtesy of Seabarimum at Flickr under a creative commons licence

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