Climate Change in Arctic Region
- Since the Arctic is warming almost twice as quickly as the global average, its effects on the environment can be seen most clearly there. The Arctic ice cap is rapidly thinning, and the area covered by Arctic sea ice has shrunk by up to 75%.
- Global difficulties in nature result from the melting of the Arctic ice into the ocean. The Northern Sea Route (NSR), on the other hand, becomes accessible, linking the North Atlantic and the North Pacific by a brief polar arc. According to some earth observation studies, this path might be free of ice in the summer by 2050, if not sooner.
- The global society must first understand the severe consequences of the melting arctic and the difficulties it poses before completely commercialising the NSR.
Effect of Arctic Ice Melting:
- Climate on a global scale: The Arctic and Antarctic serve as the planet’s refrigerator. They counterbalance other regions of the earth that absorb heat because they are coated in white snow and ice that reflect heat back into space (Albedo effect).
- Sea levels, salinity, currents, and precipitation patterns will all be impacted by the melting of the ice and the warming of the oceans.
- Additionally, less ice means less heat is reflected, which results in more extreme heat waves everywhere.
- The polar jet stream, a high-pressure wind that circles the Arctic region, will be destabilised by the warmer air, which might cause it to sink south and bring the harsh cold with it. This would also imply more extreme winters.
- Coastal Communities: Since 1900, the average global sea level has increased by around 7-8 inches, and the problem is becoming worse.
- Coastal floods and storm surge are made worse by rising oceans, putting coastal cities and small island nations in jeopardy.
- Future sea level increase is significantly predicted by the glacial melt of the Greenland ice sheet; if it completely melts, the world’s sea levels might rise by 20 feet.
- Food Security: Crops that are essential to the world’s food systems are already suffering serious harm from polar vortexes, rising heat waves, and the unpredictability of the weather brought on by ice loss.
- For the most vulnerable people in the globe, this volatility will continue to entail increasing prices and a worsening disaster.
- Permafrost and global warming: Methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, is stored in vast quantities in permafrost, or permanently frozen ground, in the Arctic area.
- That methane is produced when it melts, speeding up the process of global warming.
- Permafrost will melt more fast when the polar ice is lost more swiftly. This will set off a vicious loop that could cause a global warming disaster.
- Threat to Biodiversity: The rich biodiversity of the Arctic region is seriously threatened by the melting of the Arctic ice.
- While encouraging species from lower latitudes to migrate north, habitat loss and degradation, the disappearance of year-round ice, and increasing temperatures are making it harder for Arctic marine life, plants, and birds to survive.
- For polar bears, walruses, arctic foxes, snowy owls, reindeer, and many other species, the loss of ice and melting permafrost implies trouble.
- The permafrost is thawing, sudden storms are wreaking havoc on coastlines, and wildfires are wreaking havoc in the interior of Canada and Russia. The tundra is already turning back into a swamp.
- Significant business and economic prospects are presented by the opening of the Arctic through NSR, particularly in shipping, energy, fishing, and mineral resources.
- Compared to the Suez route, the distance from Rotterdam to Yokohama will be reduced by 40%.
- There will be access to mineral riches in Greenland, including 25% of the world’s rare earth reserves, as well as oil and natural gas deposits, which make up an estimated 22% of the world’s new resources and are largely in the Arctic ocean.
Associated Obstacles:
- Not So Reliable in Terms of the Environment & Economy: Exploiting the resources of the Arctic is challenging due to a lack of deep-water ports, the requirement for icebreakers, a shortage of people qualified for arctic conditions, and high insurance costs.
- Deep sea drilling and mining are also extremely expensive and risky for the environment.
- The Arctic: A Global Disparity The UN Convention on Law of the Sea is the only treaty that covers the Arctic, which, unlike Antarctica, is not a worldwide common (UNCLOS).
- The five littoral states—Russia, Canada, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), and the US—have sovereignty over significant portions of it, making it perfectly legal for them to use the new resources.
- Therefore, national economic interests may take precedence over attempts to save the Arctic on a global scale.
- Awesome game Geopolitics: Russia, Canada, Norway, and Denmark have conflicting claims to resources on the seafloor and extended continental shelf.
- With the longest Arctic coastline, half the Arctic’s population, and a well developed strategic policy, Russia is the dominant force. It asserts that the NSR is a part of its exclusive economic zone.
- The US, on the other hand, thinks the passage is in international seas.
- China has envisioned the Polar Silk Road as an extension of the BRI and has made significant investments in port, energy, submarine infrastructure, and mining projects as a means of gaining economic advantage.
India’s function:
- India’s Interest: Although these developments are far away, India’s interests in them are not insignificant.
- Climate of India: Due to our country’s long coastline, we are particularly susceptible to changes in ocean currents, weather patterns, fisheries, and—most significantly—monsoon due to Arctic warming.
- Monitoring the Third Pole: India has a strong track record in scientific study on Arctic trends, which can help us better comprehend climate changes in the Third Pole, the Himalayas.
- The strategic ramifications of China’s activity in the Arctic and its expanding economic and strategic ties with Russia are obvious and require attentive observation.
What Should Be Done:
- The Arctic Council, the main intergovernmental body for cooperation on Arctic environment and development issues, has observer status for India.
- It is past time for India’s membership on the Arctic Council to be supported by a strategic plan that takes into account political, scientific, environmental, and economic factors.
Conclusion:
- The Arctic is a crucial component of the world’s climate system. Therefore, the Arctic is like our circulatory system and contributes to global climate change everywhere, much as the Amazon rainforest is the world’s lungs.
- Therefore, treating the melting of the Arctic as a serious global concern and taking appropriate action are in the best interests of humanity.
