The Arctic

The Arctic is an important indicator of the state of global well-being. Currently, this vital ecoregion is facing multiple threats simultaneously, the impacts of which are of global significance.

Climate Change
Warmer temperatures are dramatically changing the frozen Arctic landscape: melting sea ice, less snow cover on land, thawing permafrost, coastline erosion and drought.  Polar bears, walruses and other Arctic animals are losing places to live. WWF works to protect these species from the consequences of climate change. Learn more

Overfishing
Many areas of the Arctic suffer from high levels of illegal fishing and overfishing. The increasing demand for salmon and salmon caviar, a delicacy in Russia and Japan, is reducing salmon populations beyond the point which they can naturally recover. Over the last two decades, the relatively well- protected Kamchatka fisheries have deteriorated along with the capacity of management agencies to enforce laws regulating harvest. Salmon habitat is also under increasing development pressure. The pristine rivers of the Kamchatka Peninsula - spawning grounds for salmon - and surrounding landscape are being cut by roads and infrastructure for mining and oil and gas expansion.  In the Barents Sea, overfishing has led to the decline of fish species, changes in marine food webs and fisheries crises. This ecoregion is one of the main areas of commercial fisheries in the world, and fishing is probably the activity currently affecting biodiversity there to the highest degree.

Oil and Gas Development
The Arctic holds the world's largest remaining untapped gas reserves and some of its largest undeveloped oil reserves. A significant proportion of these reserves lie offshore, in the Arctic's shallow and biologically productive shelf seas. According to the oil industry, the Arctic is the final frontier for hydrocarbon development.  Oil and gas development will require the building of massive infrastructure through ecologically intact areas. Infrastructure has direct impacts, such as habitat destruction, fragmentation of migration routes, erosion, gravel mining for pads, harbours and roads and draining freshwater resources for ice roads. Its indirect impacts, however, can be just as great: creation of new infrastructure for oil and gas will dramatically lower the barriers to entry for other kinds of resource exploitation, such as logging of sensitive timberline forests, commercial fisheries, mining and other commercial use of wild species. Subsea infrastructure, such as pipelines to shore from offshore installations, can cause very significant damage to benthic organisms, such as corals, and to sea floor habitats.

Oil spills, whether from blowouts, pipeline leaks or shipping accidents, pose a tremendous risk to arctic ecosystems. These ecosystems are characterised by a short productive season, low temperatures, and limited sunlight. As a result, it can take many decades for them to recover from habitat disruption, tundra disturbance and not least oil spills.

Marine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to oil spills. Biota at higher trophic levels, for example cod, seals and seabirds, tend to congregate in extremely large groups during the most productive time of year. This means that a single large oil spill in the wrong place and at the wrong time of year can have very serious, population-wide impacts on seabirds, fish, and some marine mammals. The problem is particularly acute in ice-infested waters: there continues to be no effective method for containing and cleaning up an oil spill in ice conditions.

Hunting
Populations of some whales are still dangerously low after centuries of hunting even though most commercial whaling has ceased. Sea birds and even polar bears suffer from over-hunting in parts of the Arctic.

Bycatch
Species that are caught as bycatch in the Arctic include sea birds, marine mammals, non-target fish, sharks, crab, and benthic organisms such as cold water corals. But turtles are very, very rare. If marine mammals are caught (for example in the Russian driftnet fishery), it’s usually small whales, seals and sea lions, rather than dolphins.

Non-Native Species
Rats are accidentally spread by ships to rat-free islands when off-loaded in cargo, released via shipwreck, or by jumping overboard and swimming to land. The spread of this nonnative species is one of the biggest threats to Bering Sea wildlife, especially seabirds. Rats prey upon vulnerable nesting adults, their chicks and eggs, possibly decimating their populations. Other harmful invasive species include plankton, crabs and mussels that hitch rides in the ballast tanks of large ships.

Pollution

The Arctic is a natural ‘sink’ for toxic chemicals and is also a storage site for radioactive waste. Most pollutants found in the Bering Sea and Arctic region are transported from large rivers draining into the region and wind and ocean currents that bring pollutants from southern areas. Pollutants include marine debris that entangles wildlife and toxic contaminants than can remain in the environment for decades. These pollutants are also transported to the Arctic via ocean and river currents, melting sea-ice, and migratory birds. Long, dark winters and cold temperatures inhibit the breakdown of chemicals in the Arctic.

In fact, there is a tendency for many chemicals to move from warmer to colder climates. The so-called "Persistent Organic Pollutants" (POPs) are highly volatile, man-made chemicals that easily evaporate into the air but are slow to degrade. When air masses carrying these contaminants reach the arctic region the "cold-condensation effect" occurs, this is when air contaminants condense and are carried to the ground in rain or snow. Strong winds are capable of moving contaminants across the world in just days.

Arctic animals are especially vulnerable to contaminants as plants and wildlife take up toxins through contaminated air, soil, water, and food. Toxin levels increase moving up the food chain (a process called biomagnification) and are highest in top predators, such as polar bears and wolves. Humans are at the very top of the food chain and Arctic indigenous peoples are exposed to contaminants through a traditional diet.

Shipping
The Bering Sea is located within the Great Circle Route, which is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. The Great Circle Route is traversed each year by over 7,000 cargo vessels and oil barges. These large ships navigate some of the world's roughest seas and richest marine ecosystems, often without adequate safety equipment and emergency planning.