Vulnerable Arctic Treasures

Vulnerable Treasure: Icebergs in Disko Bay, Greenland

Vulnerable Treasure: Chukchi Sea, Alaska

There was plenty of icy news awaiting me when I got back from my spring break. One of the items was entitled “On thin ice: vulnerable Arctic treasures identified”.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, and the Natural Resources Defense Council NRDC have published a report identifying 13 of the richest and most vulnerable places in the Arctic Ocean that should be considered for protection. Melting sea ice and expanding industrial activity are some of the main elements changing these areas. The areas on the pictures are amongst them.
IUCN says this is the “first ever Arctic-wide identification of areas most important to Arctic marine life and vulnerable to additional stress on top of that related to global warming, loss of sea ice and ocean acidification”.
Lisa Speer, Director of the International Oceans Program at NRDC refers to a “short window of opportunity to plan for industrial development in a way that respects and protects important and fragile ocean places, wildlife and communities.”
This seems to me to be an important project. The paper is worth a read and it\’ll be interesting to see how the process moves forward.