Tundra+Conservation

Brooke B. and Jack B.

Human Impacts on the Tundra ﻿Jack-Positive: In the late 1800s to the early 1900s, humans wiped out musk oxen from the Alaskan tundra and the northern coast of Greenland. Humans, mainly on whaling ships, valued the fresh meat and tradable fur the musk oxen provided. The oxen soon became overhunted, along with other animals. Finally, they couldn’t be found anymore. Since then, many different countries have passed laws outlawing hunting certain animals. The musk oxen’s numbers have increased in size to more than 40,000. This is not a permanent fix, since there are still poachers who kill endangered animals. It is an improvement, and we can only hope that positive impacts will continue on the tundra.

﻿Brooke-Negative: Humans have also negatively affected the tundra by mining and oil drilling there. Mining and drilling are popular in the arctic tundra areas because they tend to be rich in mineral resources. Mining is harmful because the dusts and gases produced cause air pollution. When this dust settles on neighboring ponds, lakes, and streams these waters become uninhabitable by fish, animals and even people. Oil poses a great threat too. The greatest threat that oil mining poses on the tundra, is oil spillage. If an oil leak occurs on the sea or ground, the consequences can be devastating. Oil pollutes the ground and water and kills animals that come in contact with it. An oil spill can ruin a biome as fragile as the tundra. No plants or animals will return to an area where an oil spill has occurred for decades or even longer. The only hope we have for the ecosystems in the tundra and the organisms living there is that pollution will decrease and that there will be more efforts to help clean and prevent oil spills.

Problems and Their Solutions in the Tundra﻿ ﻿Jack #4 Air pollution has been a problem in the tundra for years. Ozone depletion in the tundra is caused by the release of chlorofluorocarbons, also known as CFCs for short. Although CFCs are not released in the tundra directly, winds blow the harmful gases north into arctic skies. If humans stopped emitting CFCs, or at least slowed the process, the Tundra could have a chance. It might require a lot of work, but saving the Tundra would be worth a can of spray paint.  Brooke #4 Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of methane seeping from arctic permafrost; it’s seeping from the carbon deposits frozen deep in the tundra’s soil, stored as methane. As humans emit greenhouse gasses it heats the earth causing the permafrost to melt and the methane deposits are released into the air adding to the greenhouse gas. Using information disclosed in recent articles I have read on the subject, methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame. Scientists say that at the moment, the only way to prevent this cycle is to prevent global warming and stop greenhouse gas emissions. They are currently are working on more possible solutions.

Based on the information I have been reading there could be many solutions to stopping the permafrost from thawing and releasing the methane. There are always obvious solutions like putting thousands of machines on the permafrost that cool, which would keep it from thawing, but is unrealistic because of how expensive and ridiculous it would be. A probable solution that both politicians and scientists believe would be both probable and much more realistic, is to compact the permafrost by running it over with either steamrollers or laying heavy blocks of metal or something else that would put massive pressure on the permafrost. Although this sounds silly it would probably be quite effective because the pressure would further compact the soil making it closer together and filling in the pockets of air. The air pockets are what help thaw the permafrost because once the air pockets are there they heat with the greenhouse gasses and global warming, heating the ground around them and thawing the permafrost. So compacting the tundra’s permafrost would hopefully fill in air pockets, keep the soil frozen, and not releasing harmful methane gas.

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