Social Impacts
Many of the causes of climate change in the Arctic can be attributed to the effect that humans have had on the atmosphere, greenhouse effect is mainly caused by the increase in CO2 levels created by people. Climate change is having a direct impact on the people that live in the Arctic, as well as other societies around the world. People are affecting the geographic space of the Arctic and the Arctic is affecting people.
The warming environment presents challenges to local communities such as the Inuit. Hunting, which is a major way of survival for some small communities, will be changed with increasing temperatures. The reduction of sea ice will cause certain species populations to decline or even become extinct. In good years, some communities are fully employed by the commercial harvest of certain animals. The harvest of different animals fluctuates each year and with the rise of temperatures it is likely to continue changing and creating issues for Inuit hunters. Unsuspected changes in river and snow conditions will cause herds of animals, including reindeer, to change migration patterns, calving grounds, and forage availability.
Governments and business entrepreneurs are attempting to benefit from the melting sea ice.. Major shipping lanes are opening up, the northern sea route route had 34 passages in 2011 while the Northwest Passage had 22 traverses, this is more than ever in history. These sea routes could see a lot of economic benefits for those involved. Shipping companies are likely to benefit from the shortened distance of these northern routes. Access to natural resources will increase, including valuable minerals and offshore oil and gas. This will likely bring new interestest to those directly involved. At first, it is likely that finding and controlling these resources will be difficult with the continual moving ice. Expansion of tourism is probable in the arctic as sea ice reduces. With less ice, exploration and sight seeing in the Arctic will become continuously safer and popular.
Transportation in the Arctic is already beginning to struggle. Some transportation routes and pipelines on land are being disrupted by the melting of ice. Many Arctic communities rely on frozen roadways to transport supplies and travel from area to area. The changing landscape and unpredictability of weather is creating challenges that were non-existent previously in the Arctic. The adaptation to the continual changing in the environment will be a challenge. The relationship between people, communities, and institutions is important when trying to understand adaptations processes.
Read more about this topic: Climate Change In The Arctic
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