The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of March 26, 2018
Watering down Finland’s proposed fuel ban
The future of heavy fuel oils (HFOs) in Arctic waters will be up for debate in early April at the United Nations’ International Maritime Organization’s upcoming session of its Marine Environment Protection Committee. Finland has proposed an all out ban, which would apply to all ships regulated under the International Convention for Prevention of Pollution from Ships. Supporting countries include Norway, Sweden and the United States, while Canada reportedly wants to phase in the ban after the suggested 2021 goal (Maritime Journal, Cruise Industry News).
Take 1: HFOs are the primary fuel source for maritime shipping, but have been banned in the Antarctic since 2011 because of environmental concerns and how hard it is to clean up HFO spills (Maritime Journal). Canada is leary of the rapid ban because of the economic strain it would put on remote Indigenous communities who depend on maritime shipping for imported supplies (EOTA). However, putting off the ban puts Arctic communities at risk from pollution and related-toxicity in maritime resources like traditional food sources (EOTA, HFO Free Arctic). Although the switch to alternative fuels will be costly, the ban should be put into place before Arctic traffic, and the risk of a devastating spill, increase much more. The trick will be finding a way to do so without burdening Arctic communities with the costs.
World Tuberculosis Day and Canada’s Inuit
On the eve of World Tuberculosis Day (March 24), the Canadian Government committed to an ambitious plan to halve the number of active tuberculosis (TB) cases by 2025 and eliminate the disease in Inuit communities by 2030. The rates of TB infection in Inuit communities is unparalleled in the rest of Canada, where the incidence rate is almost 300 times lower, and has been described as a “preventable public health crisis” (Al Jazeera).
Take 2: Tuberculosis has been prevalent in Indigenous Canadian communities since European settlers first arrived. It has remained an issue for Inuit people because of a lack of action by public health agencies and health inequalities such as poor housing and sanitation conditions, which help the disease to spread (CBC). Public health programs will have to address several factors, which contribute to the high incidence within Inuit communities such as under-diagnosis due to poor healthcare access, treatment failure relating to insufficient antibiotic use, and social stigma surrounding the infection (The Globe and Mail).
NASA’s ice monitoring heats up
This past winter’s shockingly low sea ice levels lent credence to the prediction that Arctic waters will be ice-free by the summer of 2040. As if in response, NASA has dedicated to several projects for monitoring the cryosphere, or frozen parts of Planet Earth (Eurekalert, Inverse). The monitoring efforts include Operation IceBridge, which is focused on aerial surveys of the bedrock beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet and a strange hole in Arctic sea ice, as well as the launch of a satellite equipped to measure the changing elevation of ice covered areas (Eurekalert, Phys.org). NASA will also continue work with the German Research Centre for Geosciences to measure changes in ice sheet mass by monitoring changes in Earth’s gravity field (Phys.org).
Take 3: Although most people associate NASA with missions to planets in the far reaches of space, there is actually much to be learned about other planets by studying our own. NASA can use information about how the different components of the Earth interact to better understand the dynamics of planetary environments. This information is also valuable for humans, a billion of whom rely on the cryosphere for fresh water and many of whom may be displaced by rising sea levels (Phys.org).
A different kind of defense wall
An article recently published by the journal Nature has suggested a controversial way to mitigate the effects of climate change: geoengineering. The authors have come up with ways to build physical defenses against rising sea-levels from glacial melt. Their proposal suggests building a wall on the seafloor across a fjord at the end of the Jakobshavn glacier in Western Greenland to prevent low-lying warm water from melting the glacier’s base and building artificial islands in Antarctica to prevent glaciers from collapsing (Nature, The Guardian).
Take 4: Various geoengineering projects have been suggested to mitigate the effects of climate change, but few have been seriously considered because of the challenge and cost of construction. This project would face similar issues, as the dangers associated with Arctic maritime construction and the billion dollar price tag could make it a hard sale. However, the global community needs to seriously consider projects like these in the face of predicted global coastal damage due to rising sea levels, which may reach $50 trillion a year in the near future (ScienceDaily).
China’s developing interest in Arctic partnerships
Iceland is strengthening its ties with China, while also helping the nation reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by agreeing to supply technologies for geothermal heat. This is the biggest deal of its kind in Icelandic history and is being funded by the Asian Development Bank (The Business Times). China is also taking an interest in nearby Greenland, where a Chinese construction company has been shortlisted for work on three facilities for Greenland’s Kalaallit Airports, despite objections from Denmark (Global Construction Review).
Take 5: It makes sense for China to form ties with Arctic nations and to improve Arctic infrastructure as part of the country’s plans to facilitate shipping through the region (Take Five, The Arctic Institute). Eager to be a part of future Arctic activity, Greenland is working on improving infrastructure, but Denmark and the European Commission are not happy about the increasing foreign interest in strategic areas and are working to limit Chinese influence (Reuters, The Business Times).