The Arctic This Week Take Five: Week of April 26, 2021
Arctic Broadband Within Reach with new Satellite Launch
British communication company OneWeb launched 36 communications satellites into orbit on Sunday, ArcticToday reported on Monday, April 26. This launch is the third in a series of five launches scheduled by a Soyuz rocket from Russia’s Voctochny cosmodrome, following launches last month and in late 2020. Aimed at connecting business and people north of the 50th parallel, the network is expected to be up by the end of June, and fully operational by the close of 2021. With the introduction of the OneWeb network, broadband services should connect Alaska, Canada, Northern Europe, Greenland, Iceland, and the Arctic Ocean. (Arctic Today, Independent Barents Observer, OneWeb)
Take 1: With the COVID-19 pandemic making face-to-face contact all but impossible for over a year, the need for reliable internet service has never been more stark. For schools especially, educators have expressed concern about their students’ access to reliable internet. Students in cities might not have connectivity issues, but for those in remote areas, an unstable connection can mean increased isolation. Businesses in remote areas, including shipping, have traditionally been limited in the high north. As shipping efforts increase, the demand for high-speed communication in the Arctic is needed now more than ever. The OneWeb network is therefore extremely exciting, and has far reaching impacts for increasing communication throughout the Arctic.
Oil-Cleansing Bacteria in Greenland Presents Natural Solution to Pollution
A groundbreaking, uncited research project has far reaching impacts on natural solutions to pollution, High North Dialogue reported on Wednesday, April 28. Bacteria existing naturally in the oil-polluted soil at Station Mestersvig in Northern Greenland has cleansed 90 to 95 percent of the oil waste in the area, according to Arctic Command. The method, known as “landfarming,” involves nurturing natural bacteria in the soil that target and break down oil. It has been used in warmer climates, but never before in the Arctic. (High North News, Sertmitsiaq)
Take 2: As the climate warms and shipping in the Arctic becomes more prevalent, the potential for harmful oil spills in the area is dramatically increasing. Considering the recent push for local resource extraction in the High North, it is more important than ever to find solutions to mitigate and prevent the devastating impacts of oil spills. This study in Northern Greenland is therefore extremely significant, as it presents a natural solution to pollution that has been hitherto unexplored. The success of the study, which showed a 90 to 95 percent reduction in oil in the soil at Station Mestersvig, shows that pollution can be combated using natural tactics that place limited stress on the local environment, and removes the need for oil treatment with harmful chemicals. Landfarming can therefore be used not only in areas with warm climates, but across the Arctic.
Landmark Study Reveals Increased Glacial Melt Rates
A study published in Nature on Wednesday, April 27 reveals sobering data on glacier melt rates, Arctic Today reports. Nearly all of the world’s 220,000 glaciers, including the Arctic glaciers, are losing mass at an accelerated pace, which dramatically contributes to sea level rise. Using imagery from NASA’s Terra satellite, an international team of researchers from Canada, France, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom collected data between 2000 and 2019, and found that glaciers have lost an average of 267 gigatonnes of ice per year. One gigatonne is enough to fill New York’s Central Park. Rising temperatures as a result of anthropogenic climate change are thought to be a key contributor. (Arctic Today, Nature)
Take 3: As the world becomes increasingly focused on communicating climate change, researchers and climate specialists have moved away from the term “global warming.” Although the planet is set to see rising temperatures as a result of anthropogenic climate change, changes from a warming climate will not lead to uniformly warming climates. Thus, the term “global warming” can be somewhat misleading. However, this study in Nature points to a clear symptom of earth’s warming temperatures: rising sea levels. Increased melt rate from glaciers both in the Arctic and the rest of the world is deeply alarming, as runoff from the glaciers into bodies of water has the potential to dramatically rise sea levels throughout the world. Even nations a significant distance from Arctic glaciers may soon see infrastructural impacts as the ocean levels rise. Studies like these, which analyze larger trends, are incredibly important, as they clearly show how dire the need is for proper climate legislation.
Tensions Mount as Russia Lists the US as an “Unfriendly” Country
On Monday, April 26, High North News reported that Russia has a number of additions to its list of “unfriendly” states; chiefly among these, the Arctic country United States. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed that the decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, was in retaliation to the hostility of other nations, and not a sign of aggression. The countries on President Putin’s list of “unfriendly” states will be subject to restrictions, including limiting the number of local staff working at foreign diplomatic missions. Russian news agency TASS reports that these steps are in response to external hostility, and is a move to protect Russian interests. (Washington Times, High North News)
Take 4: Conjecturing that the diplomatic relationship between the Arctic countries of US and Russia has soured, is far from an outlandish statement. An investigation into recent media on Russian-US relations will reveal that many experts believe that ties are more tenuous than during the height of the Cold War; even moderate news outlets are beginning to circulate this narrative. Diplomats from both nations are claiming that a lack of mutual respect is what has led to the steep downturn in diplomacy, and unreliable avenues of communication between Defense Ministers and foreign officials are also to blame. Russia’s addition of the United States to the list of unfriendly nations is therefore not the first aggressive step. It is a symptom of a wider issue. Both nations must increase efforts to boost dialogue in order to avoid escalating tensions that we now in particular see in the Arctic.
Icelandic Startup To Sequester Carbon From Across Europe
On Tuesday, April 27, ArcticToday reported that Icelandic carbon capture startup CarbFix plans to expand its offerings by receiving and sequestering carbon dioxide from across Europe. Previous projects centered on Icelandic carbon from geothermal power plants, but the new Coda Terminal will accept carbon dioxide traveling by ship from Northern Europe, which will then be injected into the bedrock. The terminal will be located in the Starumsvik bay in Southwestern Iceland to ease access, as there is an industrial port in the area. Preparations for the terminal are currently underway, and it is expected to be fully operational in 2025. At full capacity, it is thought to provide an annual storage of three million tonnes of CO2. (ArcticToday, CarbFix)
Take 5: As one of the most prominent greenhouse gases, and thus one of the primary contributors to global warming, carbon dioxide emission can have dire consequences for the earth’s atmosphere. It is therefore paramount that carbon is stored– or sequestered– in nature so as not to increase the impacts of global warming. There are a number of natural carbon stores in the Arctic, including peat bogs, permafrost and Arctic waters. Projects like CarbFix’s Coda Terminal aim to contribute to and accelerate these natural processes, dissolving carbon dioxide in water before injecting it into bedrock, where it undergoes a rapid change into solid mineral. Iceland has been a pioneer in green technology, boasting a number of renewable energy projects aimed at decreasing the impacts of climate change. However, this project is the first of its kind on land. Other terminals from Norway and the Netherlands inject carbon into the seabed. The Coda Terminal is the first large-scale European geological storage project onshore. The terminal therefore has the potential to not only sequester excess carbon, but mitigate climate change through renewable resources.