Human impacts on Cold environments: Flashcards
The concept of environmental fragility:
Environmental Fragility: The concept of an environment being vulnerable and at risk , as it lacks the ability to be resilient and adapt to changes.
Human impacts on fragile cold environments over time 2 occasions …
- Oil spills in Siberia, Russia
- Tourism in Alpine environments.
Oil spills in Siberia, Russia.
- Russian oil industry spills over 30 million barrels on land each year.
- Every 18 months more than 4 million into the Arctic Ocean. Which poisons the water and kills wildlife.
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Tourism in Alpine environments:
120 million people visit the Alps each year.
due to mountainous regions being used as ski slopes.
● The development of ski resorts increases urbanisation and
construction, displacing wildlife and the ecosystem
● Any litter dropped will stay in the nutrient cycle for a long time, as decomposition is slow
Impacts of Climate change on the Swiss Alps:
Flooding and Landslides
In Switzerland almost all the glaciers are retreating due to climate change.
Flooding and Mudslides have hit the village of Saas Bladen 3 times in the past 50 years.
Swiss Alps: Melting permafrost
- Permafrost covers about 5% of Switzerland.
- Predicted thawing has increased the threat of rock avalanches.
Ecosystems: Swiss Alps
1 degrees celcius rise pushes the treeline up by 100m. Some species of trees would become extinct, species will be threatened and habitats will change.
Swiss Alps: Economic costs.
Estimated a 2 degrees celcius rise in temp will cause a £2 billion drop mostly from tourism.
Further human impacts:
Sea ice ecosystems are being destroyed due to climate change.
Unsustainable fishing —– Krill.
Current management of cold environments:
Sustainable tourism is becoming a growing industry, for example charities such as the WWF promote sustainable Alpine tourism to protect these places.
