What is it about?
Global pollutants and heat are transported to the Arctic by wind, rivers and ocean. The pollutants accumulate in the food chain and affects humans and top predators like polar bears and orcas. The paper presents the Arctic research and political cooperation and document how the scientific results have been transferred to political actions such as international agreements to reduce production and use of toxic chemicals (the Stockholm convention) , emissions of mercury ( the Minamata convention), clean up of nuclear contamination and provide food advice at local settlements in the North. The local and global effects due to increased temperature in the Arctic has documentation the urgency for global actions to reduce emissions of Green House Gases and to prepare adaptation actions all over the world.
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Why is it important?
The pollution of the world ecosystems and humans has not been stopped. New chemicals are released without proper testing. Many of these chemicals ends up in the Arctic. The effects of some of these chemicals can be serious for animals and humans all over the world. The temperature in the Arctic is increasing faster than any other places of the globe and the changes observed within the Arctic is affecting Southern latitudes through feed back mechanisms and these effects will affect humans and ecosystems all over the world through sea level rise, extreme weather and thereby food security. The Arctic is a barometer for the health of the globe.
Perspectives
The paper gives a short introduction to the political and environmental actions and events that took place in the North after the World War ll. It documents what countries can achieve if there is a political will and resources are made available to perform some work. It also document how results from serious research can be transferred to actions at local and international level. The importance of communication between scientists and local and indigenous peoples is also illustrated.
Lars-otto Reiersen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Chemistry International, April 2020, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/ci-2020-0202.
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