Human impact on the Arctic Ocean.

Human impacts

Climate change

Humans have created climate change. Climate change is melting glaciers and warming oceans and land all over the world. The situation in the Arctic ocean is that the Phytoplankton bloom is being delayed and therefore when the Zooplankton come to eat the Phytoplankton, there is not enough of it and less falls to the ocean floor to feed crustaceans and other animals. Because the Phytoplankton are so essential to the marine life in the arctic, this is affecting all of the animals.

Melting ice due to climate change

Another problem is the ice melting and leaving less room for seals and polar bears to escape their predators, the Killer whales. This means that killer whales can come into the arctic ocean and hunt easier, making polar bears and seal at more of a risk of extinction than before climate change.

Hunting

Another human impact is hunting, Polar bears are being hunted, they have been put on america endangered species list and there is only a population estimate of between 22 000 and 25 000 polar bears left in the wild, 700 polar bears are killed a year. Canada is the only country that allows polar bear hunting by non-natives and non-citizens.

How are humans causing climate change?

We know that it is humans causing climate change because it is our toxins that are covering the earth. We have made our atmosphere polluted and now it is not allowing the warmth of the sun to bounce off the earth and traps it, heating our planet more than it is supposed to be heated my then sun. Some gases that effect our atmosphere in this way are, Water vapor, Carbon dioxide, Methane, Nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons. More proof that the sun is not to blame is that the energy sent to earth from the sun since 1978 has been measured. The measurements say that the suns irradiance (a measure of the energy coming from the sun) has had a slight decrease in the past 30 years. 

(National Aeronautics and space administration)

Solutions

Climate change

The obvious solution for climate change is encouraging every day households to cut down on their energy usage. But some other solutions are re-forestation, and to use no carbon or low carbon fuels. Using solar cars that do not use fuel and use batteries. Solar cars are expensive and the battery cannot be charged when you get to work or when you are going on long road trips. This may make having a solar car hard. In canberra there are stations where you can charge your solar car, if we make more of these and have them at regular intervals then having a solar car would become that much easier. One other climate change solution is being put to practice in Adelaide. The solar cities are being put to work and making and effect. The whole idea is about bringing down the use of electricity. Houses in Adelaide are becoming solar and trials are being run to see how it will effect the people and the atmosphere. 

Hunting

Some ways to stop or slowdown hunting in the arctic is to introduce more laws, not just one country. If all the countries in that region made new laws to prevent a person hunting polar bears, the animal would be brought out of the threatened species list. A way to encourage the countries to make these laws is to make polar bear hunting known. Much like Joseph Kony was made known.

What will the effect on humans be?

Solar power is not as reliable as normal power so people may experience that they have a loss of power at some times when the have solar power installed at their house. A polar bears fur is used to make jumpers and help keep people warm in cold weather. People who use the bears fur for jumper will have to find new ways to keep themselves warm. Another problem is that some people may sell polar bear fur to make money to support their families. These people may need to be provided with some money before they can find a new way to support themselves. 

References:

Arctic Portal (date unavailable) Effects of sea ice reduction
Available: http://www.arcticportal.org/effects-of-arctic-sea-ice-reduction
Accessed: 21 April 2012

National Aeronautics and space administration (date unavailable) Blanket around the earth
Available: http://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
Accessed 21 April 2012

(no name or date available) Stop polar bear hunting
Available: http://www.stoppolarbearhunting.com/
Accessed 21 April 2012

Australian government solar cities (no date available) Adelaide solar city
Available: http://www.adelaidesolarcity.com.au/
Accessed: 22 April 2012