Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

Cargo hold empty

Discharging cargo

Loading ballast water At source port 1

Ballast tanks full During voyage 2

Cargo hold full

Loading cargo

Discharging ballast water At destination port 3

Ballast tanks empty During voyage 4

Figure 6.9 The ballast water cycle (International Maritime Organization).

There are relatively few major sources of contaminants in the Barents area. Industrial point sources mainly result in local pollution. These local point sources include mining, smelters and petroleum activities. Many contaminants undergo long- range atmospheric transport from their sources at southerly latitudes and are deposited in the Arctic (AMAP, 2004). Other transport routes to theArctic include ocean currents, rivers and biotic transport. Prevailing wind directions and ocean currents transport contaminants to the Barents area from sources in Europe, Asia and North America. Some of the most widely distributed pollutants in the Barents area are heavy metals, oil, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and artificial radionuclides.The coastal ecosystems of the Barents Sea are particularly exposed to contaminants. However, even in coastal areas,the levels of chemical pollutants are generally lower than environmental quality standards and lower than in other parts of the Russian or European seas (UNEP, 2004; Matishov, 2007).‘Hot spots’, where ecological impacts are most severe, are usually located in coastal areas with a high degree of economic activity. In terms of marine (pelagic) ecosystems, there is no reason to suppose negative effects in open waters due to their low background contamination. Pollutants have been observed to affect seabird populations (see Box 6.2). There are fewtrendmonitoring stations forPOPs andheavymetals in the Barents area. Atmospheric monitoring since the 1990s at the Zeppelin station (Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard) and Pallas station (northern Finland) show declining trends for most legacy POPs (AMAP,2014a).As an example,although the levels of PCBs have declined at both monitoring stations since the 1990s, the rate of decline appears tohave slowed in recent years as the concentrations have become lower (AMAP,2014a).Concentrations are expected to continue to decline, but sea-ice retreat may result in the re- emission of PCBs previously deposited on sea ice,for example for lighter congeners. Concentrations of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs; brominated flame retardants) have also declined (2006–2012) at Zeppelin and Pallas (AMAP, 2014a). PCBs and

species through ballast waters (Korneev et al., 2015), noise pollution, more ship strikes of marine mammals, disruption of their migratory patterns (AMAP/CAFF/SDWG, 2013) and their potential displacement from preferred habitat. Shipping is a significant source of black carbon emissions in the Barents area (which may help accelerate ice melt) and emissions of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides (AMAP/CAFF/ SDWG, 2013). It is likely that Arctic tourism will continue to grow and expand (see Section 6.3.2) in part due to technical advances that overcome constraints imposed by the challenging logistics, remoteness and environmental conditions. However, growth in the tourism sector will remain tied to tourists’ financial capacity and general economic situation. More people are likely to spend more time in more locations, leading to increased environmental impact in more areas (AMAP/ CAFF/SDWG, 2013). Some of the main impacts – for marine and terrestrial ecosystems – are environmental degradation, damage to ground cover through trampling, disturbance of wildlife, introduction of non-indigenous species and pollution (from visitors themselves as well as from cruise ships) (Norwegian Polar Institute, 2016). In addition to deliberately introduced species, the Barents area may be subject to unintended bio-invasions due to the transfer of non-indigenous species (mainly as larvae, eggs, and other planktonic forms) with ballast water (see Figure 6.9). Species invasions are related to the volume of ballast water discharged, the frequency of ship visits and the environmental match of the donor and recipient region of the ballast water. Taking into account the increase in shipping through the Barents area, particularly oil transport by tankers (Dalsoren et al., 2007; AMAP, 2010), ‘biological pollution’ is an increasingly serious threat in the Barents area. Globally, ballast water transfers and invasive species are possibly the greatest environmental challenge facing the shipping industry this century (Raaymakers, 2003).