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

Table 9.3 Expected impacts of climate change in traffic and transportation in Finland (Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 2005).

Damage

Direction of impact

Benefit

• Shorter ice-covered season reduces costs of marine transport and harbor maintenance • Thinner ice cover and shorter winters reduces costs of winter maintenance for roads, railways and airports

• Impacts may change preferences for transport modes • The need to salt may increase and decrease • The considerable annual fluctuations in ice and snow conditions will increase

permafrost. Another engineering response presupposes installation of ventilation canals along the elevated transport infrastructure, or special ventilation systems in the basement of buildings (Roshydromet, 2014). Basements are monitored regularly and if structures show signs of deformation additional piles or thermo-siphons can be installed as required. To ensure operational safety, energy companies operating in northern Russia must increase efforts to adapt to risks associated with permafrost damage. For example, among the reasons for the serious 1994 oil leak accident at the oil pipeline in Komi were multiple breaks on the pipeline due to uneven thermokarst (Oberman, 2007). Reconstruction of the Vasilkovo–Naryan-Mar gas pipeline in the NAO just a few years after it first became operational was attributed to uneven thermokarst through permafrost thaw. These are examples of ‘maladaptation’; the permafrost factor was taken into account in the initial design of the pipeline but permafrost dynamics due to climate change were not (Streletskiy et al., 2012). Other companies aim to enhance the safety of their operations in permafrost zones and their preparedness for possible accidents. For instance Transneft- Siberia, one of the leading oil transportation companies in Russia, recently reported on the innovative techniques used at its northern facilities, including materials for accidental oil spills mitigation at northern rivers and lakes (https:// sibnefteprovod.transneft.ru/press/news). Adaptation is a response to multiple changes and drivers, and each industrial sector and community provides a different context within which the adaptation takes place.One size does not fit all when it comes to adaptation.It is also the case that climate change, often associated with adaptation is not the main driver and only challenge. However, many of the measures, which are taken as a response to current conditions and stress, nevertheless reduce vulnerability to projected climate change impacts. In general terms, adaptation emerges as a cross-scale process involving • Wash-outs in railways and roads • Floods and rain damage to infrastructure, problems with maintenance • Current drying systems inadequate • Bridges and other structures not built for future water levels in rivers • Equipment problems maintaining safety for rail, roads and marine traffic • Difficult weather conditions for rail, road, sea and air traffic • Increased disruption and related costs of repairs and preparedness • Slippery roads, salt needed on northern roads • Changing ice conditions in sea areas disturb marine traffic • Winds, storms and rain disturb/damage electricity production and distribution (wires and cables) 9.3.2.9 Summing up: Adaptation practices and processes

multiple sectors (e.g. municipal, water management, forestry, fishery, energy, tourism, agriculture) and actors (businesses, individuals, policymakers). The ways these processes manifest empirically are to a great extent context-dependent,and take place in a landscape inwhich conflicts between andwithin sectors and in land use may emerge. In the same area, adaptation for some may create a challenge for others (road construction to adapt to extreme weather may encroach on grazing or agricultural land).The processes are also driven by and interact with society at large. Despite the context-dependent nature of adaptation, factors that are relevant across sectors, regions or nations are emerging.Table 9.4 presents examples of salient and comparable aggregated categories involved in adaptation processes found in the Barents area. The purpose of the table is to illustrate the type of adaptations in use in the Barents area. In practice these are interlinked and dependent on local contexts, framework conditions, and other factors. 9.4.1 Adaptation as a process From what is known about current and past responses to multiple and interacting causes of change it is possible to identify adaptation options that are highly likely to be relevant for addressing future impacts and challenges. There are four interrelated dimensions that warrant consideration: existing adaptation strategies, the processes of adaptation, barriers and limits, and governance and tools. Previous sections have illustrated the interlinkages between changing climatic, environmental and societal conditions and have identified a number of ongoing adaptation strategies in the Barents area. There are major differences between sectors, and between and within communities, regions and nations with respect to what the consequences of change may be and what are likely to be the most efficient and best adaptation strategies. This means that the different contexts will require specific measures depending on a range of factors, such as 9.4 Understanding adaptation options