Geography and History

Location of the Arctic Tundra

 

Source: http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2013/3054/

What the Arctic Tundra Looks Like Today

Point Hope

Source: http://www.bestbeginnermotorcycles.com/forum/forum-topic/3372/winter-alaska-non-ride-report

History

15,000 years ago, glaciers covered nearly half of Alaska. The first people came to Alaska by going across the Bering Land Bridge. When recent ice age ended, sea levels rose to cover the Bering Land Bridge, isolating the American populations.

1896: Oil was discovered in the Cook Inlet.

1857: Coal mining began at Coal Harbor.

1980: The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act passed. Over 100 million acres are set aside for preservation and protection

A typical summer in Barrow would be sea ice lingering into late June or early July and October’s cooling temperatures and autumn storms return sea ice. Over the past 9 decades, some Octobers were warm and some cold, depending on whether sea ice was far from shore or near the coast. However, since 2002, Octobers regularly near the warmest on record

Current Human Impacts

Source: http://www.thestyleking.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Eskimo-Family3.jpg

Direct human impact has affected the Alaskan Tundra somewhat, but the biome is relatively still intact. Human population in this area is low; only 14% of Alaska’s population lives in areas containing permafrost, the main characteristic of a tundra biome (Alaska, EPA). This means the direct impact of humans that has affected so many other biomes is to a lesser extent in the tundra. Also, many inhabitants of this biome are indigenous people who have gained knowledge of the environment and relationships with resources over thousands of years. As a result, these natives don’t impact the environment as much as people who would develop the area to a more contemporary degree. The extremely cold and harsh environment makes living in the tundra unfavorable so human development is not thriving. Along with the cold weather and lack of vegetation, building on permafrost is difficult. Buildings constructed on permafrost are known to collapse due to pressure and heat from the overlying building causing the permafrost underneath to melt (Tundra and Permafrost, Ice Stories).

Source: http://www.akaction.org/Images/Mining_Images/Two-Bull-Ridge-Mine_GroundTruthTrekking.jpg

Rather than human development, the main impact on the tundra is extensive mining and the roads that are built to access the resources. Mining is a sizable portion of Alaska’s economy due to the fact that Alaska contains high demand minerals such as zinc, lead, copper, gold, silver and coal (Alaska’s Mining Background). In addition to the mines built to extract the resources, the roads accompanying these mines are a threat to animal migration movements and may result in the ruin of tundra habitats, and “recovery from roads, construction sites, and even human trails requires as many as 25-50 years” (Beringia Upland Tundra). Another threat is oil and gas development. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is home to about 6 months supply of oil and conservative politicians keep the threat of drilling here alive, even though it would have huge environmental affects (The Tundra Biome).

Protected Areas

Source: http://twilightearth.com/files/includes/images/wp-content-uploads-2008-09-anwr_caribou.jpg

Protected areas in the Alaskan Tundra have been a hot topic in politics over the past decades. Protected areas such as ANWR, or Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, contain some of the few remaining wilderness areas in the United States. At 19 million acres, ANWR is the largest portion of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Even though ANWR is so big, it has been affected minimally by human impact so the land has remained relatively intact and nature still operates as it normally would. It is home to the largest Caribou herd, the Porcupine herd, in the world with around 152,000 animals (Caribou in the Arctic Refuge). Despite the pristine, natural beauty remaining wilderness that exists in ANWR, the prospect of oil drilling has caused much political controversy. ANWR is estimated to contain about 8% of undiscovered, recoverable oil in the US (How ANWR Works). This amount is enough for conservative politicians to push for oil drilling in these protected areas, despite the impact it would have on the environment. Drilling for oil in ANWR would boost the economy greatly by reducing the amount spent on importing oil from the Middle East and Russia, but it could also take a while for the drilling to get started and there might not actually be that much oil. Instead of drilling in protected areas and potentially destroying some of the last remaining wilderness in the country, renewable energy should be developed further.

Future Prospects

Source: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a7ca3a1c970b-pi

The future prospects for the Alaskan Tundra are alarming due to climate change. Although the biome hasn’t been affected greatly yet, rising temperatures over the past 50 years are prompting experts such as Professor Breck Bowden, a watershed specialist, to claim “tundra as we imagine it today will largely be gone throughout the Arctic. It may take longer than 50 or even 100 years, but the inevitable direction is toward boreal forest or something like it” (Arctic Tundra is Being Lost as Far North Quickly Warms). Climate change and rising global temperatures are threatening permafrost areas, approximately 20% of the earth’s land surface, to shrink. The loss of permafrost will result in tundra becoming boreal forest, meaning the loss of habitat for many animals and plants. Permafrost melting will also certainly increase sea levels and also release large amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Permafrost contains an estimated 14% of the Earth’s carbon (Tundra, National Geographic), so as the permafrost melts and carbon is released into the air, global temperatures increase, causing the permafrost to melt even faster, essentially creating a positive feedback loop (Tundra and Permafrost, Ice Stories). Luckily we have ample time to adjust our lifestyle and technology to stop the tundra from being destroyed.

Human Impacts: Cause and Effect

Global Warming and Its Impacts

Major Changes Associated With Increasing Levels of Greenhouse Gases:	Major Impact on Tundra:
Increased atmospheric CO2	Disproportionate increased productivity of some plants species will change plant community composition
Increased Temperatures	Moisture-stressed vegetation, changing plant communities, longer snow-free season, increased wildfire, invasion by plant and animal species from the south
Melting ice/snow	Thawing of permafrost and soil ice changed hydrology and leads to terrain instability and vegetation change
Rising sea levels	Salt water intrusion, loss of coastal habitat to erosion
Changing precipitation patterns	More winter thaws and rain-on-snow events harden snowpack, hampering mammal movements and foraging
Drying conditions/drought	Moisture stressed vegetation, reduction in coastal plain wetlands, dish passage issues in streams
More extreme rain/weather events	More landslides/slumps, changes to surface drainage patterns, surface erosion

Source: http://www.wildlifeadaptationstrategy.gov/pdf/Tundra_Ecosystems_Paper.pdf

Improving Human Impacts

Source: http://oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/images/environment/img_26.jpg

Global warming is probably the top issue that has negatively impacted the arctic tundra in Alaska. What causes global warming? The main culprit comes from the burning of fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and gas to generate electricity. (Global Warming Puts the Arctic on Thin Ice) While the power being generated is highly useful in our day to day life, the side effect is that heat trapping gases are produced which rise in the atmosphere and causes global warming. How can we slow down and limit global warming then? The best way is to start saving energy. (How to Fight Global Warming) Ways to do this is to drive more fuel efficient vehicles such as hybrids, buy energy efficient appliances to save energy in homes, and just be more actively conscious of energy use in general. Another excellent way to stop global warming is to use renewable energy. This includes using energy sourced from hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar power. Currently, only 13.2% of energy in the USA comes from renewable energy (Berg), and we need utilize these sources of power more since they are continually replenished and do not produce heat trapping gasses.

Oil drilling is also another issue that has negatively impacted the tundra. It has produced toxic pollution that has killed off many plants and animals near the site of the drilling (Iii). However, stopping oil drilling is mainly a political issue. Usually, those in power in the government control whether oil drilling is done or not, so the best way to stop oil drilling is to lobby these leaders to convince them that oil drilling is harmful or to elect leaders that support the stoppage of oil drilling. 
One final issue that needs to be addressed to improve the human impacts of the arctic tundra is hunting. Overhunting of certain species have caused them to become endangered or extinct. The main way to stop this is to enact laws such as the Endangered Species Act that protect these animals and to create wildlife refuges that shield these species from being hunted (Alaska Impacts & Adaptation).

Sources

Book
Berg, Linda R., Mary Catherine. Hager, and David M. Hassenzahl. Visualizing Environmental Science. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. Print.

Journal

Iii, F. Stuart Chapin, Gaius R. Shaver, Anne E. Giblin, Knute J. Nadelhoffer, and James A. Laundre. "Responses of Arctic Tundra to Experimental and Observed Changes in Climate." Ecology 76.3 (1995): 694. Web.

Web

"Alaska Impacts & Adaptation." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

"Alaska-St. Elias Range." WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

"Global Warming Puts the Arctic on Thin Ice." Arctic Sea Ice. NRDC, 22 Nov. 2005. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

"How to Fight Global Warming." How to Stop and Fight Global Warming. NRDC, 25 Sept. 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

McGinley, Mark. "Human Impacts on the Biodiversity of the Arctic." Human Impacts on the Biodiversity of the Arctic. The Encyclopedia of Earth, 2 July 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

Sherwonit, Bill. "Arctic Tundra Is Being Lost As Far North Quickly Warms." E360. N.p., 11 Jan. 1010. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

Stauth, David. "CLIMATE CHANGE COULD DOOM ALASKA'S TUNDRA." CLIMATE CHANGE COULD DOOM ALASKA'S TUNDRA. News & Research Communications, 3 Aug. 2004. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

Thoman, Rick. "In Barrow, Alaska, Climate Change in Action." In Barrow, Alaska, Climate Change in Action | NOAA Climate.gov. NOAA, 6 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.

"Tundra -- National Geographic." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.