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The Arctic is estimated to hold the world's largest remaining untapped gas reserves and some of its largest undeveloped oil reserves. These reserves, if tapped, have implications for the global climate, and for the Arctic environment. A significant proportion of these reserves lie offshore, in the Arctic's shallow and biologically productive shelf seas. Oil spills, whether from blowouts, pipeline leaks or shipping accidents, pose a tremendous risk to arctic ecosystems. Marine ecosystems are particularly vulnerable.
THREATS Spill cleanup is impossible There is no proven effective method for containing and cleaning up an oil spill in icy water.
We can't respond quickly to a spill The difficult conditions of the Arctic, and its distance from where response capacity is stationed mean it can take days or weeks to respond to a spill, even during ice-free periods.
Spill recovery is slow The Arctic is characterized by a short productive season, low temperatures, and limited sunlight. As a result, it can take many decades for Arctic regions to recover from habitat disruption, tundra disturbance and oil spills.
Economically and culturally important species are at risk Offshore oil exploration, drilling and production can disturb the fish and animals that are cornerstones of the subsistence and cultural livelihoods of Indigenous peoples in the Arctic. Arctic fisheries, providing both food and economic value far beyond the Arctic, are also at risk.
Ocean noise can injure marine mammals Whales and other marine mammals use sound to navigate, find mates, and find food in the often dark waters of the ocean. Seismic noises, like the air gun used by oil and gas companies to explore for oil offshore, can be deafening for these species. Excessive ocean noise from oil and gas exploration and drilling could cause injury, confusion, and even death.
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WHAT WE WANT TO SEE Currently, the risks of drilling in the Arctic are simply too high. Here's how we're asking governments to handle Arctic development responsibly
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Make oil and gas projects safer Nobody has the ability to respond to and effectively contain or clean up major oil spills in the Arctic. We are encouraging governments and industry to support research into risk-lowering technologies, and adopt higher standards for spill prevention and clean up.
Transition to renewable energy Neither the Arctic nor the rest of the world can safely absorb the sort of climate change that would be triggered by exploiting all of the world’s hydrocarbons. To avoid severe climate impacts, it is urgent that we move towards a 100% renewable future.
Protect valuable places A prerequisite for any oil & gas development should be the protection of areas of special biological, economic and cultural importance. It's particularly important to protect areas shown to be resilient to the effects of climate change. WWF has already identified three areas that should be off-limits to oil exploitation: • The Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands of coastal Norway • West Kamchatka Shelf in Russia
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/oil_gas/
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http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/photos/greenpeace-activists-deliver-a/
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The US government has given conditional approval to Royal Dutch Shell to conduct exploratory drilling for oil in America’s Arctic ocean. Margaret Williams, managing director of US Arctic programmes, responded: “Today’s decision to move closer to allowing fossil fuel extraction from the Chukchi Sea -- home to majestic wildlife and a place where extreme weather, gale-force winds, and rough seas make operations and response to spills extremely difficult -- is a backward move at this time. "Without proven technologies to clean up potential spills, offshore drilling is too great a risk to America’s Arctic. We have so many better energy choices, including promising technologies that provide clean ways to power our lives without harming the planet.” Shell still needs to receive other authorizations as they relate to the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, in order to go forward with drilling six wells in the Chukchi Sea this summer as this is also home to polar bears, walrus, beluga and bowhead whales, and diverse seabird populations. WWF strongly opposed this decision and over the past several months has shared voices of concern with the government from more than 100,000 supporters. The drilling site is 70 miles from the shore of Alaska, and 1000 miles away from the nearest US Coast Guard station. In the event of an accident, detecting and containing spilled oil in broken ice, summer fog, and rough sea conditions, could be impossible. The US Government agency that made the decision to approve the drilling permit did so, even though they estimate there to be a 75-percent chance of one or more spills of more than 1,000 barrels of oil into this pristine region during the lifetime of the lease, from exploration to development. The impacts from which could be irreversible – for wildlife and people. In addition, in April it was reported that one of Shell's Arctic drilling rigs, due in Puget Sound in May failed a Coast Guard inspection of some of its pollution control equipment. In January of 2013 the world was again reminded of the risks from offshore oil operations. At that time, Shell lost control of its drilling rig while towing it from Alaska to Seattle for maintenance and the rig grounded on a pristine island in the Gulf of Alaska. In a region where temperatures are rising twice as fast than ever before, and sea ice and snow is melting at record levels, it is critical the US take decisive action to cut carbon pollution to reduce the impacts of climate change. This approach is also supported by new scientific analysis that found the most efficient way of meeting the world’s most prominent climate goal, of holding global warming to less than 2o C, would involve ending all Arctic oil drilling plans. The decision to issue the permits comes on the heels of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry taking over as the incoming Arctic Council chairman. During this two-year chairmanship the U.S. will focus on ocean stewardship, improving economic and living conditions for Arctic residents, and climate change. Given these US priorities, WWF sees the decision to allow Shell to move forward as a contradiction to the nation’s overarching goals in the Arctic.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/oil_gas/?246470/US7 government-conditionally-approves-Shell-Arctic-Drilling-Despite-Risks
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A US government agency has reaffirmed exploratory drilling leases in the Chukchi Sea, taking Shell a step closer to drilling in the area off Alaska’s Northwest Coast. “It’s disappointing to see the Department of Interior allow these lease sales to stand, especially at a time when there are no proven ways to safely drill in this remote region and no viable means for cleaning up potential spills,” said Margaret Williams, managing director of WWF US Arctic programs. “Rather than encouraging oil and gas development in America’s Arctic, the US needs to focus its efforts on moving toward an economy based on clean, renewable energy, not dirty, fossil fuels.” Alexander Shestakov, Director of WWF’s Global Arctic Programme added, “The US has outlined a progressive agenda for its coming chairmanship of the Arctic Council, including its priorities of ocean stewardship and climate change. It’s hard to see how they can reconcile an international focus on renewable energy and marine conservation with domestic moves like this.”
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/oil_gas/?243553/Shell-stepscloser-to-drilling-in-American-Arctic-this-summer 11
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This WWF report details the problems increasingly noisy oceans are creating for whales. Those problems include finding mates, finding food, and potentially driving whales away from prime habitat. “We’re finding evidence of increasing levels of noise in all of our oceans” say Aimee Leslie, Global Cetacean and Marine Turtle Manager for WWF. “Large ship traffic, offshore oil exploration and development, and military exercises are all contributing to a barrage of noise buffeting ocean life. This cacophony is hard on cetaceans that use sound for essential communication. We are particularly concerned about the impacts of sound in previously quiet oceans, such as the Arctic.” The report finds there are methods of both quietening the oceans, and reducing the impacts of noise on whales. Key recommendations include: • Immediate action to reduce ocean noise at its source • Further research on technologies to reduce noise created by oil exploration, commercial shipping, and pile driving • Making parts of the ocean important for whales off limits to big noise producing activities, especially during sensitive times (such as calving) • Swift and effective implementation and regulation based on coming IMO guidelines on reducing ocean noise from shipping. “The key is taking immediate action to reduce noise where we can,” says Leslie. “We can wait for better technologies and more research, but we already have enough information to know ocean noise is a problem, and we already have some tools to start fixing it.”
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/oil_gas/?217171/ocean-noisewhales 13
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Consisting of deep ocean covered by drifting pack ice and surrounded by continents and archipelagos around the Earth's North Pole, the Arctic is the planet's largest and least fragmented inhabited region. But by the end of this century, the Arctic will be a very different place. Temperatures are warming more than twice as fast as they are for the planet as a whole. Sea ice is melting. Arctic wildlife and people are beginning to live altered lives.
OUR SOLUTIONS The Arctic is at a critical threshold: unprecedented rates of change, mostly climate-driven, have led to an uncertain future of global significance. Since 1992, WWF's Global Arctic Programme has been working with our partners across the Arctic to combat threats to the Arctic and to preserve its rich biodiversity in a sustainable way.
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/arctic/what_we_do/
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