(by Karl Magnus Eger)

The extent of rates of pollutants in the Arctic has been studied for years. A study performed by Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) in 2002, concludes that the Arctic is still one of the cleanest places on earth whereas few toxins have been produced, used or stored¹ . Due to its relatively small human population and the general absence of large-scale industrialization, the arctic region does not represent a major source of pollution. Yet, in nearly all parts of the circumpolar Arctic, increasing pollution of the natural environment is a serious problem. In most places, current levels of pollution are low - considerably lower than in most urban and industrialized areas in the mid-latitudes.

Locally, pollution from mining, industrial smelters, military activities, and oil and gas development has caused harm or posed potential threats to plant and animal life. However, pollution of international significance is generated within the arctic regions in only a few areas. The most important of these at present are the highly industrialized Kola Peninsula and White Sea regions of north western Russia, and the large metallurgical and wood processing complexes of north-central Siberia. Each of these areas contributes to circumpolar pollution; the prevailing winds carry airborne pollutants over the central Arctic Basin, and the rivers deliver their contaminants to the Arctic Ocean.

Long-range transport of pollutants from sources outside the Arctic, in the atmosphere, rivers, or ocean currents, is also of concern² . One can find traces of pollutants throughout the Arctic environment and the ecosystem (i.e. in the atmosphere, in soils and sediments, in snow and ice, in seawater and freshwater, birds, animals, including humans). Pollution from lower latitudes is carried into the Arctic by atmospheric circulation and ocean currents. Global atmospheric circulation patterns are such that eastward-moving air masses in northern mid-latitudes become polluted near the surface and then may get carried at moderate or higher elevations to the arctic regions, where they descend and may deposit their impurities. The main pathways by which airborne pollutants reach the Arctic are over northern Europe and Asia and then across the Arctic Ocean to northern Canada and Alaska, although excursions of polluted air from the industrialized Midwest of North America into northern Canada and the Arctic Ocean are not uncommon.

Pollutants reach the Arctic through one major point of entry, the northeast Atlantic. Chemically stable or slow-reacting pollutants from industrialized eastern North America are carried by winds or rivers into the Atlantic Ocean and then northward by the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Drift into the Arctic Ocean. Augmented by drainage and winds from Europe and by north-flowing Siberian rivers, they are carried under the arctic ice where they remain protected from sunlight and vigorous oxygenation which otherwise would hasten their chemical break-down. By these means, much of the far-travelled and persistent waste products of the industrialized world appear to be ultimately deposited in arctic regions. A portion of these, to which may be added materials deposited directly from the atmosphere, becomes incorporated in the upper layers of Arctic Ocean waters and returned to the Northwest Atlantic, where they sink to lower ocean depths and are carried slowly southward as the Atlantic Deep Water Current, eventually spreading at depth throughout the World Ocean³ .

Ship Pollution

Ships can pollute the oceans in many ways. For instance, spills from oil tankers and chemical tankers, and ejection of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon dioxide gases into the atmosphere from exhaust fumes. Discharge of cargo residues from bulk carriers can pollute ports, waterways and oceans. Ships create noise pollution that disturbs natural wildlife, and water from ballast tanks can spread harmful algae and other invasive species. Studies assessing the potential impacts of international shipping on climate and air pollution demonstrate that ships contribute significantly to global climate change and health impacts through emission of Greenhouse Gases (e.g., carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) or chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)), aerosols, nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM)⁴ .

The AMSA has developed an activity-based estimate of Arctic marine shipping emissions using empirical data for shipping reported by all Arctic council member states. Emissions were calculated for all vessel/trips for which data was available for the base year 2004. The 3744 voyages analyzed represent about 7.6 million km of distance travelled (or 4 million nautical miles), with about 4 million km (2 million nautical miles) from non-fishing vessels. Collectively, this represents more than 15 000 voyage days for 2004, with about 3700 fishing days. Results are potentially an underestimation of current emissions, given probable underreporting bias and anecdotal reports of recent growth in international shipping and trade through the Arctic⁵ .

Table 4.1: Estimated Emissions in the Arctic 2004 by Ship Type

Source: AMSA (2008), p.163

CO2 is produced from marine vessels as a by-product of the oxidation of carbon in diesel fuel. International shipping emitted approximately 800 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2 in 2000, contributing about 2.7% of global CO2 emissions that year. Arctic contributions for 2004 amount to about 1% of the total ship CO2 emissions, not an amount that would cause significant effects in the global context.