Arctic National Wildlife Treaty
- Created by: AmyPhipps2000
- Created on: 10-03-18 12:30
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- Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- Background
- National wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska.
- Consists of 19.6 million acres reserve.
- One of the most intact American landscapes, where natural processes are mostly uninfluenced by humans.
- A fragile and ecologically sensitive ecosystem.
- Harsh climate and short growing seasons provide little time for species recovery.
- Home to 37 land mammal species, 8 marine mammals, 42 fish species, and over 200 migratory bird species.
- Established in 1960 to protect the wildlife, wilderness and recreational qualities.
- Its glaciated peaks, northern forests and tundra are home to polar bears, caribou, muskoxen and wolves.
- 1.5 million acre Coastal plain descends from the Brooks Mountain range to the Arctic Ocean.
- Calving ground for one of North America's last great caribou herds.
- Forced to move into mountains where forage is low and predators are more abundant.
- Caribou can cover 2,500 miles year as it travels between winter grazing and summer calving grounds.
- Calving ground for one of North America's last great caribou herds.
- Big Oil and the state of Alaska would receive 90% of government revenues generated from drilling.
- Warmed more than 4 degrees Celsius in last 50 years.
- In 2015, Barack Obama effectively band oil exploration on 22 million acres of federal land. (12 million in the ANWR).
- Oil production began at Prudhoe Bay in 1997 and peaked in the 1980s, when Alaska produced a 1/4 of U.S. oil.
- Declining at a rate of 10% a year.
- Left Alaska with a $3.5 billion budget deficit, and forcing it to spend $10 million a day to make ends meet.
- Declining at a rate of 10% a year.
- Offshore waters believed to have 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 180 million cubic feet of recoverable gas.
- National wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska.
- Impacts of fossil fuel extraction
- Costs
- Drilling on coastal plain would affect wildlife.
- Species would suffer displacement, increased mortality and slower reproduction rates.
- Scarce fresh water supplies diverted to ice roads would no longer be available for fish and wildlife.
- Activities such as seismic testing, aircraft and vehicle noise, or human presence can cause mother bears to abandon dens and cubs.
- Die from acute poisoning or suffer a slow death from debilitating illness to ingestion, due to oil and chemical exposure.
- Disrupt food chain/web.
- Periodic spills and poullution
- Prudhoe Bay and North Slope, 60 miles west of the ANWR, has hundreds of toxic spills of crude oil every year
- One fire at the drilling site sent up a plume of black smoke that was seen for hundreds of miles.
- Devastate indigenous Gwich'in people dependant on caribou's sustained productivity for subsistence economy and cultural identity.
- Drilling on coastal plain would affect wildlife.
- Benefits
- At peak production could supply up to 1.45 million barrels of oil per day.
- 1/4 of what the U.S imports from OPEC countries.
- Approximately generate $150-296 billion in federal revenue, which can help debt.
- Total government revenue (including royalties, leases and taxes) could be as much as $440 billion.
- Create jobs - ranging from 55,000 to 130,00.
- Increase energy security, by decreasing dependnence on hostile countries.
- Import decrease by 1 barrel for every barrel of ANWR oil production.
- At peak production could supply up to 1.45 million barrels of oil per day.
- Costs
- Future
- Jan, 2015 => U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released final comprehen-sive conservation plan.
- Recommends coastal plain is federally designated as wilderness.
- Protecting the most vulnerable species.
- Protect North Slope from disturbance.
- Limit oil and gas exploration and development that disturb wildlife and destroy habitat on coastal plain tundra.
- Drilling in the 1002 area, should be permanently prohibited.
- Maintain linkages to areas of tundra adjacent to the refuge.
- Some more threatened species may move to broader expanses of the tundra outside the refuge.
- Invest in research and monitoring of vulnerable species.
- Model the impacts of climate change on wildlife more accurately.
- In particular, the 16 most vulnerable species to ensure management strategies enhance their ability to respond to climate change,
- Protect North Slope from disturbance.
- Jan, 2015 => U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released final comprehen-sive conservation plan.
- Climate Change Vulnerability Index
- Modelling and assessment tool developed by NatureServe.
- Exposure: The magnitude of changes directly related to changes in climate conditions.
- Sensitivity: The degree to which the changes will affect the species.
- Includes species character-istics, disperisal ability, versatility of diet and habitat, dependence on snowy areas, response to natural disturbances and genetic variation in population.
- 16/38 mammals are extremely vulnerable.
- Background
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