Arctic sea ice is decreasing due to carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, with rates of decline between 2001-2005 at 8.6%. Ice Mass Buoys have been used to gather data suggesting that the sea ice thickness is decreasing twice as fast as sea ice extent is. Models predict that sea ice is ever declining though rates vary model to model.
We of the Palmer High Ocean Bowl team based our research project on the concept that the Matanuska-Susitna Valley could be washed out by a tsunami of a significant size. We chose this topic because our team members are residents of the valley and wanted to investigate the effects of a tsunami on the local area and what could be done to protect our home and keep it resilient.
From the shores of England to the watersheds of Alaska, all marine environments face degradation with the exposure of tributyltin, commonly known as TBT. Since the introduction of TBT in the 1960s, boat hulls and fishing equipment have become more hydrodynamic by eliminating microbial organisms’ growth on marine equipment therefore increasing efficiency.
Coastal resilience is the ability in which a city is able to come back from a disaster, and not just react to the threat. The threat we are researching is sea level rise in conjunction with erosion of the coast. Both Kivalina and Newtok are estimated to go under water within ten years, and not much can be done to stop the rising tides of water engulfing the land around these cities.
It is now a common belief that global warming is the main cause for the melting of the sea ice of our planet Earth. The Arctic Sea ice is no exception. Evidences of scientific exploration and research with the aid of satellite technology reveal that the Arctic sea ice is continuously shrinking.
A “plastic soup” of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States. In 1997, the oceanographer Charles Moore discovered this garbage patch. Ninety percent of these sea wastes are plastics. This study focuses on the impact of plastics to marine life and specifically to the albatross colony of Alaska.
Dive fisheries in Southern Southeast Alaska are important to the local area and have a significant impact that some people aren’t very aware of. With the increasing use of sea cucumbers in the past few years, it is important that there are plans to keep the populations up without harming or affecting the environment in a negative way.
Pollutants that resist breakdown and accumulate in the food chain are of great concern because they are consumed or absorbed by fish and other marine wildlife, which in turn are consumed by humans (NOAA, 2003). One of the most dangerous and controversial contaminants today is tributyltin (TBT). Tributyltin is one of the most poisonous substances to be released to the aquatic environment (Knutzen, 1995). It is used in many of the world’s marine paints to keep barnacles, seaweed, and other organisms from clinging to ships.
Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are an environmental and health threat to oceanic and land creatures as well as humans. They are man-made substances that are primarily carried through air and water currents. POPs settle in colder climates in the Arctic, such as Alaska where the temperatures reach below freezing. The contaminants rest there for long periods of time because the cold climate prevents them from breaking down. This is the main reason why POPs transfer from water to soil to plants onto animals and into humans.
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