Greenland

According to the United Nations 2003 List of Protected Areas report, over 100,000 protected areas have been established around the world. 
    - Largest area: 97 hectare Greenland National Park


Global News Wire.  South African Press Association.  "More than 100,000 protected areas listed."  (9 September 2003).  Copyright Financial Times Information.


Freshwater: the Polar Regions
Arctic

- Two main permanent fields:  ice pack of the Arctic Ocean (8 million km^2) , Greenland ice cap (1.7 million km^2)
    - Hold 10 per cent of the world's freshwater
- Greenland ice cap produces about 300 km^3 of icebergs a year
- Arctic rivers pour 4,200 km^3 of freshwater into the Arctic Ocean annually along with about 221 million tons of sediment
- Productivity in region limited by low temperatures, low nutrients, short light availability and brief growing season

Problems/Concerns with Area
- Overall warming trend plus increased recreational and commercial fisheries put pressure on populations
- Accidental introduction of alien species and increased fish farming is another concern
- Eutrophication is a problem where human settlements raised nutrient levels
- Northbound rivers carry contaminants into the freshwater system and into the marine environment
      - contaminants are chemicals from agricultural, industrial, and petroleum production, radio nuclides from nuclear testing and military activities and water soluble salts
- Programs adopted to protect the area:
    - Regional Program of Action for Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment against Land-based Activities
    - National Program of Action (in select countries, including Russian Federation)
       - Effects of program too recent to assess long term effectiveness

- Since the 1970s, surface air temperatures appear to have increased on average 1.5°C per decade over continental Siberia and western portions of North America
- Opposite trend is occurring in Greenland and Canada's eastern Arctic - negative trend of –1°C per decade
- Warming trend has resulted in thawing of the continuous permafrost in Alaska and northern Russia
- Arctic countries partially responded to threats to their freshwater systems by establishing protected areas and designating important wetland areas under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
- Nearly half the protected area in the Arctic is the Greenland ice cap and glaciers which store freshwater.

http://www.unep.org/geo/geo3/english/308.htm

Urban Areas: the Polar Regions

- Arctic has 3.75 million permanent residents
- Most settlements have populations of less than 5,000 people and are nonindigenous immigrants
- Shift in demography due to increase in urbanization

Greenland
- Experienced population growth since 1970s
   - 1/4 population lives in Nuuk (capital)
- Norway pursued a policy of discouraging migration from its northern counties by providing significant support to stimulate jobs, industry, higher education and research in the North

North America
- Attempted to avoid permanent settlements around mines and oil fields by using shift workers rather than moving families north
- Facilities were deliberately located away from indigenous villages, and since the 1980s agreements and partnerships have been developed with indigenous organizations to reduce environmental and social impacts, and to increase local employment

Consequences
- Pressures of urbanization are magnified in Arctic by challenges of climate and remoteness
- Urban centers rely on diesel fuel, hydroelectric, or nuclear power
- Expanding road networks leads to increased land use conflicts with wildlife and indigenous people
- Greatest problems: habitat fragmentation and sanitation and waste disposal

http://www.unep.org/geo/geo3/english/440.htm

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