Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Pollution in the Arctic Ocean
T2 - An overview of multiple pressures and implications for ecosystem services
AU - Townhill, Bryony L.
AU - Reppas Chrysovitsinos, Efstathios
AU - Sühring, Roxana
AU - Halsall, Crispin
AU - Mengo, Elena
AU - Sanders, Tina
AU - Dähnke, Kirsten
AU - Crabeck, Odile
AU - Kaiser, Jan
AU - Birchenough, Silvana N. R.
PY - 2022/2/28
Y1 - 2022/2/28
N2 - The Arctic is undergoing unprecedented change. Observations and models demonstrate significant perturbations to the physical and biological systems. Arctic species and ecosystems, particularly in the marine environment, are subject to a wide range of pressures from human activities, including exposure to a complex mixture of pollutants, climate change and fishing activity. These pressures affect the ecosystem services that the Arctic provides. Current international policies are attempting to support sustainable exploitation of Arctic resources with a view to balancing human wellbeing and environmental protection. However, assessments of the potential combined impacts of human activities are limited by data, particularly related to pollutants, a limited understanding of physical and biological processes, and single policies that are limited to ecosystem-level actions. This manuscript considers how, when combined, a suite of existing tools can be used to assess the impacts of pollutants in combination with other anthropogenic pressures on Arctic ecosystems, and on the services that these ecosystems provide. Recommendations are made for the advancement of targeted Arctic research to inform environmental practices and regulatory decisions.
AB - The Arctic is undergoing unprecedented change. Observations and models demonstrate significant perturbations to the physical and biological systems. Arctic species and ecosystems, particularly in the marine environment, are subject to a wide range of pressures from human activities, including exposure to a complex mixture of pollutants, climate change and fishing activity. These pressures affect the ecosystem services that the Arctic provides. Current international policies are attempting to support sustainable exploitation of Arctic resources with a view to balancing human wellbeing and environmental protection. However, assessments of the potential combined impacts of human activities are limited by data, particularly related to pollutants, a limited understanding of physical and biological processes, and single policies that are limited to ecosystem-level actions. This manuscript considers how, when combined, a suite of existing tools can be used to assess the impacts of pollutants in combination with other anthropogenic pressures on Arctic ecosystems, and on the services that these ecosystems provide. Recommendations are made for the advancement of targeted Arctic research to inform environmental practices and regulatory decisions.
KW - Chemicals
KW - Contaminants
KW - Ecopath
KW - Management
KW - Modelling
KW - Policy
U2 - 10.1007/s13280-021-01657-0
DO - 10.1007/s13280-021-01657-0
M3 - Journal article
VL - 51
SP - 471
EP - 483
JO - Ambio
JF - Ambio
SN - 0044-7447
IS - 2
ER -