Review Paper:
Climate Change
inflicted Environmental Degradation leading to the Crumbling of Arctic Ecosystem
Sarojini Suma, Jayaram Saranya, Bhatnagar Manas and Mitra Souvik
Disaster Advances; Vol. 17(7); 36-47;
doi: https://doi.org/10.25303/177da036047; (2024)
Abstract
The Arctic and Antarctic regions serve as the air conditioners of planet Earth.
The polar regions located thousands of miles away from us determine the climatic
patterns of our geographical area. They maintain our planet at bearable temperatures
which are ideal for the existence of diverse flora and fauna and to support different
types of ecosystems all around the world. Apart from controlling the temperatures,
they also regulate ocean currents which in turn have an effect on the monsoons,
winds, hurricanes etc. The poles were pristine till a few decades back. Due to man’s
greed, the poles started deteriorating at an alarming scale. Climate change, biodiversity
changes, oil drilling, seismic testing, toxin accumulation are a few of the challenges
faced by the Arctic ecosystem having serious effects on its topography, terrestrial
and marine life-forms and the whole ecosystem.
Due to the alarming scale of global warming, there is also the danger of permafrost
meltdown which can unleash a plethora of dangerous pathogens buried underneath and
also let out the huge amounts of locked down carbon. The crumbling of the polar
ecosystem is leading to rampant consequences not only in the poles but also elsewhere
in the world thousands of miles away. Here, we attempt to discuss the repercussions
of the crumbling Arctic ecosystem due to the physical, chemical and geological changes
caused by such anthropogenic activities and look at the efforts being carried out
to save the Arctic ecosystem in a frantic effort to save our planet.
