Climate models project that summer sea ice in the Arctic Basin will retreat further and further away from most Arctic landmasses, opening new shipping routes and extending the navigation season in the Northern Sea Route by between two and four months. Previously frozen areas in the Arctic may therefore become seasonally or permanently navigable, increasing the prospects for marine transport through the Arctic and providing greater access to Arcti...

The data are taken from climate model experiments of 12 (out of 24) different models that were conducted for the IPCC Assessment Report 4 using the SRES A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario. Plots on the right show changes in late summer and those on the left show changes in late winter. Notes: 1) sea ice extent is the area in which a defined minimum of sea ice can be found. sea ice concentration is the proportion of the ocean area actually cover...

Mineral fuels for electricity and heat generation take primarily two forms: fossil fuels in the form of oil, natural gas and coal, and uranimum ore for nuclear power. Oil and gas are distributed in different belts, primarily in the North Sea, Caucasus and Northern Russia. Coal in different forms is still an important fuel resource and resources are distributed over the region. Uranium resources are primarily in Ukraine and Central Asia.

Hydropower, generating electricity through turbines, represents a clean and renewable energy source, but not without problems. Dams and reservoirs disrupt the natural flow, and may increase siltation and evaporation, in addition to severe impacts for wildlife, for instance migrating fish. The gross theoretical capability, presented in this map, represents a calculation based on the topography and precipitation in the countries, and is the amount ...

In 1992 76 million people living in urban areas were exposed to air pollutant concentrations exceeding WHO guidelines. In developing countries 1.9 million people die each year because of indoor air pollution exposure and 500,000 die as a result of outdoor pollutant levels.

In many of the world’s largest cities (Beijing, Calcutta, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, etc.) WHO World Health Organization) air quality guidelines are not met. In 1996 global emissions of carbon dioxide were nearly four times the 1950 total.

In 1997 alone haze caused by air pollutants from fire spread for more than 3,200 kilometers, covering six Southeast Asian countries. In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, air pollution reached one the highest recorded indices at 839 g/m3 (levels over 301 g/m3 are equal to smoking 80 cigarettes a day).

Radiative forcing caused by changes in atmospheric composition, alteration in land surface reflectance (albedo), and variation in the output of the sun for the year 2000 relative to conditions in 1750.

The time scale of change refers to the time required for the effects of a perturbation of a process to be expressed. Inertia refers to the delay or slowness in the response of a system to factors altering their rate of change, including continuation of change in the system after the cause of that change has been removed.

Overall, agriculture (cropping and livestock) contributes 13.5 % of global greenhouse gas emissions mostly through emissions of methane and nitrous oxide (about 47% and 58% of total anthropogenic emissions of CH4 and N2O, respectively). The largest producer is power generation at 25.9% followed by industry with 19.4%.

There is a need to develop agricultural policies that both reduce emissions and allow adaptation to climate change that are closer to carbon-neutral, minimize trace gas emissions and reduce natural capital degradation. Important questions include how emissions from agriculture and forestry can be effectively reduced, how to produce food with greater input efficiency, and less GHG emissions, how can agriculture, agroforestry and forestry best adap...

Changes in land use have negatively affected the net ability of ecosystems to sequester carbon from the atmosphere. For instance, the carbon rich grasslands and forests in temperate zones have been replaced by crops with much lower capacity to sequester carbon.

Transportation routes through mountain regions have always been of vital importance not just for mountain dwellers but also for traders between regions. In the Caucasus, transport routes are of immense importance as they connect Asia and Europe and facilitate the transportation of crucial industrial inputs from one continent to the other. Increase in freight transportation occurred between the 1970s and 1980s and regained momentum in the late 199...

Approximately 240 million of the world's poor that live in forested areas of developing countries depend on forests for their livelihoods. Forest and its products provide cash income, jobs, and consumption goods for poor families. Forestry provides formal and informal employment for an estimated 40-60 million people. The sector contributes in some developing countries more than eight per cent to GDP. Timber may be the most important forest produc...

Climate models project that summer sea ice in the Arctic Basin will retreat further and further away from most Arctic landmasses, opening new shipping routes and extending the navigation season in the Northern Sea Route by between two and four months. Previously frozen areas in the Arctic may therefore become seasonally or permanently navigable, increasing the prospects for marine transport through the Arctic and providing greater access to Arcti...

The Arctic represents one of the least populated areas in the world, with only sparse settlements and very few large cities and towns - in comparison with e.g. continental Europe. The largest cities are in Northwest Russia, and Reykjavik is the only national capital in the Arctic. The extraction of natural resources has emerge as a main interest and priority in the Arctic region, and this may cause increases and shifts in population.

Protected areas are very important for conserving biodiversity. In these areas, human activities are managed to achieve specific conservation goals, for example, to protect a certain species or to conserve a representative habitat or ecosystem. The Arctic has many terrestrial protected areas, but is generally lacking in marine protected areas (MPAs). As the climate warms and the sea ice melts, there will be greater access for activities such as f...

A false color Quickbird-2 satellite image of a portion of the Bovanenkovo Gas Field on the Yamal Peninsula in West Siberia. Image acquired 4 July 2004. The construction phase began in the late 1980s. From that period onward there remain visible signs of extensive off-road vehicle traffic across the terrain. Many of those tracks have naturally revegetated and now appear as bright red, indicating dense grass- and sedge-dominated vegetation. The roa...

Biological invasions are known from around the globe but are relatively less known or studied in the Arctic. This secondary migration of invasives complicates ecological interactions as naturally occurring species from areas adjacent to the Arctic are also expanding their ranges northward. Another study found that the rate of marine invasion is increasing; that most reported invasions are by crustaceans and molluscs; and, importantly, that most i...

The Arctic plays host to a vast array of biodiversity, including many globally significant populations. Included among these are more than half of the world´s shorebird species, 80% of the global goose populations, several million reindeer and caribou, and many unique mammals, such as the polar bear. During the short summer breeding season, 279 species of birds arrive from as far away as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and South America to ...