The Mackenzie Valley in Arctic Canada, Northwest Territories, represents one of the main sites for development of fuels extraction in North America. Activities, including the development of pipelines, impact indigenous peoples, as well as sensity environment.
Areas that are vulnerable to pollution from oil and chemical spills where identified using a multiple index in a geographical analysis. Factors, including shoreline sensitivity, corals, benthic conditions, sea birds, marine mammals, fish and fisheries and other sea resources where taken into account and weighed for their importance.
Certain areas have been identified as priority ecoregions for conservation (WWF Global 200) due to their unique biodiversity characteristics. Significant parts of these regions are without any protection, as identified by the IUCN classifications.
The Arctic has been opened up for increased exploration of petroleum, gas and mining activities. The Barents Sea, the Mackenzie Valley in Canada and the Alaskan North Slope, are the areas of chief interest at the moment. With increased tem
peratures and climate change, it is expected that the commercial intrest for more extraction and exploration will increase, as well as shipping of the products. As sea ice decreases, the shipping lanes will become more commercially viable.
The scenarios from the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) project that temperatures will increase dramatically in the Arctic, more than in many other parts of the world. This leads to effects, such as the decrease of area (e.g. tundra) under continous permafrost, the northward move of the tree line and the decrease of Arctic Sea Ice. The synthesis is based on several different models and ensables and this map depicts the situation at the end of this century.
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