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Rapidly Increasing Industrial Activities in the Arctic
https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2024/Arctic.html21.10.2024
Rapidly Increasing Industrial Activities in the Arctic
More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. On average, 85% of the light-polluted areas are due to industrial activities rather than urban development. According to the international team led by UZH researchers, the results are crucial for sustainable development and nature conservation in this highly vulnerable region.
The Arctic is threatened by strong climate change: the average temperature has risen by about 3°C since 1979 – almost four times faster than the global average. The region around the North Pole is home to some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, and has experienced low anthropogenic disturbance for decades. Warming has increased the accessibility of land in the Arctic, encouraging industrial and urban development. Understanding where and what kind of human activities take place is key to ensuring sustainable development in the region – for both people and the environment. Until now, a comprehensive assessment of this part of the world has been lacking.
More than 5% of the Arctic show signs of human activity
An international research team led by Gabriela Schaepman-Strub from the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich (UZH) has now shed light on this question. Together with US colleagues from NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the UZH researchers used data of nighttime artificial light observed from satellites to quantify the hotspots and evolution of human activity across the Arctic from 1992 to 2013. “More than 800,000 km2 were affected by light pollution, corresponding to 5.1% of the 16.4 million km2 analyzed, with an annual increase of 4.8%,” says Schaepman-Strub. With the new, standardized approach the researchers were able to spatially assess human industrial activity across the Arctic, independent of economic data.
The European Arctic and the oil and gas extraction regions of Alaska, USA, and Russia were hotspots of human activity, with up to one-third of the land area illuminated. Compared to these regions, the Canadian Arctic was largely dark at night. “We found that, on average, only 15% of the lit area in the Arctic contained human settlements, which means that most of the artificial light is due to industrial activities rather than urban development. And this major source of light pollution is increasing in both area and intensity every year,” says first author Cengiz Akandil, a doctoral student in Schaepman-Strub’s team.
…
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322269121Rapidly Increasing Industrial Activities in the Arctic
More than 800,000 km2 of the Arctic were affected by human activity in 2013, according to an analysis of satellite-derived data on artificial light at night. On average, 85% of the light-polluted areas are due to industrial activities rather than urban development. According to the international team led by UZH researchers, the results are crucial for sustainable development and nature conservation in this highly vulnerable region.
The Arctic is threatened by strong climate change: the average temperature has risen by about 3°C since 1979 – almost four times faster than the global average. The region around the North Pole is home to some of the world’s most fragile ecosystems, and has experienced low anthropogenic disturbance for decades. Warming has increased the accessibility of land in the Arctic, encouraging industrial and urban development. Understanding where and what kind of human activities take place is key to ensuring sustainable development in the region – for both people and the environment. Until now, a comprehensive assessment of this part of the world has been lacking.
More than 5% of the Arctic show signs of human activity
An international research team led by Gabriela Schaepman-Strub from the Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich (UZH) has now shed light on this question. Together with US colleagues from NASA and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the UZH researchers used data of nighttime artificial light observed from satellites to quantify the hotspots and evolution of human activity across the Arctic from 1992 to 2013. “More than 800,000 km2 were affected by light pollution, corresponding to 5.1% of the 16.4 million km2 analyzed, with an annual increase of 4.8%,” says Schaepman-Strub. With the new, standardized approach the researchers were able to spatially assess human industrial activity across the Arctic, independent of economic data.
The European Arctic and the oil and gas extraction regions of Alaska, USA, and Russia were hotspots of human activity, with up to one-third of the land area illuminated. Compared to these regions, the Canadian Arctic was largely dark at night. “We found that, on average, only 15% of the lit area in the Arctic contained human settlements, which means that most of the artificial light is due to industrial activities rather than urban development. And this major source of light pollution is increasing in both area and intensity every year,” says first author Cengiz Akandil, a doctoral student in Schaepman-Strub’s team.
…