Introduction
In the past decade, Arctic tourism has increased dramatically raising serious concerns over the possibility of negative impact on the Arctic environment. The tourist footfall has increased from around 1 million in the 1990s to more than 1.5 million in 2007, and it is expected this will keep on increasing in coming future. This increase has not been matched with the appropriate practices of management and infrastructural development in the Arctic. Adoption and application of the relevant sustainable tourism programmes and policies is required urgently (United Nation Environment Programme). Alan Grenier, a tourism expert of the Arctic Circle stated that most policy makers are concerned about the ecological damage resulted from shipping and mining companies and the fearless explorers can have a negative impact on the frail Arctic environment, especially after more people start to travel north (Hill). The level of air pollution has increased substantially in the Arctic during the time of presence of tourist ships. In the coming time, since the extent of shipping is expected rise in the Arctic region many researchers have recommended that stricter regulation for emissions have to be introduced for limiting the impact of sir pollution in the Arctic environment (European Commission).
Impact of Arctic Tourism on Arctic Environment
There are some serious concerns that Arctic tourism brings to the Arctic environment. Arctic tourism degrades the Arctic region by placing added pressure on the water, wildlife, land, transportation and other basic necessities. According to the Arctic Council Working Group the CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna), the predominant environmental impacts due to Arctic tourism are the following:
The transportation of tourists in the Arctic increases the volume of airplanes and ship traffic. The addition to the affect on the climate by long distance water and air traffic, increase in ship traffic would lead to an increase in the risk of accidents and groundings. This can result in the increased activity can be oil spills among other environmental hazards.
Since many Arctic tourists wish to visit areas of beauty that includes the marine mammal haul-outs, caribou aggregations and the bird colonies. There are only a few sites where these are reliable and accessible, making the tourist traffic highly concentrated. The Arctic vegetation cannot withstand the repeated trampling and the formed paths of bare grounds that appear in heavily visited spots.
The helicopters that are used for the recreational purposes are often noisy and they produce different sounds that disturb the seabirds. These helicopters result in panic bird flights that lead to egg loss in the female birds and other animals.
In the Arctic areas of forest-tundra, tourism includes fishing and sport hunting that attracts moderately increasing number of tourists. This increases the pressure on these places resources that can lead to conflict with the locals. The forest-tundra has a low tolerance for trampling; even temporary presence of tourists leaves a lasting impact.
Many tourists visit the seabird colonies and this is increasing rapidly. At present, the visit of cruise ships in the Arctic is increasing with the passage of time. These visits are mostly to the colonies which are large and spectacular and are home to species as puffins, kittiwakes, fulmars and murres. During their visits to colonies, tourists arrive on smaller boats and cruise to the colonies to observe the seabirds and take pictures.
The recreational activities like fishing and boating causes local disturbance in the bird colonies in many Arctic colonies. Local species like the ducks, terns, gulls and spectacled guillemots frequently disturb the visitors.
Waste, Garbage and Pollution are increasingly significant troubles from most of the tourism operations, especially the decomposition tends to be slow and the waste is visible in the permafrost at many areas in the Arctic.
The positive impact of Arctic tourism, is implemented properly, is the educational value. Tourists in the Arctic get fascinated by the wilderness, natural phenomena and sheer beauty on the Arctic environment. These tourists can be environmental protection ambassadors, sparking the conservation actions and organizations all over the world (Grid Arendal).
Arctic Sustainable Development
In 1996, the Arctic Council was established with a mandate of taking cooperation o the Arctic affairs beyond its environment, with greater emphasis placed sustainable development. This council provides the high-level forum to the Arctic states of the United States, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Russian federation to address the environmental protection, subsistence activities, health, sustainable economic development, community development, transport, tourism and communications (Nuttall).
Analysis
In this case, the intended audience are anyone who cares for the Arctic environment and plans to visit the Northern polar region in coming future. The list of audience includes the environmental firms, scholars investigating the Arctic, organizations that can conserve the Arctic, Tourists, Transportation and hospitality firms, tourist guides, locals among others who are related to Arctic in one way or another. In this article, I am supporting the adverse affect Arctic tourism has on the Arctic environment.
I have chosen to write an essay on the topic with some points. The essay gives flow to the paper with proper heading and inline citations placed where it is needed. The points are used to depict the different impacts of tourism on the Arctic environment. This format is suitable for this topic as it covers all important issues and serves as an easy read for the audience.
Since, the paper is an essay with some points, it has features of both. The essay makes the paper clear and concise, to ensure the audience is aware of the heading and sub-heading they are reading. The small section of points is used for illustrating the topic and helps the readers understand the different effects on the Arctic environment due to increasing tourism.
Use of Ethos can be demonstrated with a example of Arctic Council Working Group the CAFF (Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna), the predominant environmental impacts due to Arctic tourism. Since, the readers seem to trust the voice of the authority this is the example of Eths in this paper. Use of Pathos in this paper is the most used mode of persuasion in this paper, as the most of paper appeals to the reader’s emotions. This can be illustrated through every impact of the Arctic tourism. Finally, Logos can be demonstrated by the need to adopt and apply the relevant sustainable tourism programmes and policies. The increase in the tourism footfall has not been matched with the appropriate practices of management and infrastructural development in the Arctic.
The thesis of this paper is: Arctic tourism has increased dramatically raising serious concerns over the possibility of a negative impact on the Arctic environment. The tourist footfall has increased from around 1 million in the 1990s to more than 1.5 million in 2007, and it is expected this will keep on increasing in coming future. This increase has not been matched with the appropriate practices of management and infrastructural development in the Arctic. It has been included at the start of the paper as it is given the audience the idea behind the paper at the start of the reading and also gives the paper flow of readability.
The information that has been taken from the Unit 2 in this paper is the impact of Arctic tourism on the Arctic environment. This is done because that this topic is specifically on the issue of the environment is influenced by the sharp increase in the Arctic tourism. It was necessary to take the excerpts from the Unit 2 as the topic bears significant importance to the previously submitted paper.
The tourism industry can be one party against the argument placed in this paper. This is because, that in the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the arrival of visitors to the Arctic region and Arctic tourism is a potential gold mine for them. My argument is not against the Arctic tourism, but it is against unsustainable form of tourism that affects the water, wildlife, land, transportation and other basic necessities. It is important to preserve the Arctic to ensure the future generations can also enjoy the beauty of the North.
This paper is written in a conversational tone for making the audience accustomed to the use quotes and information shared in the article. The conversation voice makes the audience go through the paper in seemingly easier manner in comparison to the formal tone.
The Climate of the Arctic is changing, and it affects the ecosystem that forms the basis for the subsistence of species in various Arctic communities, as well as the development of Arctic industries of mining, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture. This affects the organisms in the Arctic environment that affects the ecosystems, organisms and people living in the Arctic. Thus, increasing Arctic tourism largely effects the Arctic environment, and actions are needed to be taken to ensure Arctic environment safety and conservation
Conclusion
The Climate of the Arctic is changing, and it affects the ecosystem that forms the basis for the subsistence of species in various Arctic communities, as well as the development of Arctic industries of mining, tourism, fisheries and aquaculture. The increase in temperature and melting of ice has opened new routes in the Arctic for many new activities and tourism is one of them. All these activities of petroleum development, shipping and tourism change the environment with the physical disturbances, increased pollution and noise. This affects the organisms in the Arctic environment that affects the ecosystems, organisms and people living in the Arctic. Thus, increasing Arctic tourism largely effects the Arctic environment, and actions are needed to be taken to ensure Arctic environment safety and conservation.
Works Cited
United Nation Environment Programme. Rapid Rise in Tourism New Challenge to Polar Environment. http://www.unep.org/documents.multilingual/default.asp?articleid=5593&documentid=512&l=en. unep.org. 3rd June 2007. Web. 2 Mar 2014
Hill, A. Tourism expert calls for monitoring, protection of fragile Arctic environment as industry expands. http://o.canada.com/news/increasing-arctic-tourism-poses-a-risk-to-environment-canadian-expert-tells-inaugural-arctic-circle-conference/. o.canada.com. 14th Oct 2013. Web. 2 Mar 2014
European Commission. Science for Environment Policy. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/322na4.pdf. ec.europa.eu. 2013. Web. 2014
Grid Arendal. 3 Tourism in the Polar Regions: Facts, Trends and Impacts. http://www.grida.no/publications/tourism-polar/page/1421.aspx. grida.no. n.d. Web. 2014
Nuttall, M. Towards an agenda for Arctic sustainable development. http://www.thearctic.is/articles/overviews/changing/enska/kafli_0200.htm. thearctic.is. 2000. Web. 2014
