Impacts on the Arctic

The Arctic may have a harsh environment, but it is fragile and easily impacted by human activity. "Oil and gas pipelines, some of them rusting and leaking, snake across hundreds of miles of tundra and mountain ranges, while seismic trails and the scars of clear-cut logging are etched deep on boreal and tundra landscapes" (Nuttall, 2000, pars. 1-4). The region is also one where oil transport by sea takes place. The Exxon-Valdez oil tanker spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989 released more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into a remote area accessible only by helicopter and boat, threatening "the delicate food chain that supports Prince William Sound's commercial fishing industry. Also in danger were ten million migratory shore birds and waterfowl, hundreds of sea otters, dozens of other species, such as harbor porpoises and sea lions, and several varieties of whales" (Exxon, 2013, par. 2). Rescue and rehabilitation efforts went on for six months. The following year, Congress enacted the Oil Pollution Act, which strengthened requirements for better hulls and vessel communications.