The arctic oil and wildlife refuge
- THE LAST GREAT ONSHORE OIL FIELD IN AMERICA MAY LIE BENEATH THE NATION’S LAST GREAT COASTAL WILDERNESS PRESERVE.SCIENCE CAN CLARIFY THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND THE ECOLOGICAL RISKS OF DRILLING INTO IT.
- Senate bill S. 389 would open the coastal plain and foothills of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the so-called 1002 Area, to oil development. A competing bill, S. 411, would designate the area as wilderness, prohibiting development.
- Geologists have used 1985 seismic data to estimate how much profitable oil and gas lie below the surface. But before any lease sale, oil companies would conduct new seismic surveys. That would leave a grid of visible scars in the vegetation of the plain but would have little or no effect on wildlife.
- Ice roads and exploration wells would follow. Fish and waterfowl may suffer if rivers and lakes are overdrained.
- A network of oil fields, processing plants and pipelines would extract the oil. A nearly roadless development may have little effect on the herd of 130,000 caribou that calves on the plain.Or it may displace the animals, affecting their nutrition,predation and birth rates, and long-term population growth
The Arctic Refuge contains one of the most fragile and ecologically sensitive ecosystems in the world. Its environment is extremely vulnerable to long-lasting disturbance because the harsh climate and short growing seasons provide little time for species to recover. Proposed oil and gas development would occur on the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain found along the Beaufort Sea. This area is considered the “biological heart” of the refuge, and habitat loss that occurs here will impact the entire Arctic Refuge.At 19 million acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest land-based unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is also one of the last intact landscapes in America. Established in 1960 to protect its extraordinary wildlife, wilderness and recreational qualities, the Arctic Refuge is a place where natural processes remain mostly uninfluenced by humans.
Concerns associated with oil field activities along river corridors include:displacement of muskoxen from preferred winter habitat, increased energy needs related to disturbance and displacement, decreased body condition of females, increased incidents of predation, decreased calf production and animal survival. Drills must not be created to able to save the ecosystem and habitats.
So what?
- Education is every important. Spread out the word to save ourselves and the environment.
What if?
- this problem still continue?
Says who?
- W. Wayt Gibbs
What does this remind me of?
- This reminds me of the video "Monday"
- Senate bill S. 389 would open the coastal plain and foothills of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the so-called 1002 Area, to oil development. A competing bill, S. 411, would designate the area as wilderness, prohibiting development.
- Geologists have used 1985 seismic data to estimate how much profitable oil and gas lie below the surface. But before any lease sale, oil companies would conduct new seismic surveys. That would leave a grid of visible scars in the vegetation of the plain but would have little or no effect on wildlife.
- Ice roads and exploration wells would follow. Fish and waterfowl may suffer if rivers and lakes are overdrained.
- A network of oil fields, processing plants and pipelines would extract the oil. A nearly roadless development may have little effect on the herd of 130,000 caribou that calves on the plain.Or it may displace the animals, affecting their nutrition,predation and birth rates, and long-term population growth
The Arctic Refuge contains one of the most fragile and ecologically sensitive ecosystems in the world. Its environment is extremely vulnerable to long-lasting disturbance because the harsh climate and short growing seasons provide little time for species to recover. Proposed oil and gas development would occur on the 1.5-million-acre coastal plain found along the Beaufort Sea. This area is considered the “biological heart” of the refuge, and habitat loss that occurs here will impact the entire Arctic Refuge.At 19 million acres, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the largest land-based unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. It is also one of the last intact landscapes in America. Established in 1960 to protect its extraordinary wildlife, wilderness and recreational qualities, the Arctic Refuge is a place where natural processes remain mostly uninfluenced by humans.
Concerns associated with oil field activities along river corridors include:displacement of muskoxen from preferred winter habitat, increased energy needs related to disturbance and displacement, decreased body condition of females, increased incidents of predation, decreased calf production and animal survival. Drills must not be created to able to save the ecosystem and habitats.
So what?
- Education is every important. Spread out the word to save ourselves and the environment.
What if?
- this problem still continue?
Says who?
- W. Wayt Gibbs
What does this remind me of?
- This reminds me of the video "Monday"