Árctico : Encontradas partículas de plástico : investigação científica !

Arctic sea

créditos:  Natalie Thomas/Reuters

via The Guardian/ Environment

A pegada humana faz-se sentir já em todo o Planeta. E o plástico chegou a todas as zonas do mundo, inclusive as mais remotas. 

É o caso da Fossa das Marianas (Oceano Pacífico), no alto do Monte Everest, e agora, também do Oceano Ártico.

Fossa das Marianas/ Oceano Pacífico

via Jornal da Ciência

Uma investigação coordenada pela Ocean Wise Conservation Association, no Canadá, analisou amostras entre 3 a 8 metros abaixo da superfície, no Mar de Beaufort.

Foi detetada uma grande presença de fibras sintéticas (92%), sendo que a maioria era de poliéster (73%), que por norma é proveniente de roupas. A quantidade correspondente a artes de pesca foi ainda assim reduzida, correspondendo apenas a 8,3% a nylon e 3,3% a polipropileno.

Os cientistas encontraram fibras plásticas no Pólo Norte. Com o plástico recentemente descoberto no ponto mais profundo da Terra, a Fossa das Marianas, e no pico do Monte Everest, fica claro que o lixo da humanidade poluiu todo o planeta. O plástico é conhecido por ferir ou causar a morte de animais marinhos que o confundem com comida. Lembram-se da postagem sobre microplásticos encontrados nos pinguins da Antárctida?

As pessoas também consomem microplásticos via alimentos, água e o ar que respiram, embora o impacto na saúde ainda não seja conhecido.

credits: Nature Communications

Article number: 106 (2021)

https://www.nature.com/articles/

Os resultados indicam que muitas das águas residuais contêm uma grande quantidade de microfibras provenientes das lavagens de roupa. Estima-se que “uma única peça de vestuário pode libertar milhões de fibras durante uma lavagem de roupa doméstica”.

Por sua vez, “uma grande estação de tratamento de águas residuais pode libertar até 21 mil milhões de microfibras no ambiente”, explicam no artigo.

Se estás interessado, como estudante de Ciência, lê o artigo científico 

Arctic microplastic pollution

credits: Ocean Wise

https://www.aquablog.ca/2021/

The Arctic is “pervasively” polluted by microplastic fibres that most likely come from the washing of synthetic clothes by people in Europe and North America, research has found.

Synthetic fibers make up approximately 92% of microplastic pollution found in near-surface seawater samples from across the Arctic Ocean. And about 73% of those fibers are polyester and resemble fibers used in clothing and textiles.

credits: Nature Communications

Article number: 106 (2021)

https://www.nature.com/articles/

The researchers found plastic fibres at the north pole. With plastic recently discovered at the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, and the peak of Mount Everest, it is clear humanity’s litter has polluted the entire planet. 

It is known to injure wildlife that mistake it for food. People also consume microplastics via food and water, and breathe them in, although the health impact is not yet known.

These findings, and others, are detailed in a scientific paper from Ocean Wise, published today in the prestigious international scientific journal Nature Communications:

credits: Ocean Wise

https://www.aquablog.ca/2021/

"Our near-surface microplastic counts from sites across the Arctic fall into of those reported recently from Hudson Baye and Eastern Arctic but are higher than those measured in the polar waters of sountheast of Svalbard, Norway".

Nature Communications, Abstract

If you are interested as Science students Read the entire communication.

Geração 'explorer'

14.01-2021

sources: Greensavers/ Nature Communications/ Ocean Wise

Petroleiro atravessou o Ártico sem precisar de quebra-gelo ?!

Christophe de Margerie travessia Arctico

https://www.total.com/en/news/

Um petroleiro russo atravessou o Árctico, pela primeira vez, sem precisar da ajuda de um quebra-gelo e em tempo recorde. Mais um sinal das mudanças climáticas e do degelo naquela região do planeta.

Um navio petroleiro russo atravessou o norte do Árctico, pela primeira vez, sem precisar do apoio de um navio quebra-gelo. 

https://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/

Além do feito inédito, o cargueiro com o nome Christophe de Margerie conseguiu fazer a travessia da chamada Rota do Norte no tempo recorde de 19 dias, o que equivale a uma viagem cerca de 30% mais rápida do que a rota habitualmente utilizada no Canal do Suez.

credits: ExactEarth
https://maritimecyprus.com/2017/

O navio conseguiu o feito graças ao seu casco reforçado que lhe permite ser o único até agora a conseguir navegar em mares com camadas de gelo até 2,1 metros. 

O degelo que se tem verificado na zona do Árcico faciltou-lhe a travessia. O Christophe de Margerie tem 300 metros e foi construído especificamente para tirar proveito desse degelo.

A viagem, iniciada na Noruega a 19 de Julho, terminou na Coreia do Sul. O Christophe de Margerie transportava gás natural liquefeito e percorreu 4.090 quilómetros. O cargueiro manteve uma velocidade média de 14 nós (cerca de 26 quilómetros por hora).

Christophe de Margerie

credits: Sovcomflot

via Climate Home News

O projecto contou desde o início com o apoio do governo. A região do Árctico tem sido utilizada cada vez mais como rota marítima, devido ao degelo que facilita a navegação por esse oceano. 

A situação tem preocupado os ambientalistas devido ao risco que representa o aumento do tráfego através dessa via. E com razão. Só devemos estar mesmo preocupados.

credits: Courtesy: DSME
https://www.offshore-energy.biz/

Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first ice-breaking liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker, became the first ship to dock at the Yamal LNG terminal at Russia’s port of Sabetta on March 30 after completing its ice trials.

credits: Courtesy DSM

https://www.ship-technology.com/

“It’s very quick, particularly as there was no icebreaker escort which previously there had been in journeys,” (...) “It’s very exciting that a ship can go along this route all year round.”

Bill Spears, spokesperson for Sovcomflot

Given the environmental concerns that would face an increased shipping presence in the Arctic, which Spears calls a “fragile ecosystem,” Sovcomflot has tried to point towards the greener elements in the de Margerie. 

The Cypriot-flagged vessel is named for the former chairman of French oil major Total, who died in a plane crash at a Moscow airport in 2014.

Christophe de Margerie
credits: Total
https://www.total.com/en/news/

The ship can run on the same LNG it transports, which would lower traditional sulfur oxide emissions by 90 percent and nitrous oxide emissions by 80 percent.

The de Margerie, after all, is a bet on climate change. Even if all carbon dioxide production was suddenly halted on the Earth, there’s still enough in the atmosphere to weaken the hold ice has on the Arctic. 

Credits: NSIDC/NASA
https://nsidc.org/news/

While sea ice in the Arctic grows and shrinks with the seasons, there is an overall declining trend, as north pole has warmed roughly twice as fast as the global average.

In March 2017, the annual maximum extent of Arctic sea ice hit a record low for the third straight year, according to the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

Truls Gulowsen of Greenpeace Norway criticized “greedy companies” for exploiting the meltic Arctic as a business opportunity. Instead, he said they should see it as “a message from Earth that we need to get off fossil fuels as soon as possible”.

Geração 'explorer'

21.09.2017

update 26.09.2024

Sources:

NSIDC/ Climate Home/ MarineLog/ Observador

Gelo mares Árctico & Antárctico atinge mínimos: o pior resultado de sempre !

Operation IceBridge, NASA’a aerial survey of polar ice, near the Alaskan coast on March 11, 2017

Credits: NASA/Jeremy Harbeck

https://www.nasa.gov/

Os dados do centro de análise da NASA, Colorado, são claros. Mostram que o nível de gelo do Pólo Norte e no Pólo Sul atingiu, este ano, os mínimos de sempre, pelo menos desde que há registos.

A principal surpresa apontada pelos investigadores está na redução do nível de gelo no Pólo Sul onde chegou agora ao fim o verão. 

Mar Árctico, gelo

Arctic sea ice

créditos:NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/L. Perkins

https://www.nasa.gov/

Os satélites revelam uma redução do nível de gelo no mar depois de várias décadas com uma expansão moderada.

Março terá sido o pior mês de sempre. Os mínimos foram atingidos a 7 de Março no Árctico, enquanto no Antárctico, o registo foi feito a 3 de Março. 

O vídeo da NASA documenta os dados recolhidos:

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached on March 7 a record low wintertime maximum extent, according to scientists at NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. 

On the opposite side of the planet, on March 3 sea ice around Antarctica hit its lowest extent ever recorded by satellites at the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, a surprising turn of events after decades of moderate sea ice expansion.

Line graphs plot monthly deviations &overall trends

 in polar sea ice from 1979 to 2017 

Credits: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory

https://www.nasa.gov/

The ice floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas shrinks in a seasonal cycle from mid-March until mid-September. 

As the Arctic temperatures drop in the autumn and winter, the ice cover grows again until it reaches its yearly maximum extent, typically in March. 

The ring of sea ice around the Antarctic continent behaves in a similar manner, with the calendar flipped: it usually reaches its maximum in September and its minimum in February.

Antarctic sea ice

Credits: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/L. Perkins

https://www.nasa.gov/

“We started from a low September minimum extent,” said Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “There was a lot of open ocean water and we saw periods of very slow ice growth in late October and into November, because the water had a lot of accumulated heat that had to be dissipated before ice could grow. The ice formation got a late start and everything lagged behind – it was hard for the sea ice cover to catch up.” Read more

This is our contribution to alert for Polar protection.

Geração 'explorer'

23.03.2017

Gronelândia aquece : cientistas preocupados, população feliz

Nuuk, Gronelândia

créditos: Filip Gielda/ Creative Commons 

http://greensavers.sapo.pt/

Os glaciares da Gronelândia estão a derreter a um ritmo preocupante para os ambientalistas. Já os seus habitantes não reagem do mesmo modo. Desde que a temperatura média da ilha junto ao Árctico começou a subir, o crescimento da economia local disparou.

Mapa Gronelândia

http://kerchak.com/

A ilha que no século XVIII se tornou uma região autónoma da Dinamarca, com 57 mil habitantes, viu nos últimos anos o seu solo arável crescer, bem como os períodos de cultivo. 

Com pastagens por mais tempo, os seus rebanhos cresceram de 15 mil cabeças – média de há cerca de vinte anos – para 20 mil cabeças e com águas menos gélidas a população de peixes disparou.

Barcos piscatórios Gronelândia

http://arcticjournal.com/

No mar do Norte, que banha a Noruega e a Dinamarca, os pescadores já notaram que as espécies de bacalhau são mais abundantes, assim como os atuns. Esta abastança já teve reflexos nas quotas de pesca, que passaram para o dobro.

Estas mudanças estão a levar os naturais da região a festejar o impacto do aumento da temperatura global na sua terra. 

De acordo com uma reportagem da revista brasileira Veja, "as prateleiras dos supermercados de Nuuk, a capital da Groenlândia, nunca estiveram tão cheias de fruta e vegetais, algo inimaginável até há poucos anos."

A prazo o aumento da temperatura global, que está na base das mais sérias preocupações da comunidade internacional, poderá também jogar contra os interesses da Gronelândia, mas para a sua população, o espírito do adágio popular, aplica-se: “Enquanto o pau vai e vem, folgam as costas.

Aerial surveys show two glaciers flowing into Johan Petersen fjord, Greenland

credits: Jeremy Harbeck/Icebridge/NASA

https://i.guim.co.uk/

The huge annual losses of ice from the Greenland cap are even worse than thought, according to new research which also shows that the melt is not a short-term blip but a long-term trend.

The melting Greenland ice sheet is already a major contributor to rising sea level and if it was eventually lost entirely, the oceans would rise by six metres around the world, flooding many of the world’s largest cities.

Departures from average temperature on Sunday, June 12, 2016

Source: ClimateReanalyzer.org

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/

With parts of Greenland experiencing record high temperatures of late, melting of snow and ice at the surface has been skyrocketing.

This follows a record low extent of Arctic sea ice in May, and other troublesome signs that global warming is taking off in the high north.

Greenland

http://cdn.inquisitr.com/

Almost every day we hear about how bad climate change is for the Earth and the population. Yet after speaking with locals in Nuuk and experiencing a small part of the Greenlandic culture, we got some other perspectives. 

In Greenland, a vast island almost wholly covered by the huge ice sheet, many of the residents view the climate change in a positive light.

Global warming is melting Greenland's ice, extending its shipping season and revealing massive oil and mineral deposits.

Greenland
http://solidadventures.com/

Climate change means oil finds and zinc mines and also better fishing: cod, herring, halibut and haddock migrating north as the ocean warms. 

It means disaster tourists: people coming to see glaciers slide into the sea. (Since 2004, cruise-ship arrivals have jumped 250 per cent.) 

Greenland

http://solidadventures.com/

It means farming: potatoes and broccoli and carrots growing where they didn't grow before, more grass for more sheep. And it means gushing rivers: an endless supply of freshwater that Greenland proposes to sell to a thirsty world.

Geração 'explorer'

08.10.2016

Pausa férias : O que se passa no Árctico reflecte-se no mundo

Credits: Greenpeace

http://img.obsnocookie.com/

Como seriam alguns dos monumentos e lugares mais emblemáticos do planeta se o gelo do Árctico derretesse? 

A ONG ambientalista Greenpeace criou cenários futuros, para tentar responder a essa pergunta, um vídeo que dramatiza alguns dos efeitos do degelo. Ver aqui o vídeo (versão espanhola). Imagens que podem tornar-se realidade se não se tomarem medidas urgentes para atacar o aquecimento global.

Big Ben & Rio Tamisa

creditos: Greenpeace

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

Big Ben & Rio Tamisa

creditos: Greenpeace simulation

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

A Torre de Ouro de Sevilha passaria a ter vista para um desolador terreno seco e o Big Ben de Londres não estaria tão próximo do rio Tamisa, que seria uma sombra do que é hoje, em termos de caudal.

Muralha da China

creditos: Greenpeace 

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

Muralha da China

creditos: Greenpeace simulation

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

Os hotéis da marginal de Miami seriam fustigados pelas ondas e a Grande Muralha da China teria uma envolvente bem diferente daquela a que estamos habituados a ver.

Miami

creditos: Greenpeace

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

Miami

creditos: Greenpeace simulation

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

O vídeo faz parte integrante do relatório O que acontece no Árctico afecta-nos a todos, que sensibiliza para a importância deste continente gelado se o gelo derreter completamente. Assim refere o jornal espanhol ABC que divulga a versão espanhola do vídeo (acima).

Ludovico Einaudi toca 'Elegia pelo Árctico' no Árctico

credits: Greenpeace

credits: pedro armestre / greenpeace

http://photo.greenpeace.org/

Foi também para a campanha Vozes pelo Árctico da associação ambientalista Greenpeace que o pianista italiano Ludovico Einaudi compôs uma peça dedicada a essa campanha, a que chamou “Elegia pelo Ártico” e que tocou numa plataforma no gelo Ártico.

É tempo de fazer uma curta pausa, como já é usual. As férias escolares começaram para nós, final Julho. Prometemos voltar em Setembro!

Aprendam a apreciar a beleza do nosso Planeta e dos animais que nos fazem companhia. Sim, porque a Terra não é só dos Homens. Os animais sempre a habitaram, e por culpa de alguns de nós, muitas espécies a nível mundial estão em risco de extinção. Cuidem da Terra!

Ah! Não esqueçam de visitar o nosso blog verde Geração Verde.

Artic

credits: Greenpeace/ ABC (Spanish version)

http://imagenes-cdn.farodevigo.es/

The Arctic is a remote wilderness that is home to some of the most iconic, and threatened, wildlife on Earth, including polar bears, narwhal and Arctic foxes. Few of us have been lucky enough to explore the expanses of sea ice, glaciers or ice-sheets, yet we are inextricably linked to this vast region and it plays an integral role in our global climate system. Rising temperatures in the Arctic region appear to be influencing weather systems in other areas of the world, though the details of the complex processes involved are unclear.

credits: Greenpeace

http://www.greenpeace.org/

The Arctic region is warming at more than twice the rate of other areas of the world in a phenomenon known as 'Arctic amplification'. The sea ice is melting earlier and the total area of summer sea ice has, on average, fallen markedly over the last 30 years. The receding sea ice results in more heat being exchanged between the ocean and the atmosphere. The whole Arctic region has become visibly darker with a lack of ice and snow, and this has affected the surface albedo (reflective properties) so that more energy is absorbed into the environment. An unstoppable positive feedback mechanism may have been set in motion that will further contribute to climate change across the globe.

credits: Greenpeace

http://www.greenpeace.org/

A series of unprecedented weather extremes have been recorded throughout the last decade–'super-storms', droughts, heat waves, floods and record breaking snowy winters. Climate modelling suggests that these extreme weather events will become even more common in the future, causing heavy human and economic losses. Already many lives have been lost, homes flooded, grain harvests spoiled and forests burned with grave consequences for biological systems and human livelihoods. Research is still in its infancy and scientists are trying to understand better how the complex atmospheric processes of the poles are influencing mid-latitude weather patterns. There is still much debate. However, there seems no doubt that warming of the Arctic region is a major contributory factor. Read more here

Ludovico Einaudi plays Elegy for the Arctic

credits: Greenpeace

credits: pedro armestre / greenpeace

http://photo.greenpeace.org/

The composer Ludovico Einaudi has turned eight million voices into music, Elegy for the Arctic, specially composed to help protect the Arctic.

"As he performed this piece for the first time - in front of a magnificent surging glacier - the music echoed across the ice, a moment that will remain in our minds forever."

Through his music, acclaimed Italian composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi has added his voice to those of eight million people from across the world demanding protection for the Arctic. Einaudi performed one of his own compositions on a floating platform in the middle of the Ocean, against the backdrop of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard, Norway. 

What can you do?

"Add your voice! We are just days away from a decision that could mark the real beginning of the Arctic Sanctuary. What is your reason for protecting the Arctic? Write it here and we'll make sure it reaches the Arctic."

Greenpeace campaign 'The Arctic Needs Your Voice' 


We hope you are enjoying our blog Geração Polar! It's Summer breack. Please care the Earth. Our planet needs all of us.

We will be back in September, as usual. See you soon.

By the way, don't forget to visit our green blog Geração Verde.

Geração 'explorer'

12.08.2016

References:

Greenpeace/News
Observador/ Ciência
Faro de Vigo/ Sociedad