Petroleum exploration, extraction, transport, and processing in the
Arctic affects polar bears and their habitat in many ways. There are
already large installations and operations in the Arctic and the oil and
gas business is set to expand in the years ahead. There is one true
offshore oil production installation in the Arctic, in the Alaskan
Beaufort Sea. Exploratory activities have taken place in the Barents,
Kara, and Pechora Seas, the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Davis Strait
and the Canadian High Arctic Islands. Further offshore development is
expected, particularly in the Russian Arctic and in the Norwegian part
of the Barents Sea. Onshore arctic oil installations are currently found
in Russia, Canada, and Alaska.
Oil and oil products pose serious health risks to polar bears. Contact
with oil spills reduce the insulating effect of bears' fur. The direct
effect is that the bear must use more energy to keep warm, and must
compensate for this energy loss by increasing its caloric intake, which
may be difficult. Given that polar bears have very limited access to
food for long periods of time, such an increased demand for food may
result in starvation. Polar bears can also ingest oil through grooming
and through scavenging and preying on contaminated seals, seabirds, and
other prey The ingested oil can, for example, cause liver and kidney
damage, and has long-term toxicity. Even a limited amount of oil on the
fur of a polar bear can kill it, primarily by poisoning through grooming
In addition to the threat of oil itself, the extraction process
can result in discharges of a number of toxic substances that may
pose a threat to polar bears and their environment. These include
both process chemicals, such as oil-based drilling muds which can
contain both heavy metals and POPs, and also naturally occurring
substances from the earth such as sulphur and alkyphenols. Also,
disturbances due to seismic blasting, construction, transportation
and operation of facilities, as well as disturbances and contamination
through oil spill clean-up operations, can negatively impact polar
bears.
Offshore operations pose the greatest risk, since routine emissions,
spills or leaks will be discharged directly into the sea or on the sea
ice. A large-scale spill at or near the ice edge, either from a ship or
installation, represents the most dangerous scenario for polar bears. If
a major spill occurs at or near areas with high concentrations of polar
bear denning sites, for example Hopen Island in the Barents Sea, it
could have population-wide consequences.
There is currently no proven effective method for cleaning or
controlling an oil spill in icy, arctic waters, where difficult weather
conditions are common.
There is currently no evidence to date of population-level impacts on
polar bears that can be attributed to oil development. This is likely
because oil development so far has been relatively limited in key polar
bear habitats, and that precautions have been taken where obvious
conflicts were identified. However, polar bear populations are expected
to come under increased pressure as oil developments in the Arctic go
ahead according to industry plans.
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Oil rig in the Beaufort Sea.
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