CRS Report Released: Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress

The Congressional Research Service (CRS), the public policy research arm of Congress, recently issued the report Changes in the Arctic: Background and Issues for Congress (Apr. 25, 2013). The 96-page report authored by Ronald O'Rourke, discusses the following:

Summary

The diminishment of Arctic sea ice has led to increased human activities in the Arctic, and has heightened interest in, and concerns about, the region’s future. The United States, by virtue of Alaska, is an Arctic country and has substantial interests in the region. On January 12, 2009, the George W. Bush Administration released a presidential directive, called National Security Presidential Directive 66/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 25 (NSPD 66/HSPD 25), establishing a new U.S. policy for the Arctic region.

Record low extents of Arctic sea ice over the past decade have focused scientific and policy attention on links to global climate change and projected ice-free seasons in the Arctic within decades. These changes have potential consequences for weather in the United States, access to mineral and biological resources in the Arctic, the economies and cultures of peoples in the region, and national security.

The five Arctic coastal states—the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, and Denmark (of which Greenland is a territory)—are in the process of preparing Arctic territorial claims for submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. The Russian claim to the enormous underwater Lomonosov Ridge, if accepted, would reportedly grant Russia nearly one-half of the Arctic area. There are also four other unresolved Arctic territorial disputes.

The diminishment of Arctic ice could lead in coming years to increased commercial shipping on two trans-Arctic sea routes—the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage. Current international guidelines for ships operating in Arctic waters are being updated.

Changes to the Arctic brought about by warming temperatures will likely allow more exploration for oil, gas, and minerals. Warming that causes permafrost to melt could pose challenges to onshore exploration activities. Increased oil and gas exploration and tourism (cruise ships) in the Arctic increase the risk of pollution in the region. Cleaning up oil spills in ice-covered waters will be more difficult than in other areas, primarily because effective strategies have yet to be developed.

Large commercial fisheries exist in the Arctic. The United States is currently meeting with other countries regarding the management of Arctic fish stocks. Changes in the Arctic could affect threatened and endangered species. Under the Endangered Species Act, the polar bear was listed as threatened on May 15, 2008. Arctic climate change is also expected to affect the economies, health, and cultures of Arctic indigenous peoples.

Two of the Coast Guard’s three polar icebreakers—Polar Star and Polar Sea—have exceeded their intended 30-year service lives, and Polar Sea is not operational. The possibility of increased sea traffic through Arctic waters raises an issue concerning Arctic search and rescue capabilities. On May 12, 2011, representatives from the member states of the Arctic Council signed an agreement on cooperation on aeronautical and maritime search and rescue in the Arctic.

The Arctic has increasingly become a subject of discussion among political leaders of the nations in the region. Although there is significant international cooperation on Arctic issues, the Arctic is also increasingly being viewed by some observers as a potential emerging security issue. In varying degrees, the Arctic coastal states have indicated a willingness to establish and maintain a military presence in the high north. U.S. military forces, particularly the Navy and Coast Guard, have begun to pay more attention to the region.

NYC Bar Event: Sunset for Elephants and Rhinos in the Wild? Illegal Trafficking, Inadequate Enforcement and Lack of Political Will

http://www.nycbar.org/

IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria Released Version 3.1 (2d ed.)

This month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), "the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization," released its, Red List Categories and Criteria, version 3.1, second edition (2013). The 38-page publication is available here, as a downloadable pdf. According to the abstract,

[t]he IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria are intended to be an easily and widely understood system for classifying species at high risk of global extinction. The general aim of the system is to provide an explicit, objective framework for the classification of the broadest range of species according to their extinction risk.

Conserving Borderline Species: A Partnership Between the United States and Canada

This report provides examples of cooperation between the U.S. and Canada to save endangered species that are common to both nations. The U.S. lists those species determined by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to be threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

In the United States, 33 animal and plant species on this list also occur in Canada. The Canadian list includes those species determined to be nationally at risk by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an independent scientific body with representatives from Federal, Provincial, Territorial, and private agencies as well as independent experts. In Canada, 125 animal and plant species on this list are also found in the United States.

Joint U.S.-Canada conservation efforts are already underway. The 10 examples profiled on the following pages illustrate ways that binational efforts can improve a species’ chance of survival and recovery. American and Canadian biologists share research, coordinate habitat protection, assist one another with on-the-ground species protection activities, and conduct joint reintroduction efforts.

Extinction: It’s Not Just for Polar Bears -- Report

This Report produced by the Center for Biological Diversity and Care for the Wild International offers a dramatic look at Arctic species being pushed toward extinction by rapid climate change. Extinction: It’s Not Just for Polar Bears documents 17 Arctic animals, from Arctic foxes to whales to plankton, struggling to survive the effects of climate change and ocean acidification.

New York DEC Releases Draft Regulations to Strengthen, Codify Endangered Species Regulations

The draft proposals would establish criteria for the listing and de-listing of species and requirements for restoration and recovery plans. The proposals will also establish time lines, procedures and standards for reviewing applications for construction projects and other projects that might impact endangered and threatened species. The proposals would define the "taking" of a protected species to include the adverse modification of habitat - conforming to New York court decisions interpreting the term.

The regulations also call for applicants to develop a mitigation plan that results in a net conservation benefit to the listed species.

Construction projects that might result in the "incidental take" of an endangered or threatened species (i.e., the taking of a protected species or the harming of a species' habitat while engaged in an otherwise lawful activity) must complete a DEC permitting process before going forward. While current state regulations do not specify procedures or standards for reviewing such projects, the proposed regulations will clarify the permitting process.

For the first time, state regulations also will spell out criteria for listing or de-listing a species. Examples of listing criteria include:
•If the current number of viable and self-sustaining populations of the species statewide is not sufficient to ensure its continued survival.
•If threatened destruction, modification or curtailment of the species' habitat or range within the state threatens the continued survival of the species.
•The absence of existing regulatory mechanisms to protect the species or its habitat.

10 Animals on the Verge of Extinction in America

In the United States alone, there are currently 581 endangered and threatened animal species. These include mammals, corals, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, clams, snails, insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and birds. Birds, by the way, have the highest number of endangered species with 76 different types of birds on the brink of extinction.

Wildlife in a Changing World: An analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

This International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) supplement to the IUCN Red Book covers the statistics behind the bare listing in the Red book and broadens the discussion to include ecological support for endangered and threatened species.