Climate Change inflicted Environmental Degradation leading to the Crumbling of Arctic Ecosystem

Abstract

The Arctic and Antarctic regions serve as the air conditioners of planet Earth. The polar regions located thousands of miles away from us determine the climatic patterns of our geographical area. They maintain our planet at bearable temperatures which are ideal for the existence of diverse flora and fauna and to support different types of ecosystems all around the world. Apart from controlling the temperatures, they also regulate ocean currents which in turn have an effect on the monsoons, winds, hurricanes etc. The poles were pristine till a few decades back. Due to man’s greed, the poles started deteriorating at an alarming scale. Climate change, biodiversity changes, oil drilling, seismic testing, toxin accumulation are a few of the challenges faced by the Arctic ecosystem having serious effects on its topography, terrestrial and marine life-forms and the whole ecosystem. Due to the alarming scale of global warming, there is also the danger of permafrost meltdown which can unleash a plethora of dangerous pathogens buried underneath and also let out the huge amounts of locked down carbon. The crumbling of the polar ecosystem is leading to rampant consequences not only in the poles but also elsewhere in the world thousands of miles away. Here, we attempt to discuss the repercussions of the crumbling Arctic ecosystem due to the physical, chemical and geological changes caused by such anthropogenic activities and look at the efforts being carried out to save the Arctic ecosystem in a frantic effort to save our planet.