The environmental impactcaused by developing energy resources in the Arctic region

Abstract

The Arctic region has been attracting a great deal of interest from numerous researchers. Developing the oil and gas resources of the Arctic shelf is an important task for the national economy, especially since the area supply with hydrocarbons is decreasing. At the same time, preserving the integrity of Arctic marine ecosystems is of paramount importance taking into account the vulnerability of the Arctic seas. In view of the current trends, the Arctic region is rightfully considered strategically significant for further sustainable development of the Russian Federation. Intensified industrial development of hydrocarbons in the Arctic shelf of the Russian Federation lends urgency to assessing the impact of developing energy resources on the environment. The main conditions for successful development of oil and gas resources on the Arctic shelf of Russia are economic efficiency and environmental safety. Biological diversity (of species) is one of the main indicators of ecosystem sustainability. Species diversity may be affected not only by climate change, but also by the environmental changes associated with anthropogenic impacts, such as products of hydrocarbon exploration, extraction and refinery, heavy metals and other metallurgical wastes. Using approved environmental monitoring methods the paper presents the results of the assessment of the current environmental status and biodiversity in industrial development areas illustrated with the example of the Barents Sea shelf ..