Nc. Doubleday, COMMONS CONCERNS IN SEARCH OF UNCOMMON SOLUTIONS - ARCTIC CONTAMINANTS, CATALYST OF CHANGE, Science of the total environment, 186(1-2), 1996, pp. 169-179
The Arctic Ocean is of increasing interest internationally, as a trans
portation route, as a resource pool, and as a hotbed of social and gov
ernmental change driven by indigenous claims. Unfortunately it is also
receiving significant attention internationally because of its role a
s a possible sink for global transport of contaminants produced by ind
ustry and used in a wide range of agricultural and industrial applicat
ions. Regional concerns about contamination include identification of
sources of production within and beyond the Arctic Region, transport a
nd deposition of a wide range of contaminants by the atmospheric, ocea
nic and riverine delivery systems, and the expression of ecological ef
fects. Transcending ail of these scientific aspects of this issue are
the strongly held concerns at the local level where what is at stake i
s the future of a sustainable way of life with ancient roots based on
harvesting of renewable resources. The North Atlantic Region has alrea
dy seen the consequences of many of the development pressures which wi
ll be brought to bear on the Arctic, such as off-shore oil production.
Increased understanding of environmental as well as economic conseque
nces of irreversible development choices is bound to be beneficial to
the decision-making process. Finally as the Arctic contaminants issue
has shown, the framework used for making development choices everywher
e must be broadened to consider the long term global consequences of t
hose decisions.