COMMONS CONCERNS IN SEARCH OF UNCOMMON SOLUTIONS - ARCTIC CONTAMINANTS, CATALYST OF CHANGE

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.