ARCTIC: Space Projects for the Arctic & more – 20th Aug 2024

Góðan daginn from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 20th of August twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Space above the Arctic is about to get busy. On Sunday the 18th, Norway’s largest space project took lift off. Two Norwegian satellites were launched from California and will orbit the Arctic circle in order to provide continuous broadband access within the whole Arctic for the first time.

Also, on Wednesday the 14th, American space agency Space X announced that later this year, it will launch the first-ever human spaceflight over the polar regions. The mission will take four humans over the north and south poles where they will study light phenomena similar to the northern lights.

Down on the ground in Norway though, an important legal battle is taking place. On Friday the 16th, six climate activists working with Greenpeace submitted their case against the Norwegian government to the European Court of Human Rights.

Back in April, the court ruled that Switzerland had failed to protect its citizens from climate change and now the Norwegian activists are hoping to get the same ruling against Norway’s government. The activists first sued the Norwegian government back in twenty sixteen but the state supreme court dismissed their case in twenty twenty. Now the group is taking the fight to a higher court in the hope of forcing Norway to enact serious climate protections.

Norway clearly needs to do more to protect its environment, as confirmed by a report published on Thursday the 15th by the Norwegian Research Center which examined the state of plastic pollution in Norwegian rivers. The results were mixed news for Norway’s Arctic. The second most polluted river in the country is Sandnesbekken, near the Arctic town of Kirkenes. Yet out of the four pollution-free rivers in Norway, three were located in the north. The report says that the biggest polluters in the country are not doing their part to clean up their impacts and that Norway needs to work harder at adopting biodegradable plastic alternatives to ensure a cleaner and safer future for the whole country.

Along with plastic, according to a report published on Thursday the 15th by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, Norwegian waters are being filled with new species of fish. Twenty years ago, a normal trawl catch from Northern Norway would catch about seven different types of fish. Today, trawlers may catch up to fifteen different fish species. Climate change is causing fish that can only live in warmer waters to migrate north into the Arctic, so the native Arctic species are suffering from a hostile habitat and increased competition for food. Fisheries, communities and conservationists need to prepare for the ocean’s rapidly changing environment across the Arctic.

To know more about this, check out the Rorshok Ocean Update! Link in the show notes.

Alaskan fish aren't faring much better, according to a report published on Wednesday the 14th August, by Alaska’s news agency, Northern Journal. Alaska's fisheries, which have seen declining fish stocks for years, are facing their worst season in recent memory. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported that statewide salmon harvests are down by more than sixty percent compared to two years ago. Both wild and farmed fish are struggling, with poor ocean conditions likely to blame. While salmon sometimes experience poor breeding years, there is hope that twenty twenty-four is just an anomaly rather than a sign of a collapsing industry.

Alaskan fishermen are struggling, but the state’s Coast Guard is making progress. On Wednesday the 14th of August, the US Coast Guard announced a $125 million deal to purchase the icebreaker vessel Aiviq from Offshore Surface Vessels LLC. The Aiviq is the only commercial US vessel meeting the Coast Guard's icebreaking standards, increasing the US icebreaker fleet to three vessels. This acquisition aligns with the new Navy strategy, published in early August, which aims to build a larger ice-class fleet for enhanced security in Arctic waters.

Hopes for keeping the Arctic healthy may be under serious threat after a scientific study published on Thursday the 15th by the University of Southern California revealed there is a ticking time bomb made of mercury sitting in the Arctic. Permafrost, the permanently frozen ground which makes up vast amounts of the north, has been found to contain pollutants, like mercury, that had been safely frozen deep underground for up to a million years. The university team was looking for the reasoning behind increasing mercury pollution in Alaska and Canada, and discovered that the melting permafrost poses a threat to all of the five million residents of the Arctic.

Canada’s own pollution incident took a turn this week. In June, the Eagle Mine in the Yukon suffered a collapse which leached cyanide into the surrounding groundwater, with poisoning being measured in nearby salmon populations. Victoria Gold, the mine owner, had been tasked with cleaning their mess but on Wednesday the 14th, the Yukon government took control of the mine following a lack of action from the owner. Then, on the 15th, the CEO and board of Victoria Gold all resigned with immediate effect, saying that the decision to take the Eagle mine into government ownership had destroyed the company. It is unknown whether the mine will ever reopen, but for now the local government will attempt to restore the health of their territory.

The Yukon couldn’t align with its businesses but Russia is creating partners as far away as Asia. According to a press release by the Russian Ministry of Development from Wednesday the 14th, Russia and Indonesia have agreed to cooperate in developing the Russian Arctic and Indonesia’s eastern regions. The focus will be on improving logistics and transportation links to boost trade and tourism. As Russia's relations with Europe worsen, the country is increasingly turning to distant allies, with China and Indonesia emerging as its newest partners.

Russia’s development plans in the Arctic rely on exporting natural gas from its north coast but these plans have been hampered by US economic sanctions preventing any ice class vessels from working with Russia. However, on Saturday the 17th, the EU’s Copernicus satellite pictured an unregistered vessel docking at the Arctic LNG2 facility on Russia’s north coast. According to the images, the vessel delivered a massive gas production platform to the facility. Arctic LNG2 has been restricted from exporting any gas due to the sanctions, and Novatek, the facility owner, is already planning on increasing its gas production capabilities.

Talking of making progress, on Wednesday the 14th of August, the Icelandic government announced it has signed a historic deal with the National Power Company of Iceland to establish the country’s first-ever wind farm. Iceland, already the world’s largest per capita renewable energy producer, primarily relies on hydro and geothermal power. With the addition of wind energy, Iceland is on track to achieve one hundred percent independent and green energy production.

If you want to explore Iceland’s energy production and how it compares to your own country, check out the link in the show notes!

But new ground can be taken away too, as Greenland has learned this week. Greenlanders had been excited at the opening of an international airport in the country’s capital Nuuk, with the only international airport currently operating over 300 kilometers away in Kangerlussuaq. But on Wednesday the 14th, the day the first international flights were due to deliver excited people to Iqaluit in Canada, the Danish government, still the ruling governing body of Greenland, suddenly revoked the city airport’s security authorization for international flights. According to Air Greenland, the security issues should be resolved by the 21st of August, but the ultimate decision lies in the hands of Denmark.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Before we leave, did you know that if you are listening to us on Spotify you can leave comments or questions in the episode? There's a comment box right there. The comments are private by default, and we won’t publish them. If you want us to get back to you, share your email so we can contact you back! We'd love to hear from you! Put something in there, go crazy!

Bless bless