Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Microplastics in marine sediments near Rothera Research Station, Antarctica journaltitle: Marine Pollution Bulletin articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.05.068 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica

The Antarctic terrestrial environment is under increasing pressure from human activities. The Fildes Region is characterized by high biodiversity, but is also a major logistic centre for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests, from scientific research, nature conservation, protection of geological and historical values, station operations, transport logistics and tourism, regularly overlap in space and time. This has led to increasing conflict among the multiple uses of the region and breaches of the legal requirements for environmental protection that apply in the area. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of human activities in the Fildes Region by monitoring the distribution of bird and seal breeding sites and recording human activities and their associated environmental impacts. Data from an initial monitoring period 2003–06 were compared with data from 2008–10. We observed similar or increased levels of air, land and ship traffic, but fewer violations of overflight limits near Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 150 Ardley Island. Open waste dumping and oil contamination are still major environmental impacts. Scientific and outdoor leisure activities undertaken by station personnel are more frequent than tourist activities and are likely to have a commensurate level of environmental impact. Despite the initial success of some existing management measures, it is essential that scientific and environmental values continue to be safeguarded, otherwise environmental impacts will increase and the habitat will be further degraded. We argue that the Fildes Region should be considered for designation as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area, a measure that has proven effective for environmental management of vulnerable areas of the Antarctic

USARP: United States Antarctic Research Program, National Science Foundation.

Mode of access: Internet

Assessing the environmental impacts of construction in Antarctica

[Excerpt] Introduction: The origin of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was in 1969, as part of the US National Environmental Policy Act which imposed the obligation of all federal agencies to evaluate the potential impacts of activities on the environment (Ortolano and Shepherd, 1995). Its emergence coincided with the recognition of the fact that human activities could lead to changes in the natural setting (Morgan, 2012). The EIA is a procedure to identify, predict, investigate, evaluate and mitigate impacts from activities that are likely to have substantial effects on the environment. The evaluation must happen during the design and planning phase and can be done in different approaches such as interaction matrices, prediction of impacts, investigation and decision-making by government agencies (Toro et al., 2013). Recognized and used by many countries, the EIA methods are based on systematic environmental studies, in addition to relying on the support of a public consultation to assess project execution (Jay et al., 2007). The EIA have contributed to monitoring the development of environmental protection projects, the implementation of environmental laws and mainly as an instrument that assists decision-making in several administrative spheres (Morgan, 2012). [...]The authors gratefully acknowledge support received from the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq) and Programa Antartico Brasileiro (PROANTAR)