The Future of Hydrocarbon Development in Greenland: Perspectives from Residents of the North Slope of Alaska

 Although Greenland has pursued hydrocarbon development over the last four decades, no viable reserves have been found to date. Therefore, local Greenland communities have little experience or knowledge of how such development might affect their way of life or how to influence project development and outcomes should a significant reserve be found. On the North Slope of Alaska, in contrast, hydrocarbon extraction was commercialized in the 1970s, and the industry is now highly developed. North Slope residents have experienced dramatic influences on their everyday lives and well-being as a result of large-scale hydrocarbon projects. Some consequences have been welcomed, such as economic development and higher employment rates; however, other impacts are harmful, such as reduced ability of local peoples to maintain subsistence hunting practices. The villages on Alaska’s North Slope share many features in common with settlements in Greenland, such as small size, isolation, and limited political influence. In this study, we explore how Greenlanders might learn from the Alaska experience by examining the comments of North Slope residents. We propose that increased local-to-local recommendation-sharing across the Arctic would better guide sustainable development practices and benefits into potential future projects in Greenland. We conclude that an Arctic “Community Guide” and the process to create one could improve planning and implementation of hydrocarbon projects across the Arctic and promote locally appropriate sustainable development in the affected communities. Bien que le Groenland se soit adonné à l’exploration d’hydrocarbures ces quatre dernières décennies, aucune réserve rentable n’a été trouvée à ce jour. Par conséquent, les communautés du Groenland possèdent peu d’expérience ou de connaissances pour savoir comment des travaux de mise en valeur pourraient modifier leur mode de vie ou comment elles pourraient influencer le développement et les résultats d’un projet en cas de découverte de réserves importantes. En revanche, sur le North Slope de l’Alaska, l’extraction d’hydrocarbures a été commercialisée dans les années 1970, si bien que cette industrie y est maintenant fortement développée. La vie de tous les jours et le bien-être des résidents du North Slope ont connu des influences dramatiques en raison d’importants projets de mise en valeur d’hydrocarbures. Certaines incidences ont été bien accueillies, comme le développement économique et la hausse des taux d’emploi, mais d’autres ont été nuisibles, comme la diminution des occasions de pratiquer la chasse de subsistance dans la région. Les villages du North Slope de l’Alaska ont de nombreuses caractéristiques en commun avec ceux du Groenland, comme leur petite taille, leur isolement et leur influence politique restreinte. Dans cette étude, nous explorons la façon dont les Groenlandais pourraient tirer profit de l’expérience de l’Alaska en dépouillant les commentaires des gens du North Slope. Nous proposons que le partage accru de recommandations locales à l’échelle de l’Arctique permettrait de mieux orienter les pratiques de développement durable et leurs retombées dans le cadre de projets susceptibles de se concrétiser plus tard au Groenland. Nous concluons en affirmant qu’un « guide communautaire » de l’Arctique et le processus de création d’un tel guide pourraient améliorer la planification et la mise en oeuvre de projets d’hydrocarbures dans l’Arctique, en plus de favoriser un développement durable local adéquat dans les localités concernées

Invertebrate Diversity in Taylor Valley Soils and Sediments

Explaining how ecosystems function across variable landscapes will require knowledge of biodiversity patterns. In particular, biodiversity studies of soils and sediments will help in understanding the linkages between ecosystem processes in both of these habitats (Freckman et al. 1997). Soils and sediments are domains for ecosystem processes such as decomposition and trace gas exchange. There are few studies, however, that have compared abundance and diversity of organisms in adjacent soils and sediments (Freckman et al. 1997). The goal of this study was to increase understanding of how the biotic communities involved in ecosystem processes are organized within an important feature of the Antarctic dry valley landscape—a stream channel and the soils and sediments surrounding it

Ecological Biogeography of the Terrestrial Nematodes of Victoria Land, Antarctica

The terrestrial ecosystems of Victoria Land, Antarctica are characteristically simple in terms of biological diversity and ecological functioning. Nematodes are the most commonly encountered and abundant metazoans of Victoria Land soils, yet little is known of their diversity and distribution. Herein we present a summary of the geographic distribution, habitats and ecology of the terrestrial nematodes of Victoria Land from published and unpublished sources. All Victoria Land nematodes are endemic to Antarctica, and many are common and widely distributed at landscape scales. However, at smaller spatial scales, populations can have patchy distributions, with the presence or absence of each species strongly influenced by specific habitat requirements. As the frequency of nematode introductions to Antarctica increases, and soil habitats are altered in response to climate change, our current understanding of the environmental parameters associated with the biogeography of Antarctic nematofauna will be crucial to monitoring and possibly mitigating changes to these unique soil ecosystems

Ecological Biogeography of the Terrestrial Nematodes of Victoria Land, Antarctica

The terrestrial ecosystems of Victoria Land, Antarctica are characteristically simple in terms of biological diversity and ecological functioning. Nematodes are the most commonly encountered and abundant metazoans of Victoria Land soils, yet little is known of their diversity and distribution. Herein we present a summary of the geographic distribution, habitats and ecology of the terrestrial nematodes of Victoria Land from published and unpublished sources. All Victoria Land nematodes are endemic to Antarctica, and many are common and widely distributed at landscape scales. However, at smaller spatial scales, populations can have patchy distributions, with the presence or absence of each species strongly influenced by specific habitat requirements. As the frequency of nematode introductions to Antarctica increases, and soil habitats are altered in response to climate change, our current understanding of the environmental parameters associated with the biogeography of Antarctic nematofauna will be crucial to monitoring and possibly mitigating changes to these unique soil ecosystems

Temperature Sensitivity of Mineral Soil Carbon Decomposition in Shrub and Graminoid Tundra, West Greenland

Background: Shrub expansion is transforming Arctic tundra landscapes, but the impact on the large pool of carbon stored in high-latitude soils is poorly understood. Soil carbon decomposition is a potentially important source of greenhouse gases, which could create a positive feedback to atmospheric temperature. Decomposition is temperature sensitive, but the response to temperature can be altered by environmental variables. We focus on mineral soils, which can comprise a substantial part of the near-surface carbon stock at the landscape scale and have physiochemical characteristics that influence temperature sensitivity. We conducted a soil incubation experiment to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from tundra soils collected from west Greenland at two depths of mineral soils (0-20 cm and 20-40 cm below the surface organic horizon) incubated at five temperatures (4, 8, 12, 16, 24 °C) and two moisture levels (40 % and 60 % water holding capacity). We used an information theoretic model comparison approach to evaluate temperature, moisture and depth effects, and associated interactions, on carbon losses through respiration and to determine the temperature sensitivity of decomposition in shrub- and graminoid-dominated soils. Results: We measured ecologically important differences in heterotrophic respiration and temperature sensitivity of decomposition between vegetation types. Graminoid soils had 1.8 times higher cumulative respiration and higher temperature sensitivity (expressed as Q-10) in the shallow depths (Q-10graminoid = 2.3, Q-10shrub = 1.8) compared to shrub soils. Higher Q-10 in graminoid soils was also observed for the initial incubation measurements (Q-10graminoid = 2.4, Q-10shrub = 1.9). Cumulative respiration was also higher for shallow soils, increased with moisture level, and had a temperature-depth interaction. Increasing soil moisture had a positive effect on temperature sensitivity in graminoid soils, but not in shrub soils. Conclusion: Mineral soil associated with graminoid-dominated vegetation had greater carbon losses from decomposition and a higher temperature sensitivity than shrub-dominated soils. An extrapolation of our incubation study suggests that organic carbon decomposition in western Greenland soils will likely increase with warming and with an increase in soil moisture content. Our results indicate that landscape level changes in vegetation and soil heterogeneity are important for understanding climate feedbacks between tundra and the atmosphere

Sustainability in pediatric hospitals: An exploration at the intersection of quality improvement and implementation science

BACKGROUND: Although new evidence-based practices are frequently implemented in clinical settings, many are not sustained, limiting the intended impact. Within implementation science, there is a gap in understanding sustainability. Pediatric healthcare settings have a robust history of quality improvement (QI), which includes a focus on continuation of change efforts. QI capability and sustainability capacity, therefore, serve as a useful concept for connecting the broader fields of QI and implementation science to provide insights on improving care. This study addresses these gaps in understanding of sustainability in pediatric settings and its relationship to QI. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional observational study conducted within pediatric academic medical centers in the United States. Clinicians surveyed worked with one of three evidence-based clinical programs: perioperative antimicrobial stewardship prescribing, early mobility in the intensive care unit, and massive blood transfusion administration. Participants completed two assessments: (1) the Clinical Sustainability Assessment Tool (CSAT) and (2) a 19-question assessment that included demographics and validation questions, specifically a subset of questions from the RESULTS: A total of 181 individuals from three different programs and 30 sites were included in the final analyses. QI capability scores were assessed as a single construct (5-point Likert scale), with an average response of 4.16 (higher scores indicate greater QI capability). The overall CSAT score (7-point Likert scale) was the highest for massive transfusion programs (5.51, SD = 0.91), followed by early mobility (5.25, SD = 0.92) and perioperative antibiotic prescribing (4.91, SD = 1.07). Mixed-effects modeling illustrated that after controlling for person and setting level variables, higher perceptions of QI capabilities were significantly related to overall clinical sustainability. CONCLUSION: Organizations and programs with higher QI capabilities had a higher sustainability capacity, even when controlling for differences at the individual and intervention levels. Organizational factors that enable evidence-based interventions should be further studied, especially as they relate to sustainability. Issues to be considered by practitioners when planning for sustainability include bedside provider perceptions, intervention achievability, frequency of delivery, and organizational influences

Projected distributions of Southern Ocean albatrosses, petrels and fisheries as a consequence of climatic change

Given the major ongoing influence of environmental change on the oceans, there is a need to understand and predict the future distributions of marine species in order to plan appropriate mitigation to conserve vulnerable species and ecosystems. In this study we use tracking data from seven large seabird species of the Southern Ocean (black‐browed albatross Thalassarche melanophris, grey‐headed albatross T. chrysostoma, northern giant petrel Macronectes halli, southern giant petrel M. giganteus, Tristan albatross Diomedea dabbenena, wandering albatross D. exulans and white‐chinned petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis, and on fishing effort in two types of fisheries (characterised by low or high‐bycatch rates), to model the associations with environmental variables (bathymetry, chlorophyll‐a concentration, sea surface temperature and wind speed) through ensemble species distribution models. We then projected these distributions according to four climate change scenarios built by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change for 2050 and 2100. The resulting projections were consistent across scenarios, indicating that there is a strong likelihood of poleward shifts in distribution of seabirds, and several range contractions (resulting from a shift in the northern, but no change in the southern limit of the range in four species). Current trends for southerly shifts in fisheries distributions are also set to continue under these climate change scenarios at least until 2100; some of these may reflect habitat loss for target species that are already over‐fished. It is of particular concern that a shift in the distribution of several highly threatened seabird species would increase their overlap with fisheries where there is a high‐bycatch risk. Under such scenarios, the associated shifts in distribution of seabirds and increases in bycatch risk will require much‐improved fisheries management in these sensitive areas to minimise impacts on populations in decline