Арктический национальный заповедник Аляски: угроза изменения климата и сохранение дикой природы.

Protected area in Alaska

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, pronounced as “ANN warr”) or Arctic Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States, on traditional Iñupiaq and Gwich'in lands. The refuge is of the Alaska North Slope region, with a northern coastline and vast inland forest, taiga, and tundra regions. ANWR is the largest national wildlife refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is administered from offices in Fairbanks. ANWR is home to a diverse range of endemic mammal species; notably, it is one of the few North American locations with all three endemic American ursids—the polar bear, grizzly bear, and American black bear, each of which resides predominantly in its own ecological niche. Besides the bears, other mammal species include the moose, caribou, wolves, red and Arctic fox, Canada lynx, wolverine, pine marten, American beaver, and North American river otter. Further inland, mountain goats may be seen near the slope. Hundreds of species of migratory birds visit the refuge yearly, and it is a vital, protected breeding location for them. Snow geese, eiders and snowy owls may be observed as well. Just across the border in Yukon, Canada, are two Canadian National Parks, Ivvavik and Vuntut.

Scientists are noticing that sea levels are rising at increasing rates. Sea levels are rising because polar ice caps are melting at a rapid pace. This process starts in the Arctic region, specifically in Alaska. Researchers at Oxford University explained that increasing temperatures, melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, and rising sea levels are all indications of warming throughout the Arctic. Sea Ice has thinned and decreased. Thinning has occurred due to the sun melting the ice at a higher pace. This backs up the concept of how the Arctic region is the first to be affected by climate change. Shorefast ice tends to form later in fall. In September 2007, the concentration of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean was significantly less than ever previously recorded. Although the total area of ice built up in recent years, the amount of ice continued to decline because of this thinning. Climate change is happening faster and more severe in the Arctic compared to the rest of the world. According to NASA, the Arctic is the first place that will be affected by global climate change. This is because shiny ice and snow reflect a high proportion of the sun's energy into space. The Arctic gradually loses snow and ice, bare rock and water absorb more and more of the sun's energy, making the Arctic even warmer. This phenomenon is called the albedo effect.

This area for possible future oil drilling on the coastal plains of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, encompasses much of the Porcupine caribou calving grounds. Migratory caribou herds are named after their birthing grounds, in this case the Porcupine River, which runs through a large part of the range of the Porcupine herd. Their annual land migration of , between their winter range in the boreal forests of Alaska and northwest Canada over the mountains to the coastal plain and their calving grounds on the Beaufort Sea coastal plain, is the longest of any land mammal on earth. In 2001, proponents of the development of the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk, which would be approximately 60 mile (97 km) west of the Refuge, argued that Central Arctic caribou herd, had increased its numbers "in spite of several hundred miles of gravel roads and more than a thousand miles of elevated pipe." However, the Central Arctic herd is much smaller than the Porcupine herd, and has an area that is much larger. Polar Bears follow the trace of current carrying sea ice which leads them to travel south. This often leads them to relying on trash abundances for nutrition. This food source impacts the health of polar bears negatively. They also begin targeting unusual animals as prey. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the only refuge that regularly dens polar bears in that local region, and contains the most consistent number of polar bears in the area.

The Arctic basin is the shallowest ocean basin on Earth. It is the least salty, because of low evaporation and large current of freshwater from rivers and glaciers. River mouths and calving glaciers, are continually moving ocean currents contribute to a unique marine ecosystem in the Arctic. The cold, circulating water is rich in minerals, as well as the microscopic organisms (such as phytoplankton and algae) that need them to grow. Marine animals thrive in the Arctic. There are 12 species of marine mammals of the Arctic found in the refuge. They consist of four species of whales, polar bears, the walrus and six species of ice associated seals, sperm whales, blue whales, fin whales, humpback whales, killer whales, Harbor Porpoise. The Arctic marine food web consists of Primary consumers, Secondary consumers, Tertiary consumers, and scavengers. Marine mammals in the Arctic are experiencing severe impacts, including effects on migration, from disturbances such as noises from industrial activity, offshore seismic oil exploration, and well drilling.

The people who live in this Refuge have become accustomed over thousands of years to both survive and prosper in these harsh conditions. There are two villages whose history are tied to the Arctic Refuge and have been for thousands of years which are the Kaktovik and the Arctic Village. Kaktovik is an Inupiaq village of about 250 current residents located within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along the Beaufort Sea. The Inupiaq Village is used as a traditional summer fishing and hunting location. Furthermore, this location also became a usual place for commercial whalers in the late 1800s, which led them to become permanent residents in the Refuge.