Oil and gas development in Arctic poses grave risks to fragile Arctic environment

Increased oil and gas development will adversely affect the Arctic through increased oil spills and development infrastructure.¹⁴ Oil spills are more likely in the Arctic because oil tankers are not built to withstand collisions with sea ice, which is becoming more mobile and unpredictable as the Arctic warms.¹⁵ Oil spills are especially dangerous in the Arctic because of the region’s cold temperatures, which decrease rates of oil decomposition, resulting in the elimination of wildlife habitats and feeding grounds affected by any spills.¹⁶ Elimination of habitat and feeding grounds will have a profound effect on Arctic species, which rely on a short food chain that can be fatally disrupted by the loss of even a single species.¹⁷ These adverse effects will be compounded by increased oil and gas development infrastructure, which will include an array of new support facilities on land, oil rigs at sea, on- and off-shore pipelines, and increased air, land, and sea transportation.¹⁸ This infrastructure will interfere with wildlife feeding, breeding, rest, and migration.¹⁹ The Arctic is, by its nature, an unusually vulnerable environment and global warming compounds this vulnerability.²⁰ The adverse effects of increased oil and gas exploration would even further aggravate the region’s vulnerability.²¹