Challenges to sustainable Arctic tourist lodging: a proposed solution for Greenland

Polar Record ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 485-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Qu ◽  
Arne Villumsen ◽  
Ole Villumsen

ABSTRACTThe beauty of nature in Greenland and the selling point of Greenlandic tourism ‘Our ice is melting, yet it is still here’ have been attracting more tourists in recent years. Therefore, demand for tourist accommodation is expected to grow in the future. Staying overnight in small huts is a traditional way for nomadic Greenlanders and for tourists. However, the austere condition of the existing huts cannot meet requirements nowadays. Meanwhile, climate change is causing retreat of ice, so tourist attractions might change in the future. Therefore the contradiction of ‘improved lodging’, ‘environmental friendliness’ and ‘flexibility of location’ raise the problem for the future development of tourist accommodation. The aim of this work is to explore a desirable solution by developing stand-alone mobile tourist huts with light and heating based on renewable energy supply, and sustainable black waste water management. The cabin can be disassembled into pieces and transported to new areas by trucks, snow scooters, boats or dog-sledges with almost no disturbance to the environment of the original location. In addition, cultural sustainability is also taken into account.

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman J. Rosenberg ◽  
Pierre R. Crosson

In a study that was recently completed at Resources for the Future, the impacts of a future change in climate on the total economy of the Missouri–Iowa–Nebraska–Kansas (MINK) region were assessed, as were the possibilities of response (including adaptation) to the climatic change. Impacts on agriculture, forestry, water resources, and energy, were emphasized. The study was future-oriented, focusing on the year 2030, by which time the effects of ‘greenhouse’ warming may be felt. The records of the AD 1930s were used to provide an analog of the kinds of climate change (warmer and drier) that climate models predict will occur in the MINK region.Our results indicate that impacts of the projected climate change on agriculture, at least in the future, are expected to be profound, but that likely-to-be available technologies should facilitate substantial adaptation; that current water-resource limitations in the region would be exacerbated and lead to an eastward shift in irrigation; that impacts on forestry would be severe, and that opportunities for forestry adaptation would be very limited unless biomass production were to become economically viable; and that the net impacts on energy supply and demand would be small and adaptation to them relatively simple.Climate change in the MINK region could, of course, go somewhat beyond the conditions represented by the AD 1930s analog, in which case the findings of this study may be too optimistic. However, the future-oriented ‘MINK methodology’ is not scenario-dependent, and can be used to test other, more severe (or benign), scenarios as well. Further, the capacity for adaptation to climate change demonstrated in this study, may remain applicable even in more stringent circumstances.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén D. Manzanedo ◽  
Peter Manning

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak pandemic is now a global crisis. It has caused 1.6+ million confirmed cases and 100 000+ deaths at the time of writing and triggered unprecedented preventative measures that have put a substantial portion of the global population under confinement, imposed isolation, and established ‘social distancing’ as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all aspects of everyday life and work, while also threatening the health of the global economy. This crisis offers also an unprecedented view of what the global climate crisis may look like. In fact, some of the parallels between the COVID-19 crisis and what we expect from the looming global climate emergency are remarkable. Reflecting upon the most challenging aspects of today’s crisis and how they compare with those expected from the climate change emergency may help us better prepare for the future.


Author(s):  
Laurie Essig

In Love, Inc., Laurie Essig argues that love is not all we need. As the future became less secure—with global climate change and the transfer of wealth to the few—Americans became more romantic. Romance is not just what lovers do but also what lovers learn through ideology. As an ideology, romance allowed us to privatize our futures, to imagine ourselves as safe and secure tomorrow if only we could find our "one true love" today. But the fairy dust of romance blinded us to what we really need: global movements and structural changes. By traveling through dating apps and spectacular engagements, white weddings and Disney honeymoons, Essig shows us how romance was sold to us and why we bought it. Love, Inc. seduced so many of us into a false sense of security, but it also, paradoxically, gives us hope in hopeless times. This book explores the struggle between our inner cynics and our inner romantic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
F.F. Khabirov ◽  
V.S. Vokhmin ◽  

The article considers the possibility of introducing digital and intelligent systems in the electric power industry, including the analysis of the consequences after the introduction of new technologies on the economic, social and technological side. Currently, the concept of distributed generation is being used more and more often in the global energy arena. This is certainly a trend in the energy sector. The current level of technological development in the energy sector is quite high, but in order to continue to increase competitiveness, we need a further transition to digital and intelligent energy systems that will increase the reliability, quality, environmental friendliness and automation of energy supply.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 87-95
Author(s):  
R. Fenz ◽  
M. Zessner ◽  
N. Kreuzinger ◽  
H. Kroiss

In Austria approximately 70% of the population is connected to sewerage and to biological waste water treatment plants. Whereas the urban areas are already provided with these facilities to a very high extent, effort is still needed in rural areas to meet the requirements of the Austrian legislation. The way, this task should be solved has provoked much controversy. It is mainly the question, whether centralised or decentralised sewage disposal systems are preferable from the ecological and economical point of view, that became a political issue during the last 5 years. The Institute for Water Quality and Waste Management was asked to elaborate a waste water management concept for the Lainsitz River Basin, a mainly rural area in the north of Austria discharging to the Elbe river. Both ecological and economical aspects should be considered. This paper presents the methodology that was applied and the criteria which were decisive for the selection of the final solution.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Christopher Crockett ◽  
Paul Kohl ◽  
Julia Rockwell ◽  
Teresa DiGenova
Keyword(s):  

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Huanchu Liu ◽  
Hans Jacquemyn ◽  
Xingyuan He ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Yanqing Huang ◽  
...  

Human pressure on the environment and climate change are two important factors contributing to species decline and overall loss of biodiversity. Orchids may be particularly vulnerable to human-induced losses of habitat and the pervasive impact of global climate change. In this study, we simulated the extent of the suitable habitat of three species of the terrestrial orchid genus Cypripedium in northeast China and assessed the impact of human pressure and climate change on the future distribution of these species. Cypripedium represents a genus of long-lived terrestrial orchids that contains several species with great ornamental value. Severe habitat destruction and overcollection have led to major population declines in recent decades. Our results showed that at present the most suitable habitats of the three species can be found in Da Xing’an Ling, Xiao Xing’an Ling and in the Changbai Mountains. Human activity was predicted to have the largest impact on species distributions in the Changbai Mountains. In addition, climate change was predicted to lead to a shift in distribution towards higher elevations and to an increased fragmentation of suitable habitats of the three investigated Cypripedium species in the study area. These results will be valuable for decision makers to identify areas that are likely to maintain viable Cypripedium populations in the future and to develop conservation strategies to protect the remaining populations of these enigmatic orchid species.


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