Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mr. Marsh and I'm here today to teach you all about the value of cold environments.

So grab everything that you need for today's lesson and let's get going.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain how cold environments are at risk from economic development and how they can be protected.

There are three key terms for today's lesson, and those are sustainable, biodiversity, and conservation.

Sustainable refers to using resources in a way that means future generations will still be able to use them in the same way.

Biodiversity refers to a measure of how many different species live in an ecosystem, and conservation refers to protection and management of natural resources to prevent damage and maintain biodiversity.

There are three learning cycles for today's lesson.

We're gonna start with learning cycle one, which is why should cold environments be protected? Cold environments, which include tundra, polar, and alpine bios, can be termed wilderness areas.

These are areas which are remote, inaccessible and hostile to human settlement and activity.

They have extremely fragile ecosystems and are easily damaged by relatively minor developments, for example, footpath construction.

And they also take a long time for an ecosystem to recover due to vegetation growing so slowly in this environment.

So why are coal environments important? While they're important for the indigenous communities that live there, for example, the Inuit people, they're important in terms of climate regulation.

They're important in terms of opportunities for sustainable economic activities which perhaps support those indigenous communities.

They're important in terms of scientific research.

And finally, they're important for the animals and plants and biodiversity that lives there.

Sorry, quick learning check.

It says, recall and fill in the two missing reasons why coal environments are important? So what you need to do then is pause the video here whilst you try to recall those two missing reasons.

And the two missing reasons are biodiversity and climate regulation.

Really, really well done if you are able to recall those two answers.

Now, cold environments provide value to people in the environment via the services that they actually provide on a service is essentially a natural process or benefit that provides support to life on earth, often indirectly.

I would like you to consider this question.

It says, can you think of any examples of services provided by cold environments? You may like to pause the video here whilst you consider your own answer to that question, or perhaps even better discuss it with someone near you.

So what did you get? Well, let's have a look at the services that can be provided.

The services provided by cold environments can be things such as a carbon sink.

They are homes for indigenous communities, climate regulation, and finally tourism.

And we're gonna try to understand how these services are so important and why it is therefore that cold environments should be protected, Time now for a learning check, it says to identify the three services provided by cold environments.

So what I need to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those four options and select the three that you think are services, best of luck.

And three, correct answers were B, tourism, C, climate regulation, and D, carbon sink.

And as Sam says here, she says, "So natural minerals such as oil and nickel aren't services? Are they goods extracted from cold environments?" And she is absolutely correct.

Natural minerals are not a service, they are a good or a product which is actually extracted from cold environments.

So really, really well done if you're able to select B, C and D as the C correct answer.

So let's start by looking at the environmental services provided by cold environments.

Let's start with that carbon sink.

Carbon sinks in cold environments are critically important to the global carbon cycle.

These areas store between 1.

4 and 1.

7 trillion tonnes of carbon in the form of permafrost, peatlands and frozen organic matter.

That is double the amount of carbon in the atmosphere and in front of you then you can see a fantastic example of a peatland, which is storing a huge quantity of carbon.

Let's now look at climate regulation.

Well carbon sinks trap powerful greenhouse gases such as methane and carbon dioxide, which prevents their release into our atmosphere.

A snowy white surface also has a high albedo, which which is reflecting between 80 and 90% of incoming solar radiation.

In this way, cold environments cool and actually regulate our global climate.

Together then from our carbon sink, and climate regulation, cold environments are therefore vital in slowing and preventing global climate change.

These satellite images show how snow and ice cover are increasingly disappearing, leading to the melting of permafrost and the reduction of the cooling albedo effect through the removal of that white surface that I spoke about before.

Let's now look at those social services which are provided by cold environments.

Starting with tourism.

Tourism has grown rapidly in cold environments due to increased accessibility and interest in so-called last chance tourism, visiting places threatened by climate change.

A hundred thousand visitors visited Antarctica in 2023, and they were attracted by the offer of unique wildlife encounters, cultural experiences, and spectacular natural beauty as you can see on the image in front of you.

And what about homes for indigenous communities? Well, the indigenous communities such as the semi people which can be seen on the left hand side have inhabited areas of the Arctic for at least 4,000 years.

This is their ancestral homeland and it is sacred to them, not just useful.

Cold environment resources have supported their traditional sustainable lifestyle for a millennia.

Taken together then we see how tourism benefits indigenous people and how indigenous people can benefit tourism.

Let's look at that now.

So when tourism is managed sustainably, tourism actually brings employment and income to local indigenous people who can offer tourist cultural experiences or work as tour guides.

In return, tourism flourishes and more money is generated.

So each is benefiting the other when done sustainably.

Time now for a learning check says true or false.

Cold environments are only valuable for environmental services they provide such as acting as carbon sinks and climate regulation.

So what you need to do then right now is pause the video whilst you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer is false.

Again, I'd like you to pause the video whilst to consider as to why this statement is false.

And the reason it's false is because while cold environments are extremely valuable environmentally, they also provide economic opportunities in tourism as well as social opportunities in terms of them being homes for the indigenous communities such as the semi people.

So really, really well done if you're able to identify those two correct answers.

Our next learning check says how many tonnes of greenhouse gases are estimated to be stored in cold environment permafrost and peatland? So I need to do then right now is pause the video whilst you try to recall that piece of information.

And the correct answer was between 1.

4 and 1.

7 trillion tonnes.

And as Alex says, "Now I understand why it's vital that carbon stays trapped in cold environment carbon sinks if we are ever able to tackle climate change." So really, really well done if you're able to identify that as the correct answer.

Time now for our two practise tasks, for our first learning cycle, and the first one says, define what is meant by a service provided by cold environments.

Include either a social or economic example if you can.

And as Aisha says, "A service is something that you can't always physically see, is that right?" She is absolutely correct.

It's not a product, it's not a good.

A service is well that is for you to try to recall and answer in this first practise task.

The second practise task says there are six mistakes in this text, find and correct each.

So what you need to do then right now is pause the video whilst you attend these two practise tasks.

Best of luck.

In terms of feedback then for the first question, your answer may have included something like this.

Services are natural processes or benefits that provide support to life on earth, often indirectly.

One service provided by cold environments is providing a home for indigenous people such as the semi in the Arctic for at least 4,000 years.

One economic service is tourism.

With cold environments becoming increasingly accessible.

Tourism offers opportunities to generate income and provide employment opportunities for the local indigenous people to help ensure their way of life can actually continue.

The second question asks you to identify and correct these six mistakes in the text.

And here we are.

So services are natural processes that provide support to life on earth.

Cold environments provide many services such as storing carbon, providing homes for indigenous communities, climate regulation and tourism.

Environmentally cold environments are vital.

They help regulate global climates due to their high albedo, which means reflection rate.

Their white surfaces reflect 80 to 90% of income in solar radiation, thereby helping to call earth.

Furthermore, cold environments track greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane stored within permafrost and peat.

These carbon sinks are extremely valuable in combating climate change since they prevent greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.

So really, really well done if you are able to identify and correct those mistakes.

One now to our second learning cycle, which is, what is actually threatening cold environments.

Current environments aren't only valuable in terms of the services they provide.

They're also important in terms of the goods that they provide.

And the good is a physical resource or product that can be directly harvested or used by people and animals.

Now there are increasing economic activities happening in cold environments all designed to try to exploit the goods which are found that all the natural resources and this is contributing to damage to cold environments and the services, particularly those environmental services that they provide.

Now I have another question for you and it says, can you think of any examples of goods provided by cold environments? You may like to pause the video here whilst to consider your own answer to that question or perhaps even better discuss it with someone near you.

So what did you come up with? Well, in terms of goods provided then cold environments provide things such as fishing, fossil fuels, mining minerals.

And while taiga has large areas of forest for timber, actually tundra and polar regions which are found in those cold environments are actually treeless.

So timber is not an example of a good provided by cold environment.

So let's look at those three different goods which are found in cold environments.

Why are they threatening cold environments? Well, this is all because of the exploitation of those natural resources such as fossil fuels, oil and coal, mineral resources such as lithium, iron, ore, nickel, et cetera.

And finally fishing in those cold arctic seas.

This therefore generates income which can be generated on the national market or international market.

By selling those different goods, it also creates employment for those people perhaps working in the mining sector or the fossil fuel sector.

This then increases revenue and tax revenue.

And all of this then can be reinvested into social and economic projects such as healthcare, education and industry.

So if we're trying to understand what is actually threatening coal environments, and we understand that the goods that they can get from the cold environments are things such as natural minerals and fossil fuels, this is the reason they're doing it.

It's because it generates a huge amount of money which can then be reinvested to develop their country.

Time now for a learning check, it says which of the following is an example of a good found in cold environment? So you can see you've got three options on the screen in front of you.

So please pause the video here whilst you select your answer.

And the correct answer is A, oil.

Really, really well done if you're able to select that as the correct answer.

Our next learning check says true or false, timber does not contribute much to arctic economies.

So once again, please pause the video here whilst you consider and then select your answer.

And the correct answer was true.

Now once I'd like you to pause the video whilst you consider as to why this statement is true.

And the reason it's true is because timber extraction does not contribute a significant amount to arctic economies.

In fact, only one to 2% in some arctic countries because the arctics tundra and polar biomes are actually largely treeless and therefore there is no timber to extract.

Really, really well done if you are able to recall those two correct answers.

Fossil fuels actually represent the biggest source of income or potential source of income for countries within the Arctic regions because they're extremely valuable and it is estimated that the Arctic holds about 13% of the world's undiscovered oil and about 30% of its undiscovered natural gas.

The Willow project, which is found in Alaska USA, is expected to produce up to 600 million barrels of oil over the next 30 years with projected revenues between eight and 17 billion US dollars.

Here is an example on the screen of one oil field once again in Alaska, USA, the tundra of north slopes has rich biodiversity and is especially important for arctic birds and their breeding sites.

If there is an oil spill in this fragile environment, the consequences for marine animals and birds is very, very severe.

Fossil fuel extraction, therefore is a very significant threat to the biodiversity found here.

So before we understand exactly how mineral extraction is actually causing a threat to cold environments, we need to understand what minerals are found in cold environments and why are they actually mined? Well, first of all, a significant quantity of rare earth elements or REEs are found in these regions and they're used in mobile phones, touchscreens and solar panels.

Nickel and lithium then is used in battery technology, for example, in EV or electric vehicles, diamonds are used and mined for luxury gemstones and actually in industry as cutting and drilling tools.

And finally, copper can also be mined here as well.

And this is essential for power transmission in electric vehicles, wind turbines and electronics.

So you can see how these very valuable minerals in a 21st century economy are being mined in and available in these cold environment areas.

And here is one satellite image of a diamond mine in Canada called Ekati.

And you can see or you can imagine that it's causing a huge amount of air pollution.

It's damaging wildlife as well as habitats in a long term way 'cause it's leaving lasting damage, the landscape and its ecosystems. It isn't just the mine itself, it's also the extensive infrastructure that goes along with a mine because the extensive infrastructure network to actually transport the goods and bring in people and other materials also damages the fragile environment.

It also pollutes local water sources as well.

So clearly there's a damaging, a devastating effect on biodiversity in the area as well.

Time now for a learning check it says, which of these goods is not strongly linked to mining in cold environments.

What I need you to do then is pause the video here whilst you select what you think is the correct answer.

And the correct answer was B, salt.

And as Aisha says, "I read that salt deposits are the remains of ancient seas that dried up in hot conditions leaving the salt behind." Exactly so this is why we wouldn't find it in cold environment locations, but more in hot desert locations.

And how about fishing? How is fishing threatening cold environments? One screen in front of you, you can see an example of a fish that was almost overfished to the point of extinction.

It's an Atlantic cod, and it was overfished during the 1990s, especially around the Canadian grand banks and around Iceland, both in those arctic waters and numbers as a result are still struggling to recover.

The cold waters found around Canada yield lucrative seafood, for example, king grab toothfish, wild salmon.

And as I said earlier, Atlantic cod.

This has led to overfishing of many fish species in the cold arctic in southern oceans.

Now, cold water species often grow much more slowly than other fish found in other waters, and this makes them very vulnerable to overfishing since they reproduced later in their life less frequently and actually in smaller numbers.

Overfishing has consequences though for the entire food web as a whole with a predator and prey imbalance as a result.

Time now for a learning check says, which of these is a cold environment fish species that was overfished in the 1990s almost to the point of extinction.

So what you need to do right now then is pause the video here whilst you attempt this learning check.

And the correct answer was C, Atlantic cod.

Really, really well done if you're able to identify that as the correct answer.

So now to our one and only practise task for the second learning cycle, it says, to complete the table below on the threats to cold environments include facts and figures in your answers.

So you can see there's three different threats on the left hand side, fossil fuel, extraction, mining, and fishing.

What you need to do right now then is pause the video here whilst you try to give a little bit more information about why or how these are threatening coal environments and to include facts and figures as well in your answer.

So pause the video here and best of luck.

In terms of feedback then this is what your answer may have included.

So in regards to fossil fuel extraction, well large areas of coal environment biomes hold oil, coal and natural gas.

For example, 13% of the world's undiscovered oil extracting these fossil fuels can cause significant damage to cold environment biodiversity, especially when oil spills contaminate fragile cold environment ecosystems. In terms of mineral extraction, mining, cold environment biomes possess large deposits of lithium, nickel, diamonds, gold, copper, and many rare earth metals.

There is huge competition for these minerals because they're used in many high tech products such as EV batteries and mobile technology.

Mining including the infrastructure network needed to transport those materials can lead to significant damage to cold environment ecosystems including irreparable biodiversity, damage to biodiversity, and habitat loss and air and water pollution.

And finally fishing while the cold waters found in the arctic and southern oceans yield lucrative seafood, for example, wild salmon.

Cold water species often grow slowly making them vulnerable to overfishing since fish species reproduced later in life, less frequently and in smaller numbers.

The economic opportunity though has led to overfishing of many fish species found there, including the Atlantic cod, which has almost overfished to extinction during the 1990s.

Overfishing one species can also impact on a whole marine food web.

So really well done if you are able to include anything like that in your own answer.

We're on now to our third and final learning cycle, which is all about how can cold environments actually be protected.

The management of cold environments involves balancing economic development on the one hand with social and environmental protection and conservation on the other.

So with regards to economic, and we know the activities include things such as fishing, tourism, mineral extraction, and fossil fuel extraction.

And these development opportunities need to be counterbalanced with things such as wildlife conservation, as well as the rights of indigenous peoples.

Economic development of cold environments should always be done sustainably.

Now, social, economic and environmental are referred to as the three pillars of sustainability.

And balancing these factors throughout the management process is absolutely necessary for long-term prosperity and wellbeing for both the people and the environment.

Time now for a learning check, it says, which pillar of sustainability is missing from the diagram in front of you.

What I need you to do right now then is pause the video here whilst to try to recall that piece of information And the correct answer was economic.

Really well done if you're able to recall that piece of information.

So how can cold environments be managed sustainably? Well, we can use international agreements, conservation groups can try to put pressure perhaps on governments, government actions themselves.

And finally, the use of technology.

And we're gonna try and spend a bit of time now to look at these individually to try to understand how it is that cold environments can actually be managed sustainably.

So let's start by looking at the use of technology.

Now one example that we're gonna look at, is the Trans-Alaska pipeline.

You can see that shown on the map in front of you.

Now this is one example of how technology can be used to actually allow economic exploitation of minerals while trying to minimise the environmental and social damage as a result.

Now it starts in the north of Alaska at Prudhoe Bay.

We looked at that image earlier in the lesson.

These are oil fields found in the north of Alaska.

This pipeline travels 1,300 kilometres to the south where it reaches Valdez Port where it can then be transported across the Atlantic Ocean.

It was opened in 1974 and it allows a faster and safer route to transport oil than via an oil tanker across the Arctic Ocean, particularly with winter sea ice, which would of course be extremely dangerous in terms of perhaps of a potential collision.

So to minimise environmental damage, the pipeline is, and we can see the image of the Trans-Alaska pipeline there in front of you.

So the pipeline is actually raised above ground and insulated to ensure the warm oil inside doesn't melt permafrost.

It's designed to flex if earthquakes occur, avoiding pipe fractures, and thereby oil spills.

It's programmed to stop automatically if there is a leak.

It's also at times hidden underground, for example, when passing under rivers, again to minimise the impact on the landscape.

And finally, it is raised to actually allow caribou to migrate underneath, so not to disturb their migration patterns.

International agreements can also be used to protect cold environments such as the Antarctic Treaty of 1961.

It's been very successful in preventing economic development.

In the 1950s, seven countries were making land claims for Antarctica or different parts of Antarctica.

You can see that on the map in front of you.

Those seven countries were Norway, Australia, France, New Zealand.

There was an area of unclaimed land in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, the United Kingdom.

These were the seven countries which were all making land claims during the 1950s.

In 1961 though 12 countries, which included the original seven countries that you can see in front of you signed a treaty.

But what was the treaty actually detailing? Well, the treaty aimed to do the following, you aimed to recognise the importance of Antarctica for shared scientific research.

For example, on climate change.

It was designed to control tourism and keep disturbance at an absolute minimum.

And finally, it was designed to prevent economic developments such as mining, and it has been truly successful.

No economic exploitation of the area has to this point existed and there has been close cooperation between those different countries, particularly with regards to things like climate change as well as animal conservation as well.

Time now for a learning check, it says, which one of the following statements does the Antarctic treaty not aim to do? So you can see you've got four statements on the screen there.

What you need to do then is pause the video here whilst you read through those statements and decide what you think is the correct answer.

And the correct answer was C, allocate Antarctic land to specific countries.

Yes, in fact, the treaty freezes territorial claims and will not allocate land to any nation.

So really well done if you're able to select C, as the correct answer.

Governments though can also play a huge role in the protection of cold environments.

For example, the US government is sought to protect Alaska, since oil was discovered in the 1960s.

So we know about this Trans-Alaskan pipeline, which you can see in red in front of you.

But as you can see either side of Prudhoe Bay oil fields, there are two conservation areas.

On the left hand side you can see the Western Arctic Reserve.

And on the eastern side of that pipeline you can see the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

So clearly the US government has taken steps to try to protect the environment in those areas despite the economic exploitation of the oil found there.

So the Western Arctic Reserve created 9 million hectares of protected wilderness and oil drilling here is forbidden, protecting thousands of caribou, birds, oxen, wolves, and polar bears as a result.

Conservation groups also play a really important role in protecting coal environments because groups such as the Worldwide Fund for nature or WWF have sought to protect global cold environments.

But how have they done this? Well, first of all, they've supported research to help protect important species such as polar bears and novels and campaign against overfishing.

They've worked with local communities, those indigenous groups to promote sustainable hunting practises and news, their skills and knowledge of the local area to support their scientific conservation.

For example, tracking and monitoring different animal species.

They've also encouraged the creation of indigenous protected and conserved areas ensuring that limited economic development is done sustainably.

Now those four different strategies that we've just gone through all have different strengths and weaknesses and these include the following.

So with regards to the use of technology, the strengths of this end is that it does allow economic activity, it creates income and jobs as a result and tries to always minimise the environmental effect.

The weaknesses though are that its ecological impact is undoubtedly unavoidable and accidents may occur causing long-term damage.

For example, oil spills, also it's expensive and sometimes impractical, particularly in these remote areas as well.

In terms of international agreements, then while they are multilateral can include many, many different countries, and as a result, then they can have a large scale impact.

Also, they have the power to prevent any economic development actually occurring.

For example, the Antarctic treaty since 1961.

The weaknesses then are that it ignores the economic pillar of sustainability completely and thereby denies potentially income and jobs for people.

It's also very difficult to monitor and enforce.

For example, the Antarctic treaty hasn't prevented growth of tourism in the region.

With regards to government actions then well, it creates co-management agreements with indigenous communities to actually support wildlife management.

It's enforceable and these environmental laws can be very strict on mining, oil exploration and other such economic activities.

It can also establish extensive protected areas to actually conserve ecosystems. What are the weaknesses though? Well, it may prioritise economic interest over conservation.

So for example, it may prioritise oil and gas extraction.

Also, competing territorial claims actually threaten environmental protection efforts and we're beginning to see more and more of that in the Arctic area amongst those competing countries looking at its minerals.

For conservation groups such as the WWF, well, they can raise awareness of threats like melting permafrost.

They can work closely with indigenous communities to secure land rights and established protected areas.

What are the weaknesses though? Well, there is undoubtedly limited funding when it comes to conservation groups, which can also limit the impact that they can have because it's rather small scale.

NGOs such as the WWF, and other conservation groups, non-governmental organisations cannot pass laws as well.

Time now for a learning check says, who do you think is most correct about the best way to protect cold environments? You can see you've got one opinion from Sam on the left hand side and you've got one opinion from Alex on the other side.

What I need you to do then right now is pause the video here whilst you read through their statements and decide who you think is most correct.

And the correct answer was Sam.

And the reason is while Alex is talking about development, not protection, and it isn't true that all companies do enough to protect cold environments.

So really well done if you're able to select Sam as the correct answer.

Right now to our one and only practise task for the third and final learning cycle.

And it says to assess the strengths and limitations of two different strategies for protecting cold environments.

And as Alex says, I need to decide on two strategies from international agreements, government actions, use of technology and conservation groups.

So please then pause the video here whilst you attempt this practise task.

Best of luck.

In terms of feedback then your answer may have included the following.

The trans Atlantic pipeline provides an example of how technology can be used to reduce environmental damaging coal environments.

Oil spills from factors in the pipeline could cause major damage to the fragile cold environment ecosystem.

To reduce this risk, the flow of oil inside the pipeline automatically cuts off if a leak occurs and the pipeline is designed to be earthquake resistant and it is raised above the ground so that the flow of warm oil inside does not melt the permafrost.

If permafrost melts the ground can move, which would then risk a break in the pipeline.

This example shows how how technology can minimise harmful effects of economic development, but it would only take one oil or spill from a pipeline to cause severe and long lasting damage to a fragile cold environment ecosystem.

Technology like this is also expensive to instal and maintain and companies might not be willing to spend out on it if it reduces their profits.

The Antarctic treaty system shows how international agreements can be used to prevent economic development in cold environments.

This treaty protects the Antarctic from any fossil fuel development or mining.

It controls the number of tourists who are allowed to visit and it reserves this vast cold environment for scientific research.

It provides as much protection as possible.

However, such agreements can be difficult to monitor and enforce.

For example, although the Antarctic treaty bans, mineral extraction aims to preserve the continent, it has not stopped the rapid growth of tourism, which threatens the fragile ecosystem.

Another limitation is that no one lives permanently in Antarctica, but millions of people live in the Arctic, and other cold environments.

Therefore, it would not be possible to prevent development in the same way elsewhere.

So really well done if you're able to include anything like that in your own answer.

Time Now for our learning summary and what do we need to know from today's lesson? Well, cold environments are valuable regions yet face threats, which it must be protected against.

In terms of its value then we need to look at those services, particularly the environmental and social services such as the fact that it's a carbon sink via its permafrost and peatland.

It provides a valuable service in terms of climate regulation, tourism, as well as homes for indigenous people.

But it is being threatened by different economic activities such as fossil fuel extraction, mineral extraction, as well as overfishing.

But there are protection strategies that can help try to protect cold environments such as technology to minimise environmental impact, government action, international agreements, for example, the Antarctic Treaty, as well as conservation groups such as the WWF.

So really, really well done during today's lesson.

It was a pleasure teaching you and I will see you again on the next lesson.

Goodbye.