Physical Regions of greenland
Cultural regions
Greenland is divided into four municipalities- Kujalleq, Qassuitsup, Qeqqata, and Sermersooq. As well as the large Northeast Greenland National Park which is unincorporated. The key in the bottom right corner is the popular cities in Greenland (Wiki, 2014).
|
Human landscapes in greenland
physical Landscape in greenland
Referances
- Lewis.(2012).Melting and Mining in Greenland. Retrieved from http://www.geocurrents.info/news-map/environment-news/melting-and-mining-in-greenland.
- Wikipedia.(2014).Administrative divisions of Greenland. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative_divisions_of_Greenland.
- BRD.(2009).Satellite Map Greenland. Retrieved from http://mapssite.blogspot.com/2009/05/satellite-map-greenland.html.
- Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan.(2012). Stunning Pictures From A 3-Year Arctic Odyssey. Retrieved from http://www.fastcodesign.com/1670660/stunning-pictures-from-a-3-year-arctic-odyssey#4.
- Milfeldt, M. (Ed.).(2014).Nuuk. Retrieved from http://www.greenland.com/en/destinations/capital-region/nuuk/.
- Milfeldt, M. (Ed.).(2014).Paamiut. Retrieved from http://www.greenland.com/en/destinations/capital-region/paamiut/.
- Arctic Museum.(2004).Building the Peary Monument. Retrieved from http://www.bowdoin.edu/arctic-museum/exhibits/2004/peary-monument.shtml.
- Mclean.(2013).Erik the Red. Retrieved from http://mclean.ch/green/im002.htm.
- Milfeldt, M. (Ed.).(2014).Hot Springs. Retrieved from http://www.greenland.com/en/things-to-do/nature-experiences/hot-springs-in-greenland/.
- Mark Jenkins.(2010).Melt Zone. Retrieved from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/melt-zone/jenkins-text.
- Wordless Tech.(2011). Landscapes of Greenland. Retrieved from http://wordlesstech.com/2011/02/23/landscapes-of-greenland/.
- Alice Yoo.(2012).Greenland's Beautiful Icy Landscapes. Retrieved from http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/olaf-otto-becker-above-zero.
- Traveling East.(2013). What to do in Greenland. Retrieved from http://www.travelingeast.com/europe/greenland/what-to-do-in-greenland/.
Biodiversity In Greenland
When people think of Greenland they think of a country that is covered in ice and has no biodiversity, in this case it is true that it is covered in ice but it does have biodiversity despite it being covered in ice. In fact, “At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio, Brazil 1992, 155 countries, including Denmark, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity. Greenland, as part of the Kingdom of Denmark, accepted the convention unconditionally and has thus committed itself, along with the other signatories, to preserve and manage biodiversity in a sustainable manner. The concept of biological diversity, or biodiversity, is defined as the diversity of living organisms in all environments, both terrestrial and aquatic, as well as the ecological systems that they are a part of. Biodiversity includes the variation within and between species and ecosystems (Jensen)”.
“Biodiversity is partly determined by the various physical conditions that prevail, and the ability of animals, plants and microorganisms to spread and adapt to new conditions. The situation of Greenland in the arctic climatic zones is crucial for the physical conditions to which the living organisms are exposed. The fact that almost all life in the country went extinct during the last ice age, and later had to re-colonize, is of great importance to the species found in the various ecosystems today. During the biodiversity assessment some 9,400 species have been recorded (Jensen)”. “The Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) focuses on the species and ecosystems characteristic of the Arctic region and draws together information from a variety of sources to discuss the cumulative changes occurring as a result of multiple factors. It draws on the most recent and authoritative scientific publications, supplemented by information from Arctic residents, also known as traditional ecological knowledge (Meltofte)”.
“As in other regions in the Northern Hemisphere, the diversity of species decreases from the southern part of Greenland towards the more northern areas. The distribution of the species and their presence in the Greenlandic waters are conditioned by the sea currents, which determine the sea temperature, salinity and the extent of the sea ice. Among the most species rich groups are marine invertebrates, limnic phytoplankton and terrestrial fungi, lichens and arthropods. Only a few endemic species have been registered (algae, vascular plants and a single water mite). Among the birds there are a few sub-species that breed only in Greenland, but winter in other places (Jensen)”. There are three variations among all living organisms and can be categorized in three levels species, genetic and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity encompasses how many species are found in an area. They are most often defined as a group of organisms that are capable of breading and give offspring under natural conditions. Genetic diversity encompasses that variation in genetic material within a species. This makes it possible for a species to evolve and adapt to changes in their environment. Ecosystem diversity encompasses the variation within the interactions these living organisms have with each other and their surroundings.
“Another of the convention’s main points is the sustainable use of biodiversity. The term sustainable use entails the use of biodiversity in a manner that does not lead to a long-term decline in biodiversity and thus, preserves the potential to meet the needs of present and future generations. In practice this means the sustainable use of biological resources. According to the Biodiversity Convention, biological resources include genetic resources, organisms or parts of organisms and populations or any other biotic component of an ecosystem that have an actual or potential use or value for humanity (Jenson)”.
The Biodiversity Convention asks participating countries to develop national strategies and action plans for the preservation and use of biodiversity. It is recommended that nationwide studies should be the basis of the development of a country’s national strategies and action plans. Greenland’s problems related to biodiversity preservation are mainly in the direct exploitation of species by hunting and fishing. In a review of Greenland’s biological resources prepared by the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in 2000, 39 wild animal species are mentioned as essential from an exploitation viewpoint. Greenland has an area of about 2.1 million km2 and a coastline of about 40,000 km. Added to this is an approximately 0.3 million km2 marine area. A large portion of Greenland’s area has some form of protection. The world’s largest national park is in sparsely populated Northeast Greenland and covers 956,000 km2. The majority of it is comprised of the Greenland Ice Cap.
In order to keep Greenland’s biodiversity protected, we must reduce or remedy biodiversity loss and seek opportunities to make positive contributions to biodiversity, where possible, adopt a precautionary approach by conducting impact assessments of our proposed drilling activities, to identify specific impacts and risks associated with biodiversity – recognizing that not all areas of high biodiversity importance are legally protected. We also must recognize that the local communities are a valuable source of traditional knowledge about the habitats and behaviors of key species (Cairn)”.“Two biodiversity situations exist with respect to mandates in biodiversity in overseas entities in the departements d’outre-mer and in the OCTs […]”(Benzaken).
Resources:
· Dorte Bugge Jensen.(2003). The Biodiversity of Greenland – a country study. Retrieved from http://www.natur.gl/fileadmin/user_files/Dokumenter/Tekniske_rapporter/Biodiversity_of_Greenland.pdf
· Cairn Energy PLC.(2009).Greenland-Biodiversity. Retrieved from http://www.cairnenergy.com/files/reports/responsibility/cr2009/key-issues/greenland/biodiversity.html
· Dominique Benzaken.(2010). Furture Directions for Biodiversity Action in Europe Overseas.Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=gIHG-Jq1TmcC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=biodiversity+in+greenland&source=bl&ots=voscBdI2O-&sig=LUfq4LsoALVX6CxgaNk1VnNpAYI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JBAiVb_QCYedsAWFpoGgBg&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false
· Meltofte.(2013).Artic Biodiversity Assignment. Retrieved from http://scitech.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/STnews/bioscience/Extracts_from_the_Arctic_Biodiversity_Assessment_with_special_relevance_for_management_of_harvest_of_mammals__birds_and_fish_in_Greenland.pdf
“Biodiversity is partly determined by the various physical conditions that prevail, and the ability of animals, plants and microorganisms to spread and adapt to new conditions. The situation of Greenland in the arctic climatic zones is crucial for the physical conditions to which the living organisms are exposed. The fact that almost all life in the country went extinct during the last ice age, and later had to re-colonize, is of great importance to the species found in the various ecosystems today. During the biodiversity assessment some 9,400 species have been recorded (Jensen)”. “The Arctic Biodiversity Assessment (ABA) focuses on the species and ecosystems characteristic of the Arctic region and draws together information from a variety of sources to discuss the cumulative changes occurring as a result of multiple factors. It draws on the most recent and authoritative scientific publications, supplemented by information from Arctic residents, also known as traditional ecological knowledge (Meltofte)”.
“As in other regions in the Northern Hemisphere, the diversity of species decreases from the southern part of Greenland towards the more northern areas. The distribution of the species and their presence in the Greenlandic waters are conditioned by the sea currents, which determine the sea temperature, salinity and the extent of the sea ice. Among the most species rich groups are marine invertebrates, limnic phytoplankton and terrestrial fungi, lichens and arthropods. Only a few endemic species have been registered (algae, vascular plants and a single water mite). Among the birds there are a few sub-species that breed only in Greenland, but winter in other places (Jensen)”. There are three variations among all living organisms and can be categorized in three levels species, genetic and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity encompasses how many species are found in an area. They are most often defined as a group of organisms that are capable of breading and give offspring under natural conditions. Genetic diversity encompasses that variation in genetic material within a species. This makes it possible for a species to evolve and adapt to changes in their environment. Ecosystem diversity encompasses the variation within the interactions these living organisms have with each other and their surroundings.
“Another of the convention’s main points is the sustainable use of biodiversity. The term sustainable use entails the use of biodiversity in a manner that does not lead to a long-term decline in biodiversity and thus, preserves the potential to meet the needs of present and future generations. In practice this means the sustainable use of biological resources. According to the Biodiversity Convention, biological resources include genetic resources, organisms or parts of organisms and populations or any other biotic component of an ecosystem that have an actual or potential use or value for humanity (Jenson)”.
The Biodiversity Convention asks participating countries to develop national strategies and action plans for the preservation and use of biodiversity. It is recommended that nationwide studies should be the basis of the development of a country’s national strategies and action plans. Greenland’s problems related to biodiversity preservation are mainly in the direct exploitation of species by hunting and fishing. In a review of Greenland’s biological resources prepared by the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources in 2000, 39 wild animal species are mentioned as essential from an exploitation viewpoint. Greenland has an area of about 2.1 million km2 and a coastline of about 40,000 km. Added to this is an approximately 0.3 million km2 marine area. A large portion of Greenland’s area has some form of protection. The world’s largest national park is in sparsely populated Northeast Greenland and covers 956,000 km2. The majority of it is comprised of the Greenland Ice Cap.
In order to keep Greenland’s biodiversity protected, we must reduce or remedy biodiversity loss and seek opportunities to make positive contributions to biodiversity, where possible, adopt a precautionary approach by conducting impact assessments of our proposed drilling activities, to identify specific impacts and risks associated with biodiversity – recognizing that not all areas of high biodiversity importance are legally protected. We also must recognize that the local communities are a valuable source of traditional knowledge about the habitats and behaviors of key species (Cairn)”.“Two biodiversity situations exist with respect to mandates in biodiversity in overseas entities in the departements d’outre-mer and in the OCTs […]”(Benzaken).
Resources:
· Dorte Bugge Jensen.(2003). The Biodiversity of Greenland – a country study. Retrieved from http://www.natur.gl/fileadmin/user_files/Dokumenter/Tekniske_rapporter/Biodiversity_of_Greenland.pdf
· Cairn Energy PLC.(2009).Greenland-Biodiversity. Retrieved from http://www.cairnenergy.com/files/reports/responsibility/cr2009/key-issues/greenland/biodiversity.html
· Dominique Benzaken.(2010). Furture Directions for Biodiversity Action in Europe Overseas.Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=gIHG-Jq1TmcC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=biodiversity+in+greenland&source=bl&ots=voscBdI2O-&sig=LUfq4LsoALVX6CxgaNk1VnNpAYI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JBAiVb_QCYedsAWFpoGgBg&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false
· Meltofte.(2013).Artic Biodiversity Assignment. Retrieved from http://scitech.au.dk/fileadmin/site_files/STnews/bioscience/Extracts_from_the_Arctic_Biodiversity_Assessment_with_special_relevance_for_management_of_harvest_of_mammals__birds_and_fish_in_Greenland.pdf