In developing Alaska,an ecosystem approach to control water pollution will prevent mistakes.
aska is an inviting industry that de minds certain raw materials. Economic growth depends on attracting industry here, but cxpansion portends pol luted waters until early action is taken to prevent water quality degradation, the enlightened approach - and many top-level industial managers are com ing to accept this view Les is the industry's responsi bility and a normal cost of production, such attitudes nced fostering: pollution control benefits the entire society as industrial profits a in rue when in dustry, municipalities, conservationists, and pollution control ilgencies work harmoniously in the public. interest | With these thoughts before us, let's turn to Alaska's water pollution problems, scrutinize unique feal tures of Alaskifi cosysleiths, incl com parc with these other 49 states, there is much to be learned about Alaska's ecosystems if we are to pre = vcnt widespread devastation. The un dra and taiga are a large number of examples that may threaten man's uncnlightened quest for new materials to feed his technology, Pruitt (3) de scribes how taiga responds to man's ictivities and points out that the deli cate. The balance of these northern ccosys tems is easily upset by man-made in terference, the search for, and devel opment of, resources in these environ ments that can lead casually to unl5s their destruc tion and prevent it from being foresight and knowledge. Let us now look at Alaska as it is today and how it is cleveloping. | Many people think of Alushi as a vast wasteland, dorminited by ice and snow. They want to re-souls an unspoiled, believing that the sparse population and the reliar tively low stage technical develop ment have insignificant impact on the lanul. This is true to some cxtent, though an accurate evaluation requires some qualifying. | Alaska is largely an unspoiled wilder 55; Vidence of Iman's polluting fluence in this northern environment is minimal, winters are long, cold, and (dark; the summers, however, are warm, with long hours of sunlight each day, permitting rapid growth of vegretition, Alask wasters, sulthough largely us at pollutect, urg logically pol = laical in several areas by puilp mills, fish packing, and municipalities, this pollution is serious and will intensify before ableinte measures are put into effect, economic activity is increas ing, especially in oil production. And lunhering, which will be gcnerate that must be controlled, despite lustry's insistence that pollution is a necessary consequence of industrial de-development. Alaska must consider the natural environment and its possible effects on pollution control in people's social institutions, especially in this environment the ef. fects from wastes generatest by ad - Mancing technology. Because of its local tion and the relative lack of contaminant tion in its waters, Alask offers unique opportunity to establish pror gram of pollution control based on the ecosystem approach. The cold enviro hent posses unique problems that can be solved with existing knowledge. 5 DECEMBER 99 Severi features of Alaskan natural and social environments are discussed in the following pages as a starting point for this state's program poll - | ion control. In his introduction to the Depart- ment of the Interior's Conservation Yearbook, Tre Trir Wave (I), Lilur - ance Rockefeller refers to the cco - system approach as the conservation of the modern method. This approach stresses the tincterstinding of ecology, with all its raimifications, as necessary to know the edgeable conservation of the resources that man relies on for survival. Mugh heels to be learned about this ecological approach, without standing under Than's role in ecosystem dynamics, conservation measures, how ever well-interleaved, often failing to cause unfortseen effects. Water pol - lution is an example of degraded cn vironment caused by man's dumping of his wastes into marine and fresh wates and debasing these ecosystems. In its report to the Federal Council for Science and Technology, describing the consequences of its study of waste min- agement and control (2), the commit- tee pollution recommends an eco- logical approach to pollution control, this report emphasizes the need. attain, through research, a better un derstanding of ecosystem dynamics for predicting how a given waste will affect the receiving waters. Irrep - rable darage can be prevented by applying this knowledge, Rearch should programcd anticipate, investigate, and prevent problems before they are upon us. Alaska must stress such programming because pollution prevention costs less than abatement after the water iire is degraded.
Physical Environment
To gain some idea of its scope of management problems, consider that Alaska is the farthest north of the 50 stated; Most of it lies between 60 ° and 70 ° N. Anchorage, the largest city, is about 6 | N and is 1300 miles (2100 kilometers) west and 900 miles north (of Scattle. Fairbanks, the main plateau on the main city, lies almost due north of Anchorage and is only 2. 50 south of the Arctic Circle. Figure superimposes a. Map of Alaska over the continental United States, the mainland mass of Alaska, comprising 586, 30) square miles, c0V = ers the major north of the seven central states and about one-fifth the area of the continental United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment