Ships Threaten To Destroy Arctic Ecosystems (Study)

As shipping routes open up in the waters of the Arctic, the fragile area is being exposed to more risk from invader species, a new paper published in the journal Diversity and Distributions says. One of the authors, Christopher Ware, wrote about the worrisome trend for The Ecologist:

But under the scenarios where oceans continue to warm, the number of ships bearing invasive species will increase, and the number of species that may be able to survive in Svalbard will increase six-fold. This includes well-known invaders such as the European green crab (Carcinus maenas), the Japanese ghost shrimp (Caprella mutica), and the club sea-squirt (Styela clava).
Ware called the area one of the most pristine on the planet, and warned that action should be taken now, "before it's too late."

But under the scenarios where oceans continue to warm, the number of ships bearing invasive species will increase, and the number of species that may be able to survive in Svalbard will increase six-fold. This includes well-known invaders such as the European green crab (Carcinus maenas), the Japanese ghost shrimp (Caprella mutica), and the club sea-squirt (Styela clava).