Beyond geopolitics, the United States and Russia have an intricate relationship with geographical proximity and common environmental challenges. While geographically distanced, these concerns underline the wider global ramifications of ecological problems. Pollution caused by increasing human activity and the melting of Arctic ice threatens marine ecosystems in the Russian Arctic. This interconnectedness has made it relevant for the U.S. and Russia to organize measures relating to broader implications on marine ecosystems and other environmentally interconnected issues that focus on global sustainability. The United States and Russia need to work as critical stakeholders in improving international collaboration concerning the health of oceans for a better future. This essay will examine the interrelated environmental problems faced by the United States of America and Alaska, spotlighting the depletion of fisheries in Alaska and the United States of America and how it is linked with industrial pollution in the Russian Arctic.
Research has shown that overfishing, habitat loss and even climatic changes are among the reasons behind the critical issue of fish depletion in Alaska (Barange et al., 25). Overreliance on fishing has long-term effects on financial difficulties experienced by the local communities in Alaska. However, the impacts would be beyond Alaska’s borders because marine ecosystems have a way of affecting one another. Add to that the Alaskan seafood supply going into the world that influences markets, dining establishments, and homes across the nation and worldwide.
This local challenge in Alaska is closely linked to industrial pollution in the Russian Arctic. This lake, a once isolated and untouched area with the melting of Arctic ice, has given way today to industrial operations such as oil and gas extraction (Kapoor 3 ). It means that when ocean currents wash away pollutants from these activities, they travel very far to affect marine life in regions far away from the source of pollution. Pollution interrupts the balance of fragile ecosystems. It hinders resources such as fish availability because it pinpoints the collective aspect of the environmental problems associated with ocean currents and marine life on the move.
The repercussions of these interrelated problems extend beyond economic concerns to incorporate broader environmental and health risks (Barange et al., 501). Besides themselves, the predators and preyfulness are the fish populations that depend on them, all adversely affected by the disruption, such as Alaska’s declining fisheries due to the marine food web. The ecological imbalances have a domino effect on ecosystem stability and marine biodiversity. In the Russian Arctic, industrial pollution causes similar health risks because of its contamination(Kapoor 6 ). This is because pollutants accumulate in the marine organisms’ tissue and may enter the human diet.
These issues are interrelated and require concerted efforts to identify the remedies. Addressing the depletion of Alaska fisheries requires international cooperation to reduce climate change, sustainable practices to manage fisheries, and reduced destructing of habitat(Barange et al., 449). While caring for Arctic ecosystems, industrial pollution in the Russian Arctic calls for enhanced regulations, eco-sensitive industrial practices, and teamwork to resolve it.
In this context, cooperation between the U.S. and Russia is essential to solve those linked challenges. Cooperative research, sharing information, and joining initiatives can bring a more comprehensive view of the environment involved. The collaborative approach can also extend further into policies and practices that work to reduce industrial pollution and overfishing. The United States and Russia, primarily, but undoubtedly other nations, can provide an example of international cooperation to support the health of the ocean and its ecosystems by recognizing this responsibility as shared in equal parts.
In conclusion, the depletion of fisheries in Alaska and industrial pollution in the Russian Arctic prove a connection between environmental issues affecting global ecosystems extending further than a nation’s boundary. For these issues and to be effective by addressing the concerns amongst those problems, ensuring marine environment sustainability, and for the community’s well-being worldwide, cooperation from the United States to Russia must be. Nations’ responsibility to preserve environmental health underscores this shared need to commit to sustainable practice, research, and policy. How connected all ecological issues are necessary to realize how important it is for international cooperation. By recognizing mutual accountability, the U.S. and Russia can open more into a comprehensive and effective response to the worldwide attempt at safeguarding marine environments, ensuring that future generations inherit an environmentally sustainable future.
Bibliography
Barange .M., Bahri .T ., Beveridge. M.C.M., Cochrane. K.L., Smith. S.F., Poulain. F . Impacts of Climate Change on Fisheries and Aquaculture. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2018). ISBN 978-92-5-130607-9 (1-654). https://www.fao.org/3/i9705en/i9705en.pdf
Kapoor. N. Russia and the Future of the Arctic. 2021. (1–36)
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