Page - 30 - in options, Volume winter 2017/2018

yssppeople at iiasa 30 www.iiasa.ac.atoptions ◼ winter 2017/18 As climate change warms the planet, it is the Arctic where the effects are most pronounced. According to reports, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world. That in itself is a cause for concern. However, as the region increasingly becomes ice-free in summer, making shipping and other activities possible, another threat looms large: an oil spill. An oil spill in the Arctic could be particularly dangerous because of the region’s sensitive ecosystem and harsh climatic conditions, which make a cleanup next to impossible. With an increase in maritime traffic and an interest in the region’s untapped petroleum reserves, the likelihood of an oil spill increases significantly. Maisa Nevalainen, as part of the 2017 Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP), worked to assess the extent of the risk posed by oil spills in the Arctic marine areas. Researchers don’t know how vulnerable Arctic species would be to a spill, and which species would be affected more than others. Nevalainen, as part of her study at IIASA, developed an index-based approach for estimating the vulnerability (an animal’s probability of coming into contact with oil) and sensitivity (probability of dying because of oiling) of key Arctic functional groups of similar species. While the work is still ongoing, Nevalainen has found that impacts of an oil spill vary widely depending on species. “Depending on the extent of the spill and the ecosystem in the nearby areas, a spill can lead to anything from an unfortunate incident to a terrible disaster,” she says. PT blog.iiasa.ac.at/tewari-17a An environmentally friendly lifestyle keeps the consumption of natural resources to a minimum, and those wishing to live sustainably should steer clear of short-lived goods such as throwaway fashion or plastic bottles. Even durable goods, however, often require complementary disposable goods, which add up to substantial amounts of energy and resources. For instance, using a vehicle requires fuel and other services such as repairs and insurance. For his project in the 2017 YSSP, Gibran Vita investigated how the use of durables, consumables, and services changed between 1995 and 2011, and what that means for global energy consumption. In the research, he traced the energy footprints of a range of durable goods, such as washing machines, and non-durable goods like fuels and cleaning chemicals. The calculations covered the entire lifecycle, from cradle to grave, of 200 goods in the 43 largest economies in the world, and five world regions, including Africa and Asia. Vita found that the production and distribution of durable goods is responsible for 11% of the global energy footprint. However, the services and consumables needed to run these durable goods amount to 41% and 5% of global energy, respectively. That means 57% of global energy is either directly or indirectly related to durable goods. “Human development relies upon modern energy, and modern energy can only be used through appliances,” says Vita. “The emphasis should not only be on cleaner and more energy efficient production, but mainly on cutting down the total energy in material goods we require to live well.’’ CN www.iiasa.ac.at/yssp What would an oil spill mean for the Arctic? 2017 YSSP participant Maisa Nevalainen explores how an oil spill would affect vulnerable Arctic wildlife Is a sustainable lifestyle achievable? Gibran Vita, a 2017 YSSP participant, looks at how use of durable goods contributes to energy demand Maisa Nevalainen Gibran Vita