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Northern Sea Route communication for 21st Century?
Kregl, Jan ; Romancov, Michael (advisor) ; Doboš, Bohumil (referee)
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a naval communication between Europe and Asia running along the Arctic coastline of the Russian Federation. For decades, the same maritime corridors have been relied on. However, the international freight shipping volumes keep growing steadily and the Suez and Panama Canals might reach their maximal capacity soon. In order to prevent congestions of these crucial chokepoints, alternative communications have to be found. The NSR can save as much as 40% distance compared to the Suez Route and consequently, the time spent on the voyage decreases by about 10 days. There are several other benefits this Arctic seaway brings, however, some major obstacles impede its further development. In this work, I summarized the history of the Route and analyzed some of its key aspects. The current maritime transport situation and some alternative communications are outlined, too. The main advantages and disadvatages of the Northern Sea Route are presented in order to find out whether this unique naval corridor can serve as a communication for the 21st century and what its future prospects look like. Conclusively, the following research questions are answered: How do the US-Russian territorial disputes and the Russian domestic legislation affect the NSR? What would be the economical...
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Long-term changes in Arctic sea ice
Lysenko, Anastasia ; Huth, Radan (advisor) ; Margold, Martin (referee)
The thesis summarizes the knowledge of sea ice in the Arctic, its properties, conditions and the process of formation. It also describes the Arctic climate and its changes since the early 20th century. The work shows how and why Arctic sea ice is important for the climate of our entire planet and that the climate system is highly interconnected. This means that if, for example, there are fundamental changes in the sea ice cover or climate, then the impact of these changes may manifest itself in a completely different area, which is a manifestation of the so- called cascading tipping point. Therefore, this work also touches on the topic of feedback and shows that determining the amount and type of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is essential to improve our knowledge and understanding of polar weather and long-term climate fuctuations. Key words: climatic change, sea ice, temperature, Arctic
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Seal Hunting in the Canadian Arctic:Conflicting Perspectives on EU Regulation 1007/2009
Jírová, Anna ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Kýrová, Lucie (referee)
On September 16, 2009 the European parliament adopted a Regulation (EC) 1007/2009 prohibiting the seal products from being imported and placed on the European Union market. Adoption of a Seal trade ban was a result of an effective anti-sealing lobby and increasing public concern over the perceivably cruel seal hunting methods that emerged in reaction to growing popularity of seal fur in early 2000s. Even though the Seal ban includes an exception for Inuit who hunt seals traditionally for subsistence and depend on monetary income to maintain their traditions, it proved to be highly ineffective as the demand for all seal products declined dramatically, threatening Inuit way of life in the process. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the key actors involved in the conflict, specifically the Inuit, the European Union, animal welfare NGOs and the Canadian government and to contextualize and analyze the specific narratives of the seal hunting discourse and their implications. By looking at the motivation and justification of the EU Seal ban as well as the implications of the different perspectives on the issue, this research will try to test the hypothesis that the seal hunting discourse is based on a colonial mindset and that decolonization of the mind is yet to be achieved by Western society.
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EU Arctic Strategy: Question of EU actorness
Slezáček, Filip ; Weiss, Tomáš (advisor) ; Kadlecová, Lucie (referee)
This Master Thesis is depicting process of establishing actorness of the EU within international space, that is limited for this research on area of the Arctic. Policies of the EU are not uniformly developed, some are stronger, and some are weaker, that is a reason why in certain moments or position could be EU considered a non-actor. Document of Arctic Strategy is presenting system of three pillars- spheres in which the EU will be fulfilling its goals. Using the actorness assessment method by Bretherton, C. et Vogler, J. could be found out, how much a certain pillar is strong and whether the EU is able to fulfil its role as an actor in the light of its goals.
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The United States, China, and the Emerging Balance of Power in the Arctic
Lavengood, Zachary Colin ; Hornát, Jan (advisor) ; Raška, Francis (referee)
The increasing pace of climate change in the last two decades has brought the Arctic, a former geopolitical afterthought, into growing prominence on the global stage. Receding ice and melting tundra have made a cornucopia of rare earth metals and hydrocarbons ripe for extraction as well as opened new shipping lanes which have the potential to revolutionize how goods are moved around the planet. In this emerging environment is a budding balance of power which involves the most powerful actors in the world-system, two of which, the United States of America and the People's Republic of China, are the focus of this thesis. Their respective arctic policies shape the balance of power for not only themselves, but for all other actors in the theater. The United States' laissez faire attitude towards the Arctic has caused it to fall behind the progress of other powers in the region which could make it difficult to assert its influence in the theater in the future. China however has chosen to follow an ambitious arctic policy despite its geographical distance from the region, and has given the arctic a prominent position in its greater Belt and Road project, much to the suspicion of traditional arctic powers. Analyzed through a realist lens, the balance of power in the Arctic appears to be stable for the...
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Quantification of specific microbial functional guilds in Arctic permafrost soil
WALTER, Deborah
The quantity of specific bacterial and archaeal groups were determined in permafrost soils. The selected groups were quantified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of specific genes: total archaea (16SrRNA gene), methanogenic archaea (mcrA gene), nitrogen fixators (nifH gene) and denitrifiers (nosZ gene). The quantities of these groups were compared between different soil horizons and furthermore correlations between the quantity of gene copies and basic soil parameters were computed.
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Tažní psi v Arktidě jako potenciální zdroj parazitárních infekcí lidí a volně žijících zvířat
BROŽ, Marek
The aim of this thesis is to evaluate dogs introduced into the Arctic as a source of intestinal parasites infection both for wildlife and humans. To that aim coprological examination of faeces sampled in Svalbard and Greenland was performed. Microscopical and molecular detection of cryptosporidia, giardiae, microsporidia, roundworms and tapeworms in faeces was carried out. One sample from Svalbard was positive for Toxocara canis eggs and four samples from Svalbard were positive for unusual genotype of Enterocytozoon bieneusi.
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Aspects of the high latitude environments in Cretaceous and Paleogene with special respect to land plants
Chernomorets, Oleksandra ; Sakala, Jakub (advisor) ; Dašková, Jiřina (referee)
This work is focused on the problematics of high latitudes in Cretaceous and Paleogene. The introduction describes and defines high latitude regions as well as their main characteristics nowadays. This allows one to achieve a better understanding of the substantial differences of these regions nowadays and in the geological past. The work itself then provides a brief description of the palaeographic position of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, their palaeoclimatic situations, organisms inhabiting their terrestrial and marine environments and their adaptation mechanisms. Further, a more detailed review of the land plants is presented. The last part is dedicated to the specific survival strategies of the land plants in the polar regions during the warm geological periods. On the basis of the studied literature, this work attempts to answer the questions: which strategy for adaptation to the high latitudes was used by the plants and whether being evergreen or deciduous was more effective on survival during the long and relatively warm polar nights. In conclusion, the relevance of the research of high latitude regions during the Cretaceous and Paleogene greenhouse type of climate is introduced in relation to the possible future consequences of the global warming. Key words: Cretaceous, Paleogene, land...
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Economic development of the Canadian Arctic and the impact of mining on Inuit
Švecová, Marianna ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Šír, Jan (referee)
The bachelor thesis analyses and compares three main periods of the economic development in the Canadian Arctic, starting from the years 1950's until the end of the administrative of Prime Minister Harper in 2015. Mining of natural resources, as the base of the North's development, has been seen by the federal government also as a tool for cultural assimilation of Inuit into the dominant society. Nevertheless, participation of Inuit in mining activities and in fact in the whole employment culture has had serious impact on Aboriginal communities who have never been consulted about the federal strategy. However, while the first phase of development is characterized by strict colonialist approach of the government, the situation started to change during the second phase, characterized by a rising of Inuit's political participation and their first demonstrations of discontent. Although during the third, neoliberal era, several new mechanisms in order to improve the dialogue between Inuit, mining companies and the government were accepted, social conditions in Inuit communities remain below the Canadian average and with the government "laissez-faire" attitude they are not to be changed any time soon.
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Zdravý způsob bydlení v extrémních klimatických podmínkách Arktidy
Gninenko, Yekaterina
Development of the Arctic is necessary not only because of the mining of minerals or construction of scientific centres, but also in order to increase the quality of life of local inhabitants. This can be achieved thanks to architecture since it affects both work and personal lives of the inhabitants of the Arctic. The article deals with the environmental aspects related to the issue of wellbeing Arctic architecture, its impact on public health and the search for sustainable solutions in the design of the fragile environment of the Far North.
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