Far North Science

Shishmaref eroding fast
Shishmaref Relocation Coalition

Shrinking sea ice. Coastal erosion. Warming permafrost. Greening tundra. Burning forests. Shifts of marine mammals and fish that will make it harder to gather food.

Such climate change may threaten daily life in rural Alaska more than any other place in America. As a result, more than 145 Native villages and other tribal groups have now signed a petition urging President Bush and Congress to take immediate action to help slow climate warming in the Arctic, said Anna Davidson, an organizer of the drive.

The petitions call for “a national, mandatory program to reduce climate change pollution and promote the development and adoption of renewable energy within a timeframe that prevents irreversible harm to public health, the economy and the environment.”

In Shishmaref, where late-forming sea ice has exposed an ancient community to damaging erosion by fall storms, residents fear Arctic warming will drive away walrus and imperil a way of life followed for generations. Along with several other villages — Kivalina and Newtok — Shishmaref has been struggling to find money to pay for a move to more stable ground before houses, tank farms, roads, airports and the village school get destroyed.

House topples during Shishmaref storm
Shishmaref Relocation Coalition

“The plight of Shishmaref is a very small problem in the eyes of the rest of our country it seems, but here in Alaska it is a monumental problem that our leaders don’t really want to address and we are finally getting a bit of support from our fellow communities and organizations around the State,” writes Tony Weyiouanna Sr., Shishmaref’s transportation planner and an organizer of the Shishmaref Relocation Coalition.

Meanwhile, climate change activist Deborah Williams — who help deliver the Native resolution to Washington — reported three major developments in Congress in her monthly newsletter.

• California Rep. Henry Waxman introduced a resolution that would freeze U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases in 2010 and stipulate steady reductions during the following 40 years. (More detail.) Williams writes that the Safe Climate Act of 2007 “calls for emission reductions of 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, though a multi-faceted set of strategies: cap and trade, renewables, vehicle standards, and efficiency. It is co-sponsored by more than 125 members.”
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appointed 15 people to the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. The committee will begin holding hearings after the Easter/Passover Recess.
• Former Vice President Al Gore presented Senate and House committees with a 10-point plan for addressing global warming, including recommendations on taxes, coal-fired power plants, CAFÉ, light bulbs, and SEC reporting. The coverage set off a frenzy in climate change disinformation.

An excerpt from the Alaska Native petition on climate change:

WHEREAS: Alaska Natives have developed unique cultures based on the prevailing regional climate, and climate change is likely to have significant impacts on the availability of subsistence foods such as salmon, whales, caribou, seabirds and waterfowl, and will present serious challenges to subsistence ways of life in Alaska and other regions; and

WHEREAS: We are now aware of the threats of climate change in Alaska and how it is going to affect our way of life. As stated in the 2004 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment there is an international scientific consensus that carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gasses released into the atmosphere have a profound warming effect on the Earth’s climate. The 2001 Third Assessment Report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the 2000 U. S. Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP) First National Assessment indicate that global warming has begun; and

WHEREAS: Over the past 40 years, annual temperatures in Alaska have increased 4 degrees F and over the next 100 years, under a moderate emissions scenario, annual average temperatures are projected to rise 5-9 degrees F over land and up to 13 degrees F over the oceans; and

Rising Global Temps / NCDC

WHEREAS: Warming permafrost throughout most of Alaska is undermining Alaska’s roads and utility infrastructure, pipelines and buildings, affecting the availability of groundwater and surface water, and contributing to increased erosion along coasts and rivers; and unpredictable weather, snow, and ice conditions make travel and traditional hunting and fishing practices more hazardous, thus endangering our lives; and

WHEREAS: Climate change is impacting entire ecosystems and is already threatening many species of Alaska wildlife by changing habitat, insect populations, snow and ice cover, and unpredictable weather related to climate change; and that increased air and water temperatures are resulting in diseases in plants and wildlife; and

WHEREAS: The increase in temperatures will result in significant sea level increases that will adversely effect Alaskan communities and ecosystems; and

WHEREAS: Climate-related changes to the weather, food sources, and local landscapes undermine the social identity and cultural survival of Alaska Natives and create new challenges for community health systems and rural infrastructure; economies that will be affected include Alaska’s commercial fisheries, oil and gas development, tourism, and timber harvesting, as well as the enormous cost of relocating flooded villages; and

WHEREAS: Action taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency provide local benefits by decreasing air pollution, creating jobs, reducing energy use, saving money, and preventing melting permafrost from eroding away homes, shorelines and entire villages; and

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the (name of village corporation) urges the Alaska Congressional delegation, the United States Congress and the President of the United States to move forward on a national, mandatory program to reduce climate change pollution and promote the development and adoption of renewable energy within a timeframe that prevents irreversible harm to public health, the economy and the environment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: that we also urge the Alaska State Legislature and the Governor of Alaska to promote the development and adoption of renewable energy within a timeframe that prevents irreversible harm to public health, the economy and the environment.