An Altered Arctic

How are Alaska's Inuit communities currently & potentially being affected by the repercussions of a changing climate?

Climate change is severely impacting the ocean & the world as a whole in many ways such as rising temperatures, water levels rising, coastal erosion as a result of the excess water, & much more. These problems not only affect the creatures that live in the ocean, but also everyone & everything that coexists with it. Since our planet is roughly 70% ocean, when we talk about ocean conservation we are not talking about saving a big puddle of water that we would be fine without, ocean conservation truly means saving our one & only planet & the unique biodiversity & the human way of life for generations to come. This project will focus specifically on the effects of climate change on Alaska from a social, physical, & economic perspective. Better understanding of issues from a local level help give an understanding of the issues as a whole.

Sustainable Development Goal 14.5 is "By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal & marine areas, consistent with national & international law & based on the best available scientific information." The key term in this we would like to focus on is "coastal", which means that what is happening in the ocean also effects people all over the world as well. Protecting the ocean doesn't just mean the literal ocean, but also everyone & everything that coexists with & around it. Stopping coastal erosion is key to preserving these coastal areas.

Environmental justice is defined by the EPA as "fair treatment & meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income, with respect to the development, implementation, & enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, & policies". While this is a very important ideal, it is not being correctly applied to the issues happening within the Inuit communities as a direct result of climate change. Because these communities are so small & separate from the rest of the country, it is easy to disregard their problems, but these people are dealing with very real issues that affect not just one or two people but entire communities. In order to truly have environmental justice the government needs to help pass laws that protect all of its citizens, regardless of how far off the issue might seem to people who do not live there.

Social justice is defined in the dictionary as "justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, & privileges within a society". This is very similar to environmental justice but they key difference is it's focus on distribution of privilege's. This applies to the struggle with ocean related climate change in Inuit communities because they are simply lacking what most other areas have: a platform. If these same issues where happening in California for example, there would be tons of news & social media coverage, & petitions to stop these horrendous events. However, since Alaska is more isolated from the rest of the U.S. , since it is not contiguous, it does not always get the same amount of coverage from the media. This results in less funding, less push for change, & overall less care from the government. That is why it is so important to push these issues, because if no one ever sees that entire communities are disappearing before our eyes, then no one will be able to help before it is too late.

Although there are many Inuit communities along Alaska's coast that are experiencing these problems due to climate change, there are a few villages who seem to be outliers. These villages have great historic & projected loss, both geographically & economically. The following focus villages [Newtok, Kivalina, & Shishmaref] are prime examples of such communities.

The Village of Newtok is in the most imminent danger. Damage to the village due to permafrost & the currents of the Ninglick river currents have caused the erosion of the surrounding riverbank at the alarming rate of 70 feet per year. This puts countless homes, a school, & the village's only airport in immediate danger. If nothing is done to stop these huge parts of the village will be lost within the next two to four years & the rest of the village will follow shortly after.

Kivalina is a small barrier island that is home to about 400 people. In the past, the small islands coast was protected by a layer of ice surrounding. However, the ice no longer forms soon enough or thick enough to adequately protect the island. This has resulted in fierce coastal erosion as feet are being washed away every year. The government tried to assist by adding a sandbag barrier around the perimeter of the island in 2007 to keep it from washing away, but even that was not enough. The people of Kivalina are trying to relocate their town but it would cost an astounding 400 million dollars to move them to higher ground.

Shishmaref is a very small island off the coast of Alaska that is only about 7 miles in total area, including the surrounding ice, & consists of 522 people. Like any other indigenous tribe, the people of Shishmaref have their own customs & cultures connected to the land that needs to be preserved. However, their land is in danger from coastal erosion. In 2013 there was a storm that eroded about 50 feet of the island in one night.

"I think it was in elementary school that I realized our island was eroding," Nellie says. Her childhood memories are much like those I will hear from others around the village. "I remember there was an old playground on the beach. There used to be monkey bars and swings, slides and a teeter-totter, and a spinning thing. I remember playing over there with my sisters. And one day they weren't there anymore" - Nellie Eningowuk in an interview with Sierra Club

Along with the people, local wildlife (such as fish & whales) are also being affected by the sudden change in the climate. Not only are they losing their homes, as water that was once a sanctuary to them becomes uninhabitable, but the changes impact them in more subtle ways too such as: food availability, behavioral modifications, ability to reproduce, & more. This change goes beyond just those animals as it affects the economics of the human world & the ecosystem as a whole.

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The whale watching industry is wildly popular in Alaska. Roughly 553,000 people payed to go on a whale watching tour while visiting Alaska in 2019. Whale watching tour prices average at about $156 per tour, so those visitors represent about $86 million tourism dollars from whale watching alone. The industry also provides about 850 direct jobs (people directly employed by whale watching companies) & about 255 indirect jobs (jobs created specifically because of the whale watching industry but not directly involved with the companies). These two factors make whale watching a crucial part of Alaska's economy, & without them they would suffer great economic hardship.

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Alaska is packed full of fisheries, & they provide almost half of the fish consumed in the U.S. These fisheries also provide a reliable food source, countless jobs, support native Alaskan communities practice a traditional way of life, & are among the most sustainable fisheries in the world. The total profits of fisheries from Alaska alone are almost $4.5 billion dollars a year, making them essential to the economy of Alaska. There are fisheries located in Kivalina & Newtok that make these places a key part of the Alaskan economy. If these areas experience the loss of land that is currently being predicted, these fisheries are at a great risk of going under, bringing their immense economic contributions along with them.

Map of Alaska's Fisheries ↓

Chloe H., a high school student at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Academy who will be attending the University of Alaska, Fairbanks in 2022 for wildlife biology & conservation.

Cariena M., a high school student at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Academy who is looking at attending the University of Washington in 2022 for conservation biology.