Climate Change: Gwich in are being impacted. Copyright Subhanker Banerjee

Transcription

1 1

2 Change: Gwich in are being impacted Copyright Subhanker Banerjee

3 Change:What s at Stake: - The Last Intact Arctic & Sub-Arctic Ecosystem left in North America - The Gwich in Culture of 20,000 years - The Arctic Refuge landscape and resident wildlife as we know them today

4 Change: Impacts: Petroleum Development Alaska s North Slope annually produces more greenhouse gas emissions than the District of Columbia; as posted by the Department of Environmental Conservation, which includes: - 41, 408 tons of nitrogen oxides tons of sulfur dioxide (a key cause of acid rain) - 3,223 tons of particulate matter (tiny soot particles that can cause respiratory problems)

5 Change: Impacts : Arctic Amplification A feedback loop amplifies warming as the earth absorbs heat that would have previously been reflected by annual snow or ice. For this reason Arctic Amplification may contribute to warming conditions in the North three times the mean global estimate.

6 Change: Impacts : Projected Rise in Temperature The ACIA projects temperatures in northern Alaska may rise by 7-12 degrees Celsius by 2090 Source: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) 2004; Impacts of a warming Arctic

7 Change: Impacts: Decreased Habitat & Caribou forage The forage habitat of caribou is shrinking with increased forest fires and a shifting tundra. A warming climate contributed to increased forest fires in 2004 & 2005 devastating over 11 million acres of Alaska s Interior forests. Increased frequency of freezing rain also results in a crust covering lichen, which diminishes the caribou s ability to forage for their primary winter food source.

8 Change: Impacts: Thawing Permafrost Thawing permafrost compounds climate change by further releasing additional CO2 and methane (greenhouse gases) into the air. Loss of permafrost also reduces habitat and increases energetic demands on migrating wildlife. permafrost.jpg

9 Change: Impacts: Caribou The Porcupine Caribou Herd that the Gwich in depend on appears to be more sensitive to the effects of climate change than other large herds. Since 1989, the herd has declined at 3.5% per year to a low of an estimated 100,000 animals today. Figure 1. The Porcupine Caribou Herd population is shown on the Y axis and the year the aerial photo census was conducted is shown on the X axis. That last two data points (years 2006 & 2009) were estimates based off of computer modeling, population dynamics, and recent trends. The last true census was done in 2001 (graph generated from PCMB data).

10 Change: Impacts: Migration & Subsistence Warming events have altered the route and time of migration for the Porcupine Caribou Herd, and therefore impacting the subsistence lifestyle of Gwich in Athabascans. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence. United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights images/ph_awr_14.jpg

11 Climate Change: Impacts: Warming & Evaporation The tundra receives little annual moisture, however, past temperatures were generally low enough to keep moisture from evaporating away. Now many lakes and ponds are rapidly drying up as a result of warmer temperatures. The shift from tundra to shrub lands in areas such as around Arctic Village is evidence of this event.

12 Change: Impacts: Warming & Evaporation If current trends continue the tundra will decline from 8% to 1.8% of the earths land, and Alaska will loose almost all of it s evergreen boreal forests; extinctions and profound disruptions will ensue. (Govindasamy & Caldeiva, 2005)

13 Change: Testimony: Findings from the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment the Arctic is becoming an environment at risk, unusual weather patterns are occurring, vegetation cover is changing, and particular animals are no longer found in traditional hunting areas during specific seasons. Local landscapes, seascapes, and icescapes are becoming unfamiliar, making people feel like strangers in their own land. (ACIA, 2004) Climate change is occurring faster than people can adapt. [It] is strongly affecting people in many communities, in some cases threatening their cultural survival. (ACIA 2004)

14 Change: Too Important to Risk!

15 15

16 16

17 17

18 18

19 19

20 20

21 Gwich in continue to strive to protect their homeland from oil development. Gwich in fear that if oil drilling is allowed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it will mean the destruction of the SACRED PLACE WHERE LIFE BEGINS, which will mean the end of the Porcupine Caribou herd and the Gwich in way of life. 21