Paul Shewfelt of Ft. Yukon courtesy of Phil Loring (left). ACCAP's
Alaska Weather and Climate Highlights Map (center). Lead dogs on the pack ice in Barrow
courtesy of Lisa Baraff (right).
Native and Rural Impacts
Related ACCAP Webinars
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A HUMAN HEALTH PERSPECTIVE ON CLIMATE CHANGE: PROMOTING COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA
Tenaya Sunbury and David Driscoll, Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage
Increasing average temperatures in Arctic regions are affecting human health through multiple pathways, such as changes to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and changes in the geographic range and occurrence of infectious and chronic diseases. Following several reports of current and potential human health impacts from climate change, the Institute of Circumpolar Health Studies (ICHS) developed and implemented a monitoring system to capture baseline human health and ecosystem data from three ecologically distinct regions of Alaska. In this presentation, Drs. Driscoll and Sunbury describe the monitoring system and the information it provides for improving public-health decision making.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
ALASKA AND THE NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW YOU CAN BE INVOLVED
Sarah Trainor, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy and Carl Markon, US Geological Survey
ACCAP, the USGS, and other groups state-wide are collaborating to create a technical report of the state of knowledge about climate change impacts and response in Alaska that will be used in writing the Alaska Regional Chapter of the 2013 National Climate Assessment. Join this webinar to learn more about who is involved, the subject and content areas of the report, our process, time-line, and how you can provide input.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Alaska and the National Climate Assessment
Download the 2000 Alaska Regional report
Download the 2009 Alaska Regional report
Learn more about ACCAP's role in the 2013 NCA
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
SALMON STREAM TEMPERATURES: PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
Sue Mauger, Science Director, Cook Inletkeeper
Will changing air temperature and precipitation patterns influence stream temperatures? Are Alaska's salmon streams warmer than they used to be? And will they get any warmer? Through the Stream Temperature Monitoring Network, Cook Inletkeeper is leading a collaborative effort to collect the data that will help answer these questions. The Temperature Network is a multi-year regional monitoring program designed to capture recent annual variation and will play an important role in identifying the most temperature-sensitive salmon streams in Cook Inlet. With this information, state and federal resource managers can prioritize habitat protection and restoration efforts to ensure Alaska wild salmon endure as thermal change continues.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Salmon Stream Temperatures: Past, Present and Future
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT WALRUS AND SEA ICE: THE SEA ICE FOR WALRUS OUTLOOK (SIWO) PROJECT
Gary Hufford, National Weather Service, Alaska Region
A weather forecast and sea ice information for northern Bering Sea and Bering Strait subsistence communities called Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO) is updated weekly with information on sea ice conditions and weather relevant to the walrus. SIWO includes: an assessment of current ice conditions using up-to-date satellite imagery; a 10-day outlook of wind conditions; written observations of ice conditions from Alaska Native hunters; and comments from sea ice experts and other contributors. SIWO is available through Web and Facebook sites. Join this webinar to hear about what we have learned about walrus distribution and habitat from a blend of western science and traditional knowledge, how this information provides the foundation for creating SIWO, and how you can contribute to the outlook.
View the webinar video (46 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: What We know About Walrus and Sea Ice: The Sea Ice For Walrus Outlook (SIWO) Project
Read the Alaska Newspapers Inc. Article: Ice-forecasting project uses Facebook to improve safety for walrus hunters and whalers
Read the Turnstyle News Article: If Arctic Sea Ice Disappears… What Happens To The Walrus?
To view the latest Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook, click here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
WHAT DOES THE NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY MEAN FOR THE ARCTIC REGION?
Cheryl Rosa, Deputy Director, US Arctic Research Commission, Anchorage, Alaska
Mary Boatman, Ocean Policy Advisor, National Ocean Council, Executive Office of the President
In July 2010, President Obama announced a commitment to implement a new National Ocean Policy. What does this mean for the Arctic region, which was specifically highlighted in a “priority objective” in the National Ocean Policy? Efforts to address our stewardship responsibilities in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastal areas, in the face of climate-induced and other environmental changes, would greatly benefit from input from local and regional experts. We welcome your input to help identify the critical actions that need to be taken to address environmental stewardship needs in the region. Please join us to learn about the National Ocean Policy efforts to develop a strategic action plan for the changing conditions in the Arctic, and to share your comments, questions, and ideas.
View the webinar video (46 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Developing a national ocean policy
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN SEA LEVEL CHANGE IN ALASKA
Jeff Freymueller, Geophysical Institute and Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Projections of global average sea level predict significant sea level rise over the next century, due mainly to thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of glaciers and ice sheets. But the effects of changing sea level in any one place are not determined by the global average, but by the local change in relative sea level -- the level of the sea relative to the level of the land. Transporting water to the ocean from melting glaciers and ice sheets changes Earth's gravity field and causes uplift of the surface due to removal of the ice load. Both of these effects cause regional variations in relative sea level, which can be larger in magnitude than the global average rise. In addition, vertical tectonic motions along large regions of the Alaska coast are more rapid than sea level change. As a result, different parts of the Alaska coast experience both relative sea level rise and fall. In this talk, Dr Freymueller will discuss regional variations in sea level change in Alaska.
View the webinar video (42 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Regional variations in sea level change in Alaska
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
WAYS TO HELP AND HINDER: CLIMATE, POLICY, AND ADAPTABILITY
Philip Loring, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Dr. Loring will present a component of his dissertation research that compares case-studies from Interior Alaska (subsistence hunting) and the Bering Sea (Commercial Fishing) to explore how policy helps or hinders people's ability to respond effectively to climatic variability and change. The lessons speak both to community needs and to how natural resource policy might be better structured to support sustainability and community livelihoods.
View the webinar video (42 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Ways to help and hinder: Climate, policy, and adaptability
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
WEATHER FORECASTS AND SEA ICE INFORMATION FOR BERING STRAITS COMMUNITIES: THE SEA ICE FOR WALRUS OUTLOOK PROJECT
Hajo Eicken, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Gary Hufford, National Weather Service, Alaska Region; Vera Metcalf, Eskimo Walrus Commission, Kawerak, Inc.
The Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO), an activity of the SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook, is a new resource for Alaska Native subsistence hunters, coastal communities, and others interested in sea ice and walrus. The SIWO is updated weekly with information on sea ice conditions relevant to walrus in the Northern Bering Sea and southern Chukchi Sea regions of Alaska. SIWO reports include: an assessment of current ice conditions relevant to distribution and access of walrus; a 10-day outlook of wind conditions; up-to-date satellite imagery for the Bering Strait and St. Lawrence Island; written observations of ice development from Alaska Native hunters, sea-ice experts, or NOAA and university researchers; and additional comments provided by local experts and other contributors. Please join us to learn how the SIWO is created, how to contribute to the outlook, and for discussion about how it can serve your sea ice information needs and be most useful to you.
View the webinar video (47 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar Podcast
To access the outlook, link to the SIWO website here
Presentation/Slides: Sea Ice Outlook for Walrus Project
February 23, 2010
HYDROPOWER PLANNING IN ALASKA: DOES CLIMATE CHANGE MATTER?
Jessie Ellen Cherry, International Arctic Research Center & Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks
The supply, demand, and price for hydroelectric power can be strongly influenced by climatic factors such as temperature, precipitation, and water storage by the environment. The climate, in turn, is driven by both natural variability (on a variety of timescales) and anthropogenic forcing. For planning water resource management here in Alaska, particularly for long-lived, large infrastructure projects, it is useful to understand the sources of uncertainty in climate projections and how they influence long-term and short-term decision-making. A case study in Southeast Alaska is described, where most of Alaska’s hydropower facilities are concentrated. Challenges to assessing the regional impacts of climate change here are discussed, as well as our interpretation of the historical record of climate variability. Our analysis concludes that understanding and accounting for natural modes of variability may be as important as planning for long-term climate change when it comes to managing existing hydropower facilities and planning new infrastructure.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Hydropower planning in Alaska: Does climate change matter?
January 26, 2010
DECISION-MAKING FOR AT-RISK COMMUNITIES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
Dan White, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy
Many communities in Alaska are faced with multiple threats to infrastructure and quality of life due, in part, to projected changes in precipitation, temperature, and related incidences of flooding and erosion. Decision-makers must determine how best to manage their community's vulnerability with the knowledge that future environmental change is uncertain. This webinar will discuss a newly released report "Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate" prepared by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. The report is intended to inform decision-makers relating to climate change and uncertainty, risk management, and relocation planning. Issues addressed regarding the planning process for relocation focus on the steps from planning through execution, perspectives on community engagement, partial relocation, site development costs, and timing. Sustainability recommendations focus on defining sustainability, future energy planning, planning for a changing cost of living, and available transportation corridors. Join this webinar to learn more about decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate
Download the Report: Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate
August 11, 2009
TUTORIAL: USING WEB-BASED AND GOOGLE EARTH MAPS OF PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA
Nancy Fresco, Network Coordinator for Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning and Katie Kennedy, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the University of Alaska Geography Program
The University of Alaska, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP) provides quick and easy access to a wide range of climate projections for the state of Alaska at a 2km resolution. Data and maps are available for download in web-based and Google Earth formats. These maps show projected changes in temperature, precipitation, growing season length, freeze-up date and thaw date, and include documentation of uncertainties. Join this tutorial to learn how to view, interpret and download available data and maps and discuss upcoming SNAP products.
Participants will need to download Google Earth onto their computer before the webinar tutorial (see http://www.snap.uaf.edu/google-earth-maps). For assistance contact Brook Gamble, 907-474-7812, brook.gamble@alaska.edu.
Listen to the Podcast of the tutorial
Presentation/Slides: Using web-based and Google Earth maps of projected climate change in Alaska Read the Stories: Media Coverage of SNAP Community Charts Tool
Site forecasts climate change in Alaska backyards
SNAP tracks climate change for Alaska towns
UAF science prediction calls for higher Fairbanks temperatures
April 8, 2008
THE IMPACTS OF CHANGES IN WATER RESOURCES ON NORTHERN SOCIETIES
Dan White, University of Alaska
Water is critical in Northern Alaska for drinking and residential use in villages, for the construction of ice roads and pads in oil and gas exploration and drilling, and as habitat for migratory birds and water fowl. Find out more about how climate change has and will continue to impact availability of water in Northern Alaska
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: The Impacts of Changes in Water Resources on Northern Societies
Webinar Summary:The Impacts of Changes in Water Resources on Northern Societies
Related References: Journal of American Water Resources Association on Water Use from Arctic Lakes: Identification, Impacts and Decision Support
February 19, 2008
CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIOS FOR YUKON FLATS NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALASKA
Anna Springsteen, University of Alaska and The Wilderness Society, and
Dr. Wendy Loya, The Wilderness Society
In conjunction with the University of Alaska, Scenario Network for Alaska Planning, we analyzed predictions from the 5 climate models that perform best in Alaska to understand how climate change may affect Yukon Flats NWR over the next ~80 years. Learn more about projected changes in temperature and precipitation and the resulting possible impacts on growing season, fire regimes, permafrost stability, and river and lake hydrology.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Climate Change Scenarios for Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, AlaskaPresentation Summary (2-page written summary):Climate Change Scenarios for Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
January 15, 2008
SEA ICE CHANGE AROUND ALASKA AND IMPACTS ON HUMAN ACTIVITIES
Hajo Eicken, University of Alaska
The Arctic sea-ice cover is rapidly transforming, with sustained northward retreat of the summer ice edge and thinning of the pack ice. The seas around Alaska have experienced some of the largest changes anywhere in the Arctic. The talk discussed some of the causes of such change and what this may mean for coastal communities, marine ecosystems and industrial activities.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Sea Ice Change and Impacts on Human Activities
June 12, 2007
CHANGES IN SEASONALITY: IMPACTS ON RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE ALASKAN INTERIOR
Craig Gerlach & John Walsh, University of Alaska
Extreme high or low precipitation and/or temperatures and the timing of freeze-up and spring melt, all affect river and air transportation and subsistence harvest in Alaska. Learn how changes in seasonality impact residents and businesses that operate in the interior. The goal of the discussion was to identify specific climate information needs in the interior and to brainstorm ways to meet those needs.
Presentations/Slides:
Interior Alaska: Bellweather of Global Warming - John Walsh
Examples of Climate Products from Arizona - Colin West
Related ACCAP Research Projects
Cross-Regional Dialogue: Climate Change, Water Impacts and Indigenous People.
With global temperatures on the rise, the impact of drought on
water supplies and ecosystems can only be expected to increase in
the coming years. Being prepared by better understanding drought
planning innovations and the array of monitoring and forecasting
resources may help reduce vulnerabilities and avert disasters.
This project, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), aims to use modern communication technologies
to open a dialogue among tribal and indigenous decisionmakers
and resource managers from Alaska, the US Southwest, and
the Pacific Islands as well as climate scientists from these regions.
The Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Land Use in the Upper Yukon River Watershed
There are seven rural communities in the Yukon Flats, with Fort Yukon as the primary hub and service center; all of the villages are home to a large Alaskan Gwich’in and a smaller Koyukon Athabascan population. Partly because of an important historical and cultural connection to hunting and fishing, and partly because of the fact that a large segment of the population now lives below the poverty level as defined by the federal government, rural residents throughout the Yukon Flats depend on subsistence hunting and fishing and country foods (plants and animals) for survival and community well-being. The cumulative and synergistic effects of global climate, land use, and economic changes create scenarios of real and perceived stability and instability in interior rural Alaskan communities, with local stakeholders having relatively little access to and influence over scientific findings, policy development, and decision making about the same by federal and state land managers. An integrated assessment of the consequences of the impacts of climate variability and change and stakeholder needs for weather and climate products will be strategically implemented throughout the five year project. The central partner organization for this project is the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG), which represents the tribal chiefs of the seven regional villages on matters of natural resource management and development, as well as about matters of subsistence and health and well-being for all village resource users. The collaboration will include contributions by John Walsh on climate, Terry Chapin on fire ecology and ecosystem issues, and Larry Duffy on contaminants, perceptions of food quality, the impact of contaminants on ecosystem stability and change, and on the relationship between contaminants flows and concentrations and climate change.
Links and Resources
AKSIK—Stories about Adaptation and Subsistence: Native Voices from the Frontlines of Climate Change This site serves as a video library of two native villages in Alaska—Savoonga and Shaktoolik—on the front line of climate change. It documents the impacts they are witnessing, describes their adaptation strategies, and provides alerts about their needs and their advice for our leaders.
Alaska Native Knowledge Network Resources including publications, talking maps, curriculum, and cultural atlases for compiling and exchanging information related to Alaska Native knowledge systems and ways of knowing.
Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Center for Climate and Health The mission of the ANTHC Center for Climate and Health (CCH) is to help the Alaska Tribal System adapt to the new and emerging risks associated with climate change. The CCH works closely with governments at the local and regional level, academic institutions and public and private organizations to understand local changes and to develop strategies that encourage wellness, resilience and sustainability.
Alaska Sea Grant Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Alaska Resources Adaption tools, fact sheets and videos. This Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP) project brings a marine-dependent community perspective to climate change adaptation issues.
American Indian & Alaska Native Climate Change Working Group
Article on: Food, culture, and human health in Alaska: an integrative health approach to food security
Climate Change Planning Tools for First Nations, Center for Indigenous Environmental Resources. These six Guidebooks ‘walk and talk’ a First Nation through the climate change planning process. They contain: suggestions of how a First Nation might plan for climate change, how to involve the community, and activities that a First Nation can use to involve members of the community to set priorities and achieve them.
Climate Witness Community Toolkit, the World Wildlife Fund. This Climate Witness Toolkit is the result of a process undertaken on Kabara, Fiji, (the first
Climate Witness site in the Pacific) to document local impacts of climate change and to devise
appropriate adaptation measures that local communities can implement themselves.
Communities of Practice: Climate Change Forum, National Congress of American Indians Policy Research Center. By registering with this new online community, you can learn about important events, share information and resources using online document libraries, discuss collaborative projects on message boards, and meet others working in the field
Elder's Panel Recordings From a conference on Climate, Language and Indigenous Perspectives held at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (August 13-15, 2008). Sponsored by the Alaska Native Language Center and the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Hydropower in Alaska The information in this report will be useful for consideration of both short-term climate variability and long-term climate change in the planning process, as well as in the management of existing water resource infrastructure. The report includes a methods 'template' that might be used for other climate impact studies.
Indigenous People's Global Summit on Climate Change. The purpose of the 2009 summit was to enable Indigenous peoples from all regions of the globe to exchange their knowledge and experience in adapting to the impacts of climate change, and to develop key messages and recommendations to be articulated to the world at the Conference of Parties (COP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. Information available includes the declaration, proceedings and articles, background, webcasts, photo gallery, program, thematic sessions, portal, and media information.
Learning and Knowing in Indigenous Societies Today The book is organised into three sections: The first addresses the link between indigenous knowledge and indigenous language, and explores the opportunities this interconnection provides for understanding and countering declines in both. The second section examines how the loss of indigenous knowledge due to insensitive school programs may be countered by integrating indigenous knowledge and languages into school curricula. The third section explores the need for the revitalisation of indigenous ways of learning and how this may be practically viable in modern contexts.
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) NCAI serves to secure for ourselves and our descendants the rights and benefits to which we are entitled; to enlighten the public toward the better understanding of the Indian people; to preserve rights under Indian treaties or agreements with the United States; and to promote the common welfare of the American Indians and Alaska Natives.
National Tribal Environmental Council (NTEC) NTEC was formed in 1991 as a membership organization dedicated to working with and assisting tribes in the protection and preservation of tribal environments. NTEC's membership is open to any federally-recognized tribe throughout the United States, and currently has 184 member tribes. Although NTEC is a membership organization, its services are provided to all federally-recognized tribes.
Nunat Climate Observations Database This database is for Villages to share information. That way Villages can learn from, and help each other. It is difficult for Alaska Villages to gather and share environmental observations. The Nunat on-line meeting shares and permanently records our observations on subsistence and other environmental changes. All Alaska Village residents and Native Elders are invited to share their observations all the time. Our neighboring northern communities and First Nations outside Alaska are invited to this meeting as well, and have an open invitation to speak.
Promoting Generations of Self-Reliance: Stories and Examples of Tribal Adaptation to Change The document suggests three components for communities to consider when planning for, implementing, and evaluating long-term climate change adaptation goals.
Report: 2008 United Nations International Expert Group Meeting on Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change
2010 SNAP report on climate change effects on Alaska’s wildlife and ecosystems The publication models future shifts in species and regional ecosystems by scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the UAF Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning and the Ecological Wildlife Habitat Data Analysis for the Land and Seascape. It offers policymakers and the public a practical way to approach the question of climate change effects on Alaska ecosystems.
Tribes and Climate Change, EPA Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, USEPA. This website provides information and resources tailored to helping Native people gain a better understanding of climate change and its impacts on their communities. Here you'll find basic climate-change information; profiles of tribes in diverse regions of the U.S., including Alaska, who are coping with climate change impacts; audio files of elders discussing the issue from traditional perspectives; and resources and contacts you can use to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Ways for Indigenous Peoples' groups to advance adaptation concerns and solutions through international fora , Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development
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