 Radio Script 2001 __________________ Alaska Feels the Heat INTRO: Scientists for years have predicted that as the Arctic climate warms, sea ice, glaciers and permafrost will melt, sea levels will rise, and the tree line will move north. As Doug Schneider reports in this week's Arctic Science Journeys Radio, their predictions are coming true, and the changes they'll bring will have a profound effect on Alaska's people and environment.
STORY: This past winter, Kotzebue Sound, a narrow span of ocean in northwest Alaska, remained ice-free through much of the winter. Caleb Pungowiyi, a native elder and hunter from the nearby village of Kotzebue, thinks that had something to do with the lack of ringed seal pups in the sound this spring. PUNGOWIYI: "It definitely has impacted their reproduction. Because it froze up so late, it didn't have pressure ridges that females use for reproduction. When there's ice ridges, then those ice ridges get covered by snow and then they den under the snow. This year, we didn't see that happening." Storms seem to be more frequent in the region, too, says Esther Iyatunguk, who lives in the coastal village of Shishmaref. The storms whip up ocean waves that rapidly erode the beach in front of her house. The walk from Iyatunguk's house to the beach is now several hundred feet shorter. IYATUNGUK: "The ocean is eating up our land. There's a lot that has been lost the last couple of years." Scientists say such events are the inescapable result of an Arctic climate that has warmed almost five degrees, on average, during the last half-century. Gunter Weller is a climate-change scientist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He says the warming trend has melted about one million square miles, or roughly ten percent, of the Arctic's sea ice. WELLER: "As you have less sea ice, you have more open water and a larger fetch area for storm surges. The storm surges, particularly in areas underlain by permafrost, have become a real big problem along the Alaska coast." Weller says proof of a warmer Arctic is all around us. Alaska winters are now shorter and milder, and summers are hotter and wetter. Insects, like the harmful spruce bark beetle, are moving north, even as trees and shrubs themselves move north onto the once-barren Arctic tundra. In the Interior, Weller says melting permafrost is slowly helping to create an entirely new ecosystem. WELLER: "And they project that slowly there is a transformation from a boreal forest system into a wetland. And when the wetland eventually dries out, it turns into grassland. So we're talking over long term, maybe hundreds of years, about a slow transformation of one ecosystem into another." Climate warming is affecting the state's infrastructure as well. Orson Smith is a professor of engineering at the University of Alaska Anchorage. He says sea walls are being pummeled by storm surges and rising sea levels. Melting permafrost is collapsing roads, undercutting bridges and throwing houses off kilter. He believes Alaska's building practices need to be changed. SMITH: "The manuals of practice need to be changed, even some of the building codes need to be changed to make sure engineers take into account the real prospect of sea level change and climate change." But it's Alaska Natives who will feel the heat of climate change the most. Caleb Pungowiyi worries that as sea ice becomes thinner and less extensive, it will be harder and more dangerous for hunters to find seals, walrus and other animals. PUNGOWIYI: "There's plenty of animals out there now. The problem is accessibility. If the ice is further away, we have to go further. Our access to them, our ability to harvest them, and our success rate is being affected. There is a potential for hardship. If the sea ice continues to retreat further and further north, villages that used to depend on marine mammals will see their lives turned around and they'll have to rely on something else." But climate change isn't all bad for Alaska. An Arctic Ocean free of ice would make trans-polar shipping possible. Agriculture and logging would fare better, too. Commercial fishing could either improve or decline, depending on which species did well. Gunter Weller says Alaskans will have to adapt, and that they should begin planning now for change. WELLER: "Shouldn't we begin to think about it? I don't see too much willingness, at least in the political system, to even think about this. It's what disturbs me most." Back in Shishmaref, residents are taking such advice seriously. They're making plans to move the village inland to higher ground. OUTRO: This is Arctic Science Journeys Radio, a production of the Alaska Sea Grant Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. I'm Doug Schneider. Audio version and related Web sites (sidebar at top right) Thanks to the following individuals for help preparing this script:
Caleb Pungowiyi, President
Gunter Weller, Director
Orson Smith, Associate Professor Arctic Science Journeys is a radio service highlighting science, culture, and the environment of the circumpolar north. Produced by the Alaska Sea Grant College Program and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
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Listen to story on RealAudio Related Web sites A Closer Look at Global Warming, National Research Council Report on Climate Change Alaska Climate Research Center Inuit Observations on Climate Change Global Warming: Early Warning Signs Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research International Arctic Research Center United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change North Pacific Marine Research Program (NPMR): Climate change study |