Special Projects ~ Tracking Climate Change
Adapt or perish
Over the last 50 years, Copper River Basin ponds have declined by 54 percent, wetlands in Yukon River flats by 19 percent and the North Slope coastline has eroded by 3,000 feet.
Some scientists believe these changes are normal, with frequent and rapid temperature fluctuations throughout recorded history. Unfortunately, this conflicting evidence creates a sense of apathy, as in “What can I do to affect change” or “I’ll be dead before any of these predictions come to pass.” But the fact remains that never before have the mechanics and organics of earth altered so quickly, and many scientists and environmentalists attribute this spike to “unsustainable production and consumption patterns.”
Indeed, climate change could be the single most important factor to affect Alaskans since “the great deaths” of the 19th century. With these facts in mind, this site presents unbiased information to limit further man-made influences on climate and to help rural Alaskans adapt to changes caused by a warmer environment.
A Change in the Weather
Precipitation in Alaska has increased by 10 percent over the last half century, but that increase doesn’t necessarily correlate to warming. It depends on location, season and elevation. On the other hand, a warmer atmosphere causes more clouds – which scientists know little about – and precipitation.
Severe variations in winter snowfall or spring and summer rain, for instance, can lead to more forest fires. And storms would be more frequent and brutal. And all this excess water means erosion. If that threat isn’t bad enough, melting permafrost will undermine the very foundations of the state.
NOAA Climate change simulation maps. Click to Enlarge
Invasive Plants & Insects
Climate change didn’t necessarily cause the recent spread of highly invasive plants in Alaska. More light and warm temperatures certainly help. But humans are the main cause. Most noxious plants center on large population areas or along road systems and can be brought to the state overnight as simply as a seed catching a ride on a shipment from Japan or any other place in the world.
Invasive Plants in Alaska. Click to Enlarge
The Ick Factor
More is at stake than saving starving polar bears stranded on melting ice floes. The slimy, creepy crawly things will affect us greatly. Insects basically sit at the bottom of the food chain, but there are more of those pesky critters than any other species and any significant changes could crescendo up the food chain.
Invasive Insects in Alaska. Click to Enlarge
Web site addresses to remember:
- Alaska Climate Research Center
- Calculate Your Carbon Footprint, also at www.nature.org
- Calculate your ecological footprint
- www.realclimate.com
- Federal International Polar Year Web portal
- World View of Global Warming
- Polar Thaw Climate Exhibit