Download or read book Assessing Effects of Climate Change on Access to Ecosystem Services in Rural Alaska written by Helen S. Cold and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Across the planet, climate change is altering the way human societies interact with the environment. Amplified climate change at high latitudes is significantly altering the structure and function of ecosystems, creating challenges and necessitating adaptation by societies in the region that depend on local ecosystem services for their livelihoods. Rural communities in Interior Alaska rely on plants and animals for food, clothing, fuel and shelter. Previous research suggests that climate-induced changes in environmental conditions are challenging the abilities of rural residents to travel across the land and access local resources, but detailed information on the nature and effect of specific conditions is lacking. My objectives were to identify climate-related environmental conditions affecting subsistence access, and then estimate travel and access vulnerability to those environmental conditions. I collaborated with nine Interior Alaskan communities within the Yukon River basin and provided local residents with camera-equipped GPS units to document environmental conditions directly affecting access for 12 consecutive months. I also conducted comprehensive interviews with research participants to incorporate the effects of environmental conditions not documented with GPS units. Among the nine communities collaborating on this research, 18 harvesters documented 479 individual observations of environmental conditions affecting their travel with GPS units. Environmental conditions were categorized into seven condition types. I then ranked categories of conditions using a vulnerability index that incorporated both likelihood (number of times a condition was documented) and sensitivity (magnitude of the effect from the condition) information derived from observations and interviews. Changes in ice conditions, erosion, vegetative community composition and water levels had the greatest overall effect on travel and access to subsistence resources. Environmental conditions that impeded travel corridors, including waterways and areas with easily traversable vegetation (such as grass/sedge meadows and alpine tundra), more strongly influenced communities off the road network than those connected by roads. Combining local ecological knowledge and scientific analysis presents a broad understanding of the effects of climate change on access to subsistence resources, and provides information that collaborating communities can use to optimize adaptation and self-reliance.
Download or read book Climate Change written by J. B. Haufler and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-10 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summarizes potential impacts that are likely from predicted climate change (CC) in Southern Alaska (SA), identifies on-going collaborative efforts directed at climate change, and suggests some possible responses that the Alaska Region (AR) could take to address this challenge. Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Overview of the AR; (3) Ecosystem Services of the SC and SE Landscapes; (4) CC Threats to Ecosystem Services in Southern Coastal Alaska: Observed Changes in Alaska¿s Climate; Predicted CC in Alaska Climate; (5) Impacts of CC on Ecosystem Services: Changing Sea Levels; Increased Ocean Temp. and Changing Circulation Patterns; Increased Ocean Acidification; Increased Storm Intensities; Changes to Stream Temp. and Flows; Loss of Glaciers; Changes to Wetlands; Forest Temp. and Precipitation Changes; Increases in Invasive Species; (6) Initiatives for CC in Southern Alaska Coastal Landscapes; (7) Strategic Plan for CC. Figures.
Download or read book Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-06-18 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.
Download or read book Seasons Out of Balance written by Shannon Michele McNeeley and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Koyukon Elders of Alaska's Interior observe that 'cold weather is growing old' and recent warming is contributing to a world out of balance. Alaska is among the most rapidly warming places globally, with the Interior experiencing the most pronounced warming statewide, and with significant regional-scale ecosystem services disruptions affecting subsistence hunting and harvest success. Vulnerability of individuals, households, and communities to climate change is exacerbated by rising energy costs and a regulatory system that constrains the adaptive flexibility needed to cope with impacts on livelihoods. Socioeconomic and cultural change notwithstanding, the well-being of rural native communities is still dependant on access and ability to harvest wild foods, with moose the example explored in this study. Over the last decade communities in the Koyukuk-Middle Yukon (KMY) region report an inability to satisfy their needs for harvesting moose before the hunting season closes, citing warmer falls, changing water levels, and the regulatory framework as primary causes. A combination of factors, including the complicated dual state/federal management system for wildlife and subsistence, creates uncertainties about the sustainability of moose populations and subsistence livelihoods in the region. By combining indigenous observations and understanding of climate and western social-natural sciences, this study examines the complex, multi-scaled interaction of climate change and subsistence livelihoods, with the goal of understanding vulnerability and adaptive capacity in the KMY region. This research demonstrates that a recent trend during early fall results in seasonality shifts, where September is getting warmer and wetter and, most recently, temperatures during 2005-2007 were outside the normal, expected range of variability. The regulatory system lacks the flexibility needed to provide local hunters with sufficient opportunity to harvest moose. This complex interplay of climate, agency intervention, and rural community needs, increases vulnerability because of a 'closing window' during the critical fall harvest. Sustainable adaptation requires collective, strategic action such as 'in-season' management. It is argued that this approach will more effectively respond to climate variability, and provide the necessary venue wherein wildlife management includes climate science with the human dimensions of subsistence. It is further argued that new research initiatives will build social and institutional capital between the local hunters and agency managers"--P. iii-iv.
Download or read book Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States written by US Global Change Research Program and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 999 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As global climate change proliferates, so too do the health risks associated with the changing world around us. Called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan and put together by experts from eight different Federal agencies, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: A Scientific Assessment is a comprehensive report on these evolving health risks, including: Temperature-related death and illness Air quality deterioration Impacts of extreme events on human health Vector-borne diseases Climate impacts on water-related Illness Food safety, nutrition, and distribution Mental health and well-being This report summarizes scientific data in a concise and accessible fashion for the general public, providing executive summaries, key takeaways, and full-color diagrams and charts. Learn what health risks face you and your family as a result of global climate change and start preparing now with The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health.
Download or read book Assessing the Consequences of Climate Change for Alaska and the Bering Sea Region written by Patricia Annette Anderson and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The United States National Climate Assessment Alaska Technical Regional Report written by U. S. Department Interior and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-04-19 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Alaskan landscape is changing, both in terms of effects of human activities as a consequence of increased population, social and economic development and their effects on the local and broad landscape; and those effects that accompany naturally occurring hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Some of the most prevalent changes, however, are those resulting from a changing climate, with both near term and potential upcoming effects expected to continue into the future. In 1990, Congress passed Public Law 101-606 (1990), which established the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The purpose of the USGCRP is to provide information that increases the understanding of the cumulative effects of human activities and natural processes on the environment and their response to global change. Section 106 of the Act identifies the requirement for a National Assessment to be delivered to the President of the United States and Congress not less frequently than every 4 years that: Integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the Program and discusses the scientific uncertainties associated with such findings; Analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and Analyzes current trends in global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25-100 years (Public Law 101-606, 1990). The National Climate Assessment (NCA) serves as a status report on climate change science and impacts based on observations made across the country. It incorporates advances in the understanding of climate science into larger social, ecological, and policy systems and serves to integrate scientific information from multiple sources and to highlight key findings and significant knowledge gaps. The First National Assessment report was produced in 2000 and a second, Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, was produced in 2009. This document, The United States National Climate Assessment-Alaska Technical Regional Report, is one of eight regional reports that will provide input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment.
Download or read book Alaska Communities and Forest Environments written by Linda E. Kruger and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-05 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This problem analysis describes a variety of human-resource interaction issues & identifies related social science R&D needs that serve as the foundation for the Alaska Communities & Forest Environments Team within the Pacific Northwest Research Station. The document lays out a research agenda that focuses on understanding relations between human communities & natural resources. The agenda is divided into four sub-topics: (1) communities in transition; (2) collaborative planning & stewardship; (3) sustainable tourism & outdoor recreation; & (4) cultural orientations to & uses & values of natural resources, including traditional knowledge, indigenous property rights, & tenure systems. Illustrations.
Download or read book Alaska s Changing Arctic written by John E. Hobbie and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The latest volume in the LTER series, this book presents the results and finding of the Long-Term Ecological Research site in the Alaskan Arctic, discussing Arctic ecology from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.
Download or read book Alaska Communities and Forest Environments written by Linda Everett Kruger and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Regional Impacts of Climate Change written by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Working Group II. and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Download or read book North by 2020 written by Amy Lauren Lovecraft and published by University of Alaska Press. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originating from a series of workshops held at the Alaska Forum of the Fourth International Polar Year, this interdisciplinary volume addresses a host of current concerns regarding the ecology and rapid transformation of the arctic. Concentrating on the most important linked social-ecological systems, including fresh water, marine resources, and oil and gas development, this volume explores opportunities for sustainable development from a variety of perspectives, among them social sciences, natural and applied sciences, and the arts. Individual chapters highlight expressions of climate change in dance, music, and film, as well as from an indigenous knowledge–based perspective.
Download or read book Potential Impacts of Climate Change in Alaska written by National Safety Council and published by . This book was released on 199? with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples in the United States written by Julie Koppel Maldonado and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-04-05 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With a long history and deep connection to the Earth’s resources, indigenous peoples have an intimate understanding and ability to observe the impacts linked to climate change. Traditional ecological knowledge and tribal experience play a key role in developing future scientific solutions for adaptation to the impacts. The book explores climate-related issues for indigenous communities in the United States, including loss of traditional knowledge, forests and ecosystems, food security and traditional foods, as well as water, Arctic sea ice loss, permafrost thaw and relocation. The book also highlights how tribal communities and programs are responding to the changing environments. Fifty authors from tribal communities, academia, government agencies and NGOs contributed to the book. Previously published in Climatic Change, Volume 120, Issue 3, 2013.
Download or read book Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Chugach National Forest and the Kenai Peninsula written by Gregory Dale Hayward and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This assessment evaluates the effects of future climate change on a select set of ecological systems and ecosystem services in Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula and Chugach National Forest regions. The focus of the assessment was established during a multi-agency/organization workshop that established the goal to conduct a rigorous evaluation of a limited range of topics rather than produce a broad overview. The report explores the potential consequences of climate change for: (a) snowpack, glaciers, and winter recreation; (b) coastal landscapes and associated environments, (c) vegetation, (d) salmon, and (e) a select set of wildlife species. During the next half century, directional change associated with warming temperatures and increased precipitation will result in dramatic reductions in snow cover at low elevations, continued retreat of glaciers, substantial changes in the hydrologic regime for an estimated 8.5 percent of watersheds, and potentially an increase in the abundance of pink salmon. In contrast to some portions of the Earth, apparent sealevel rise is likely to be low for much of the assessment region owing to interactions between tectonic processes and sea conditions. Shrubs and forests are projected to continue moving to higher elevations, reducing the extent of alpine tundra and potentially further affecting snow levels. Opportunities for alternative forms of outdoor recreation and subsistence activities that include sled-dog mushing, hiking, hunting, and travel using across-snow vehicles will change as snowpack levels, frozen soils, and vegetation change over time. There was a projected 66-percent increase in the estimated value of human structures (e.g. homes, businesses) that are at risk to fire in the next half century on the Kenai Peninsula, and a potential expansion of invasive plants, particularly along roads, trails, and waterways.
Download or read book A Total Environment of Change written by Katie J. Moerlein and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Arctic ecosystems are undergoing rapid changes as a result of global climate change, with significant implications for the livelihoods of arctic peoples. In this thesis, I use ethnographic research methods to detail prominent environmental changes observed and experienced over the past few decades and to document the impact of these changes on subsistence fishing practices in the Inupiaq communities of Noatak and Selawik in northwestern Alaska. Using in-depth key informant interviews, participant observation, and cultural consensus analysis, I explore local knowledge and perceptions of climate change and other pronounced changes facing the communities of Noatak and Selawik. I find consistent agreement about a range of perceived environmental changes affecting subsistence fisheries in this region, including lower river water levels, decreasing abundances of particular fish species, increasingly unpredictable weather conditions, and increasing presence of beaver, which affect local waterways and fisheries. These observations of environmental changes are not perceived as isolated phenomena, but are experienced in the context of accompanying social changes that are continually reshaping rural Alaska communities and subsistence economies. Consequently, in order to properly assess and understand the impacts of climate change on the subsistence practices in arctic communities, we must also consider the total environment of change that is dramatically shaping the relationship between people, communities, and their surrounding environments.
Download or read book Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States written by U.S. Global Change Research Program and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-08-24 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summarizes the science of climate change and impacts on the United States, for the public and policymakers.
