Changes
in Arctic sea ice over the past 50 years: Bridging the knowledge
gap between the scientific community and the Alaska Native
community.
Executive
Summary
Marine
Mammal Commission Workshop
on
the Impacts of Changes in Sea Ice and Other Environmental
Parameters in the Arctic.
Girdwood, Alaska,
1517 February 2000.
Sponsors: |
University
of Alaska's North Pacific Marine Research Initiative
National Marine Fisheries Service
NOAA's Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research |
From:
|
Marine
Mammal Commission
4340 East-West Highway, Room 905
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
|
The Workshop
To bring together scientists and indigenous experts
to discuss the many signs of change in the Arctic environment,
the Marine Mammal Commission held a workshop on Impacts
of Changes in Sea Ice and Other Environmental Parameters
in the Arctic. The combination of multi-disciplinary science
and traditional knowledge made a strong and urgent case
for addressing the challenges posed by environmental change
in the Arctic. Although the workshop focused largely on
the Alaskan Arctic, its implications are international in
scope, as all Arctic regions face similar challenges related
to environmental change.
The workshop
was held 1517 February 2000 in Girdwood, Alaska. The
number of participants in the workshop was limited, and
chosen to provide a balance between scientists and indigenous
experts, and among areas of expertise. The purposes of the
workshop were:
- to review,
from both traditional knowledge and scientific perspectives,
how changes in sea ice and other environmental parameters
may be affecting Arctic living resources and the indigenous
cultures and practices that depend on those resources,
- to identify
possible measures that can be taken to mitigate the impacts
of realized and anticipated changes, and
- to develop
a document that provides a compelling blueprint for action
for legislators, conservationists, Arctic residents, and
others.
This final report
contains the conclusions and recommendations of the workshop,
a summary of the discussions held by break-out groups during
the workshop, and papers describing various aspects of environmental
change in the Arctic.
Conclusions
In Arctic Alaska, there are many indications of significant
environmental change over time. Such changes are not merely
curiosities from a remote area. They have severe impacts
on the lives of residents of northern Alaska, most of whom
are Alaska Natives pursuing traditional ways of life deeply
rooted in the local environment. The changes seen in the
Arctic are the early signs of changes in climate that are
likely to affect much of the world in the next several decades.
The impacts to Arctic residents and the lessons those impacts
have for the rest of the country and the world are ignored
at our peril. It is clear that more attention is needed
to assess the risks that we face and to identify actions
that can be taken to minimize those risks.
In considering
what is known today and what needs to be done, workshop
participants made a number of observations on the state
of our knowledge and its applicability to the responses
that might be made to the impacts of climate change:
- There are
significant disconnects among scientific disciplines.
More attention is needed to the species that affect people
directly.
- Policy makers
give too little attention to environmental change.
- Better information
is needed about specific regional scenarios for changes
in sea ice, especially for helping to identify potential
impacts to communities.
- More systematic
use should be made of the expertise that Alaska Natives
have in observing the environment, extending back many
decades in personal memory and farther in what has been
handed down from past generations.
- Subsistence
hunting, fishing, and gathering are vital and irreplaceable
activities for Alaska Native communities, but it is difficult
or impossible to express their full significance.
A common thread
to these and other discussions during the workshop was that
climate change is a far-reaching threat to coastal communities.
It is essential that such communities be involved in research
and policy concerning environmental change. In this regard,
workshop participants had a number of observations on the
process of research:
- Collaborative
research between communities' members and outside scientists
requires continuity and time to build trust, train personnel,
and learn to understand the perspectives and expectations
of the various partners.
- Community-based
programs should be coordinated or integrated so that the
communities can make best advantage of the programs in
which they participate.
- Research needs
to involve young people, especially through schools.
- Progress requires
dedicated individuals, not just good ideas.
- Research involving
the participation of local researchers must adequately
compensate those participants.
- The use of
scenarios must be done sensitively, especially with "worst-case"
predictions about the future of specific communities.
Recommendations
Workshop participants listed a number of recommendations
in several categories, listed below, plus two overarching
recommendations emerged:
- Promote
long-term commitments, especially for collaborative
research that requires recruiting and training local researchers.
- Take better
advantage of existing programs, including those that
are already active in Arctic communities and those that
upon which community-based research can be built.
Research
- Develop
a formal plan for recording systematic observations by
residents of coastal communities. A team of scientists
and local observers should determine which measurements
are appropriate for gathering by local observers and which
factors are significant from the local perspective.
- Develop
a system for reporting other noteworthy events. In
addition to observations of regular phenomena, unusual
events such as strandings and die-offs are worth recording
and analyzing.
- Promote
the creation of better baselines of data. Existing
baseline data are often from too few monitoring sites
or over timelines that are too short. Effective monitoring
requires archiving of data as well as ready access to
those data for analyses and comparisons.
- Document
Native observations of environmental change. The systematic
documentation of Native knowledge can help identify patterns
in the environment over time, helping sort out short-
and long-term changes.
- Develop
more detailed local scenarios for assessing the potential
impacts of climate change. While firm predictions
are beyond our reach, more details about the range of
likely effects would help generate more plausible scenarios
from which responses could be planned.
- Make more
use of integrative tools for analyzing data. In part
this is a question of data access, but it is also a matter
of having tools that allow researchers to integrate various
data sets to prepare complex analyses.
- Allow time
for the creation of real partnerships between communities
and researchers. Where possible, time and perhaps
funding for the development of real partnerships should
be given.
- Explore
ways to make use of climate change. Some effects of
climate change may provide opportunities for alternative
energy or for new patterns of resource use.
Policy
- Address
the causes of climate change. From a policy perspective,
we need a greater willingness to examine the range of
human actions that affect climate change and to develop
means of changing our actions to minimize their impacts.
- Recognize
actual and potential problems. Ignoring the warning
signs of climate change will only lead to far greater
costs in the future, when problems become crises.
- Provide
intrinsic valuations for natural resources. Alternative
means of valuing natural resources should be developed
so that activities such as subsistence that are largely
outside the cash economy are properly reflected in damage
calculations.
- Assess
institutional cultures that prevent meaningful change.
Understanding the nature of those institutional cultures
is essential to identifying ways to bring about effective
and timely responses to threats such as those posed by
climate change.
Communication
- Develop
better ways to communicate results to Native communities.
Good communication should take into account Native ways
of thinking and communicating, for example through visual
and oral media rather than only in writing.
- Provide
training in communication. Communication should stimulate
curiosity and convey the excitement of science, which
will help attract greater interest among community members,
especially young people.
- Consider
a variety of means for communicating. Local radio
programs, regional newspapers, public lectures, mailings
to community residents, and posters are among the many
ways that can be used to communicate with affected groups.
- Teach scientists,
agency personnel, and others about Native cultures.
Written materials and in-person orientation sessions are
among the ways that newcomers can be introduced to the
ways of a community.
- Teach community
members about science and scientists. In addition
to introducing community members to scientists, such training
should include an introduction to scientific methods and
theories.
- Review
web-based programs to develop new ideas. The web can
be used for data management and access, and for frequent
communication between researchers within and outside the
community.
- Promote
professional recognition for the importance of communicating.
Giving professional recognition to efforts to give results
back to communities would help encourage greater effort
in communicating effectively and often.
Education
- Develop
general curricula on climate change and our connection
to the environment. Curriculum materials that can
help explain and demonstrate both will create a better-informed
citizenry.
- Develop
specific curriculum materials to show the local context
of climate change. Generalizations about climate change
should be supplemented with specific local information
to help students see how climate change may affect them
and their home regions.
- Promote
interactions among schoolchildren from different places.
Sharing local experiences and observations with students
from other parts of the country or world can help students
learn more about others and more about the different ways
that climate change affects various parts of the globe.
- Make use
of existing programs that involve students and teachers
in research. Such programs can help with education
as well as communication, helping researchers become more
involved in the communities in which they work.
Courtesy
Dr. Henry Huntington, Huntington Consulting and Dr. Rob
Mattlin, Marine Mammal Commission, 4340 East-West Highway,
Room 905, Bethesda, Maryland
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