"Elisapee Ishulutaq, a 78 year old artist with a spry and radiant smile, was born in an outpost camp when most natives here were nomadic. They were dog sledding as late as July, she remembers, more than two months later than snow and ice breaks up now. "All the mountains were covered with glaciers." she said. "There isn't any deep snow anymore." Elisapee pointed to her younger self in black and white photos on her living room wall. She said there were stories in her childhood about a warmer future. "It was foretold by the elders that sometime the north would warm up and south would cool down."
http://www.worldviewofglobalwarming.org/pages/arctic.html

MODULE VII
Essential Question: How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological and cultural systems?

Of all the modules so far in this course I found this particular one to be the most fascinating and relevant, albeit the most controversial, topic living in Alaska. The topic dovetailed perfectly with my previous blog about the proposed ban on PM emissions from wood and coal burning here in Fairbanks. Like the blog before, the topic of greenhouse gases brings out both the believers and the skeptics enforce! The topic could not be more timely since now the government is acknowledging they might have been slightly off on the Greenhouse Effect. Depending on who you talk to and their personal experience the topic engenders various responses from utter denial to confirmed believers.

I would definitely fall into the firm believers category. Quite frankly I never gave it a second thought living my sheltered life in North Carolina where heat and humidity are a constant especially in the summer time. So what if the earth's atmosphere heats up a few "more" degrees!

It wasn't until I moved to Fairbanks, Alaska and met a native family that I have experienced in a very personal way the effects of Greenhouse Gas as well as the interconnectedness of the planet to the natives. I must share their story here because it puts a very human face to the problem. They were living in a native village,Nulato, when their daughter became very ill. Because of her illness they had to move into Fairbanks so she could receive treatment at the local hospital. Their doctors are convinced that part of her illness was brought on by contaminants she ingested through their subsistence lifestyle. They maintain their home both here in Fairbanks as well as Nulato and travel back and forth between the two cultures as much as their daughter's medical issues will allow. They have shared photos from their village where the moose they once depended on are having deformities caused by contaminants. They shared the same stories where their subsistence lifestyle is having to be modified or abandoned altogether due to climatic changes and water temp. variants. They have given up some of their cultural ways in fear of the unknown contaminants getting into their food sources. The mother described how the animals and fish are getting thinner over the years and not as many are getting to their village to sustain the people there.

I recently returned from a visit to Anchorage where we visited the Alaska Native Heritage Center and toured the different styles of homes from the different types of tribes across Alaska. It suddenly occurred to me how if the tundra continues to subside how it will affect something as basic as shelter, and clothing. This in turn will have a cylindrical effect on the people and where they can live based on their ability to get the food that sustains their way of life. It saddens me deeply to think that the native way of life that I have come to respect so greatly may very well be on the brink of extinction or at least changed dramatically due to climatic changes in part that are within our grasp to control.

"There used to be different layers of snow back then. The wind would not blow as hard, not make the snow as hard as it is now… It's really hard to make shelters with that kind of snow because it’s usually way too hard right down to the ground." T. Qaqimat, Baker Lake, Canada, 2001
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/toolboxes/indigenous-knowledge-trends-2.htm

I read with extreme interest the story of the geophysicist,Klaus Lackner, and the carbon catcher synthetic tree. As an educator it drives home the point that our society as well as native society will depend largely on our ability to produce high caliber scientists to continue such vital investigations. The native environmental biologist, is the epitome of how the two cultures must work together to solve the problems created now but affecting generations to come. La'ona DeWilde was yet another fascinating example of the marriage of modern scientific technology (GIS database) and native observations to influence future decisions. The native youth helping scientists is the 'light at the end of the tunnel' that shows the vital role youth must play in protecting their future.

Some tidbits that really surprised me were that the CO2 emitted from your car today can reach Antarctica by next year and that CO2 unlike water vapor can remain in the air as long as 100 years! It was awe inspiring to know that John Nagy,wildlife biologist, from the Climate Change Project recognized the women from Sachs Harbor gave better qualitative data since they had the immediate hands-on experience with the animals that they were responsible for butchering. Norm Snow's observation that the natives had year round access to seasonal and climatic changes unlike the scientists was also informative.

This module has inspired me to action in two ways! I will share the teacher domain website with my 10 year old son,Harley. He is a budding scientist who is enthralled with supernovas and all things related to space. Before that it was mummies but hey I have to ignite that scientific spark and keep in burning for future generations! Since I am living here in Alaska this module inspired me to pay a visit to UAF to meet the local scientists and see if volunteering for a project could be in my near future since summer is fast approaching and my teaching job will end.

If we don't want the "Big Bang Theory" to become the 'Big Bust Theory' we must be ever vigilant in protecting our way of life for EVERYONE before we too follow the way of the dinosaurs. Rosemarief Kuptana, a native Inuvialuit said it best; " when climate affects what you eat it affects your soul as a people".

The listing of polar bears as threatened under the U.S. endangered species act will name global warming as the main threat, a first. The reduction of the permanent Arctic sea ice by 14 percent since the 1970s is causing not only feeding and breeding difficulties, but also drownings and apparent cannibalism among bears.
http://www.greenfacts.org/en/arctic-climate-change/toolboxes/indigenous-knowledge-trends-2.htm