杏吧原创

FROM the heart of the Arctic, Alaska Natives are straining to make their
voices heard in the global warming debate. In a series of interviews conducted
over the past two years and published recently, Yup鈥檌k and Inupiat Eskimo
communities testify that the region鈥檚 climate is changing, with serious
consequences for wildlife, the environment and their way of life.

鈥淎bout fifteen years ago, it started getting warmer. The snow melts faster
and faster,鈥� says Benjamin Pungowiyi, a young hunter from the village of
Savoonga, and adds that the ice freezes later and breaks up a lot sooner. 鈥淚
notice that the tundra is not as spongy as it used to be,鈥� says Hannah
Mendenhall from Kotzebue. 鈥淣ow I can hear it crackle when I walk on it, and it鈥檚
dry. It鈥檚 real dry.鈥� She adds: 鈥淲e鈥檙e beginning to get insects that are not
usually of this climate. We鈥檙e getting so warm that they鈥檙e comfortable coming
up this way.鈥�

Jack Stalker of Point Lay says that where there used to be landlocked ice in
front of his land claim, now it鈥檚 only slush ice. 鈥淚n previous years we鈥檇 have
icebergs and ice build-up right next to the shore. This year there was hardly
any. Slush ice is usually the fall ice, but when it happens in January and
February it鈥檚 strange.鈥�

鈥淭he tundra is drier due to lack of rain,鈥� claims Gibson Moto of Deering.
鈥淭here are bigger cracks the further out you go from Deering into the hills . . .
Some lakes are cracked and the whole lake just disappears,鈥� he adds.

From village to village along the Bering and Chukchi Sea coasts, there are
similar stories: of thinning and retreating sea ice, drying tundra, increased
storms, reduced summer rainfall, warmer winters and changes in the distribution,
migration patterns and numbers of some wildlife species. Greenpeace claims the
testimonies demonstrate that 鈥渃limate change is not just a theory, it is a
reality. It is happening now, and it is having a very tangible effect on people
迟辞诲补测.鈥�

Such statements might elicit a derisive snort from those who are sceptical of
the value of anecdotal observation. But almost without exception, the
testimonies reflect the predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change about the kind of changes that could be expected as global
warming affects the Arctic. Subsistence cultures have a powerful understanding
of their environment鈥攁nd they are acutely aware of any changes (see This
Week, 17 October, p 18). In the words of a Canadian Gwich鈥檌n Indian: 鈥淵ou need
to have some faith in the people. They live on the land and know what is
丑补辫辫别苍颈苍驳.鈥�

Nancy Maynard, a NASA scientist who organised a recent workshop on climate
change and native cultures, argues that 鈥渋t is critical to combine the wisdom of
native peoples鈥攖heir historical knowledge of environmental events,
cultural perspectives, research and expertise鈥攖ogether with scientific
observations and research鈥�.

Traditional knowledge can be a powerful tool in understanding and protecting
the natural world, but it is too often ignored, as are the people who possess
it. Across the globe, traditional cultures are under threat, sometimes from the
very changes they are trying to warn about. For Yup鈥檌k and Inupiat communities,
thinning and retreating sea ice and fiercer storms make hunting and
food-gathering more dangerous and uncertain, as do changes in wildlife
populations and the availability of plants and berries. Storm-induced erosion
threatens several coastal villages: on remote Little Diomede Island, melting
permafrost is prompting landslides that threaten to obliterate the village.

Alaska Natives can see that their environment is changing and that their way
of life is under threat. And they want the rest of the world to pay attention to
what they have to say. They are sounding the alarm. For our sake, as well as
theirs, we would do well to pay careful attention.