Module VIII

Essential Question:
How are Arctic sea-ice, climate and culture all connected?


EXPLAIN: Sea ice provides much of the food for Native Alaskans in the Arctic. Native peoples live a subsistence lifestyle- their life depends on the cold. It is virtually impossible to hunt and get food without the sea ice that walrus, polar bear, seals, and sea birds depend on. According to the TD video, Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref, the ice conditions are changing. The sea ice used to freeze solid by the end of October, but in recent years has frozen closer to Christmas. When measured, the ice was only one foot thick when it used to measure four feet. The lack of sea ice means that the Native Alaskans have to change their hunting seasons and where they hunt. One man told of having to change the walrus hunts. Where there used to be many boats that would come back with an animal, the last year there was only one.

EXTEND: The Alaska Native Science Commission profiles projects on Avian Bird Flu, Arctic Contaminants, Climate Change, Traditional Foods, and other projects. They also appear to have a database of many Alaska Native scientific studies.

EVALUATE: Using indigenous information sources regarding changing sea ice is priceless. The TD video How the Arctic Ecosystem Might Change gave some clues to how melting sea ice might impact the environment of Alaska and other Arctic areas. Ice holds life together in the fragile Arctic ecosystem. Much of the megafauna of the area- polar bears, whales, seals, and walrus- are unique to the environment and very susceptible to changing climate. If the sea ice continues melting, there will be no environment for these animals and they will be replaced with other animals from the Atlantic or Pacific. This means the subsistence lifestyle for Arctic peoples will have to change as well. By listening to village elders about the new species being introduced, like those Roger Kutana mentioned in Arctic Climate Systems, scientists can begin to see the impact of the changes in the Arctic climate. This ranges from new insects to the possible release of a large "burp" of carbon dioxide and methane as Arctic permafrost begins to melt.

Photo from: Ugle Walrus.