Integration, Synthesis, and Assessment of Climate Change Health Impact for Alaskan Native Communities

摘要

The climate of the Arctic has warmed significantly in the last 30 years, adversely impacting the subsistence way of life. In the Arctic region, climate change effects are not limited to just air and ground temperature but also include other parameters such as precipitation, snow cover, sea ice concentration, vegetation, the cumulative mass balance of glaciers. Much of the ongoing research on climate change impact in Alaska is at a regional scale and is interpolated to the local scale. Regional and global climate change models only provide generalized information and marginally distinguish between different systems or site specific impacts. As part of this study, qualitative climate change assessments of three representative villages (located on different systems for e.g. coastal, river, groundwater-wells; ponds or lakes) are being performed. Observation and finding on climate change impacts on each of these communities are presented.