-Caveat Lector- --- Senior Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > story lead from Victor Rocha...thanks! > www.pechanga.net > > Greenhouse melts Alaska's tribal ways > http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/globalwarming/story/0,7369,522255,00.html > > As climate talks get under way in Bonn today, some > Americans are ruing the warming their president > chooses to ignore > > Special report: global warming > http://www.guardian.co.uk/globalwarming > > Duncan Campbell in Arctic Village Monday July 16, > 2001 The Guardian > > As a girl, Sarah James and her seven brothers and > sisters learned how to snare beaver and rabbits and > how to fish for grayling in the wilderness around > Arctic Village, a tiny settlement of 150 Native > Alaskans inside the Arctic Circle. > > Her brothers and her father hunted caribou and > moose, her mother tanned the hides and sewed the > fur, and their way of life seemed to reflect the > name of their tribe: Gwich'in, the Land Where Life > Began. Now that feeling of lyrical permanence is > over. > > "We used to have four healthy seasons, but all that > is off-balance now," Sarah James, now 56, said. "The > treeline has changed, the lakes have dried up. > Global warming is very real up here." > > The experience of Sarah James and her family will > have particular resonance today when a last-ditch > attempt to salvage international efforts to combat > global warming begins at the climate change talks in > Bonn. The talks have been cast into the gloom by the > decision of the United States, the world's biggest > producer of greenhouse gases, to pull out of the > Kyoto protocol. > > In rejecting the protocol, an agreement to reduce > greenhouse gas emissions globally by 5.2% from the > 1990 level by 2008-12, George Bush said: "I will not > accept an accord which will harm our economy and > hurt American workers." > > Sarah James is an American worker. She believes that > those who live in the northernmost US state are > already experiencing the economic hardship that Mr > Bush fears. And yet the cause of her suffering is > not the Kyoto protocol, but quite the reverse: the > global warming it is designed to curb. > > Since the late 19th-century Arctic Village has been > the focal point of of the Gwich'in, who comprise > 7,000 people spread over 15 villages, still speaking > their own language and living in the traditional way > by hunting caribou, moose and duck and fishing in > the lakes and streams for pike and grayling. > > The village is reachable only by a 90-minute flight > from Fairbanks, and experiences the extremes of > summer, when itdarkens, and a bitter winter, when it > can be light for only three hours in the day. > > It straddles two worlds: there is satellite > television and access to the internet in the tribal > council office, but no running water or inside > lavatories. It has its own post office with the > American flag flying beside it, but its traditions > owe more to Native Alaskan ways, which many in the > village now see as threatened by President Bush's > professed desire to drill for oil in the Arctic > Refuge to the immediate north. > > A more immediate threat comes from the effects of > climate changes, which are more apparent here than > anywhere else in the US. So great are the local > fears that they called a tribal gathering last > month, the first for 13 years. During it they > blessed the new solar panels on the roof of their > washeteria, where they do their laundry and take > their showers. The panels provide energy in summer, > and are a reminder that there are renewable forms of > energy that the world has barely exploited. > > But it is the rise in winter temperatures that the > older people in the village have noticed most. "It > used to always be 60 below [-51C] in the winter, but > we don't get that any more," said Kias Peter, at 72 > an experienced hunter and one of the village elders. > "We have lost 13 lakes around here." > > Calvin Tritt, 50, a former Gwich'in chief, who > served in the marines, lives out towards the tiny > airstrip. "In spring we used to fish for grayling > through the ice and get piles of them. Last week > there were only two. When I was young the caribou > had about two inches of fat on them, now they're > scrawny and they're going loco." > > He has little time for President Bush, and said it > was difficult to persuade the government to study > the many changes he believes are affecting the > health of the villagers. "The white man thinks we're > like little children." > > Unlike many isolated rural villages, Arctic Village > has managed to retain its young people. About 60 > children attend the timbered elementary and > secondary schools, and many of the younger adults - > the new chief, Evon David, is 25 - have become > involved in what they see as a fight to preserve the > village against the changes global warming has > already brought.. > > Faith Gemmill, a young woman, who works for the > Gwich'in steering committee, said: "Our people > noticed changes about five years ago. Now our > creeks, our lakes and rivers are drying up. All my > life, when we went up on the mountain we would camp > by fresh mountain water, and that has gone. There > were always ground squirrels, and they've gone too." > > Next month the Porcupine river caribou herd, the > traditional diet of the village, is due to arrive > and with it the hunting season will begin, which > means that the villagers can go out and camp on the > mountainside, hunt, and dry the caribou meat for the > winter. > > Hungry bears > > "On the mountain we usually don't run into > grizzlies, but last year our hunters came across > three different bears," Ms Gemmill said. "The bears > weren't frightened, and they tried to attack, so the > hunters had to kill them; and the reason the bears > weren't afraid is because they were starving." > > The evidence for global warming across Alaska is > stark. The average temperature has risen 3C - 4.5C > in winter, 10 times the rate elsewhere in the world. > In Kotzebue the tundra has turned from spongy to dry > and the sourdocks and many other plants have > disappeared. The region's polar bears have lost 20% > of their weight in the past few years. > > The arctic ice is 40% thinner than in 1960. In > Deering it is melting so fast that hunting on it has > to abandoned early, and in Point Lay it is now too > thin to walk on. > > Down in Fairbanks, the gateway to the arctic, the > golf course is remarkable for two reasons: you can > watch people teeing off in summer at midnight and > you can see that they have some unintended holes to > contend with. The holes and the dips and waves in > the adjoining Farmer's Loop Road, are the most > obvious examples of what happens when the > permafrost, which underlies the region to a depth of > 600 metres (2,000ft), starts to melt. > > Glenn Juday, professor of forest ecology at the > University of Alaska, has noticed dramatic > differences in the local forest system, most > obviously in the growth patterns of trees, the > change in the treeline, and the biggest single > outbreak of fatal the spruce bark beetle infestation > in south central Alaska which, he says, is a direct > result of warming and drier trees. > > Changes of that magnitude had not happened for > centuries, he said, adding that there were "a number > of tantalising hints" that the big changes in Alaska > were the result of greenhouse gases. > > Professor Tom Osterkamp, who has been compiling data > on changes in the permafrost, printed out a graph to > demonstrate the rise in temperature. "It sure has > been a long spell of warming," he said. > > Recently a visiting academic asked the Gwich'in in > Arctic Village whether they would like to be joined > by road to the rest of Alaska. Almost unanimously > the villagers said no. Looking at the miles of > rolling mountains and wilderness, disturbed only by > the occasional crack of a hunting rifle or flock of > truculent crows, it is easy to see why. But the rest > of the world may be arriving at their doorstep in a > different form if the effects of global warming > continue at such speed. > > "The world needs to look at some other alternative > energy," Ms James said. "Too bad it's going to > affect them too." > <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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