User:Wilentja/Climate change and indigenous peoples/arctic

Climate change is having the most dramatic impact on the Arctic with a temperature increase twice the magnitude of the increase in the rest of the world.  This is resulting in significant sinking of the ice in the Arctic Sea. Satellite images of the ice show that it currently has the smallest area in recorded history. If left unchecked, climate change in the Arctic will lead to a faster rise in sea level, more frequent and increasingly intense storms and winds, further decreases in the extent of sea ice, and increased erosion due to higher waves.

This consequence of climate change will have a number of effects on the Inuit people in a variety of ways. Eroding coasts and thinning ice have changed the migration patterns of the numerous animal species such as killer whales, marine polar bears, caribou, and seals. Seals are one of the numerous animals hunted by the Inuit people upon which they depend. The seals are just one of the various species whose population is diminishing due to melting of ice sheets on which they are dependent for raising their young on. Additionally, the rapid melting of the sea ice creates a more hazardous and unpredictable terrain to hunt in, posing a new risk within their subsistence economy.

Simultaneously, increased temperatures and melting permafrost will make it harder for Inuit people to freeze and store food in their traditional way. Furthermore, climate change will bring new bacteria and other micro-organisms to the region, which will bring yet unknown effects to the Peoples of the region.

One example of the Indigenous groups acting in response to climate change in the Arctic was the Alaska Inter-Tribal Council taking action regarding the decline in the polar bear population that was directly linked to the decline in ice sheets for them to live on. The Alaska Natives rely on polar bears and cohabit with them and through their Indigenous knowledge have contributed to the co-management with the U.S. federal government to increasing and improving conservation efforts regarding the popular megafauna.

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Climate change is having the most dramatic impact on the Arctic region . When compared to the rest of the world, temperatures are increasing at twice the magnitude.   As a result, Indigenous nations which exist in this region are facing unprecedented challenges. With respect to global carbon dioxide emissions, Indigenous nations in the Arctic are responsible for minimal contributions. China is responsible for 28%, the United States is responsible for 15%, and India is responsible for 7%, and Russia is responsible for 5% Arctic nations in total are responsible for 22% of total global carbon dioxide emissions. While these Indigenous nations exist within these Arctic nations, emissions are largely from oil and gas companies and other non-Indigenous actors. Although Indigenous nations in the Arctic have minimal responsibility in causing climate change, they cannot escape the effects. Many organizations who advocate for environmental justice, such as Native Movement and the Environmental Justice Foundation, have brought attention to this disparity, ultimately arguing countries and corporations who are more responsible for climate change must take financial and ethical liability for existing damages.

According to the Kaya Identity, four factors influence the aggregate global emission levels of carbon dioxide. These factors are increasing global population, GDP per capita, energy intensity, and carbon intensity. Before COVID-19 spread across the world, global population, GDP per capita, and carbon intensity were all increasing, while energy intensity was decreasing at a magnitude making global emission levels of carbon dioxide rise. However, COVID-19 has led to a decrease in carbon intensity and GDP per capita. Although carbon emissions have declined in 2020, the comprehensive long-term effect on reducing the increase of carbon dioxide concentration the atmosphere is minimal unless there are significant improvements in energy efficiency.

An increase in the global emission levels of carbon dioxide means significant reduction in sea ice. According to satellite images, the Arctic region currently has the smallest area of ice in recorded history. Climate change will lead to a faster rise in sea level, more frequent and increasingly intense storms and winds, and increased erosion from higher waves. It additionally will lead to further decreases in the quantity of sea ice. The albedo effect has had serious consequences with respect to the Arctic and the rest of the world. When ice melts, its light surface also disappears. Lighter surfaces reflect more radiation, while darker surfaces absorb more radiation. The conversion of sea ice to water makes more of the Earth's surface darker, further contributing to global warming as more radiation is absorbed. This is known as a positive feedback loop. Albedo is measured from a scale of 0 to 1, 0 corresponding to a perfect blackbody with absorbs all radiation and 1 corresponding to a body which reflects all incoming radiation. From 1979 to 2011, the Arctic's overall albedo has decreased from 0.52 to 0.48, meaning it has overall had darker surfaces and absorbed more energy. As of 2011, the Arctic ocean has received a further 6.4 +/- 0.9 W/m^2 of solar energy input. Albedo is expected to decrease even further in the coming years. Scientists have projected what is expected to happen should all of the Arctic summer sea-ice melted completely. If greenhouse gases are globally emitted as predicted, then the melting of the ice can potentially warm up the planet by approximately 0.2°C.

The reduction of sea ice is currently not just impacting global temperature and the climate crisis. It is also significantly harming Indigenous nations in unprecedented ways. Indigenous peoples in the Arctic include Indigenous people who live in Canada, Greenland, the United States, Norway, and Russia. In Canada, there are nine major Inuit groups. They are the Labradormiut (Labrador Inuit), Nunavimmiut (Nunavik Inuit or Ungava Inuit), Nunatsiarmiut (Baffin Island Inuit), Iglulingmiut (Iglulik Inuit), Kivallirmiut (Caribou Inuit), Netsilingmiut (Netsilik Inuit), Inuinnait (Copper Inuit), Qikirtamiut (Sanikiluaq Inuit, and Inuvialuit (Western Arctic Inuit or Mackenzie Delta Inuit). While smaller in number, there are additionally non-Inuit Indigenous nations in Canada, such as the  Cree, Dene, and Innu nations. In Greenland, Indigenous people are Inuit. They comprise most of the population on the island. In the United States, Arctic Indigenous nations reside in Alaska. While there are many different ways to categorize them, they are often grouped regionally.  In the south, there are the Cup’ik, Eyak, Haida, Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Yup’ik peoples. In the north, there are the St. Lawrence Island Yupik and Inupiaq peoples. The interior is home to Athabascan peoples. The Alutiiq and Unangax peoples reside in the Aleutian Islands and south-central Alaska. The Saami people exist in Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Russia, and are the only Indigenous group within the European Union. There are more than 180 Indigenous people who reside in the land currently known as Russia. These include the Buryat, Enets, Evenkis, Khakas, Komi, Oroks, Nenets, and Yakuts. Iceland is the sole Arctic country which does not have any Indigenous nations as its citizens are mostly descended from Northern Europeans. Because of melting ice, rising sea level, increased erosion, and loss of traditional food and hunting due to climate change, all of these Indigenous groups are at great risk.

Inuit people who reside in Canada are facing significant difficulty maintaining their traditional food systems because of climate change. The Inuit in Canada have hunted mammals for hundreds of years. Many of their traditional economic transactions and cultural ceremonies were and still are centered around whales and other marine mammals. Climate change is causing the ocean to warm up and acidify, negatively impacting these species in these traditional areas and causing many to move elsewhere. While some believe a warming Arctic would cause food insecurity for Canadian Inuit people by taking away some of their primary food sources, others point to the resilience they have displayed in the past to changing temperatures and believe they will likely be able to adapt. Although ancestors to the modern Inuit would travel to other places in the Arctic based on these animals and adapt to changing migration routes, modern geopolitical boundaries and laws would likely prevent this from happening to the extent necessary to preserve these traditional food systems. Regardless of whether they can successfully modify their marine food systems, they will lose certain aspects of their culture. To hunt these whales and other marine mammals, they have used the same traditional tools for generations. Without these animals providing them subsistence, a core part of their culture would become obsolete.

The Inuit in Canada are also losing their access to ringed seal and polar bears, two key animals that are essential to the traditional Inuit diet. Climate change has led to drastic drops in the ringed seal population, which has led to serious harm to the Inuit subsistence winter economy. The ringed seal is the most prevalent subsistence species in all of Nunavut, with respect to both land and water. Without the ringed seal, the Inuit in Canada would lose their sense of ningiqtuq, or their cultural form of resource sharing. Ringed seal meat is one of the core meats of this type of sharing and has been utilized in this system for hundreds of years. With climate change, ningiqtuq would be drastically altered. Also, the ringed seal embodies the ideals of sharing, unity, and collectivism because of ningiqtuq. Its decline signifies loss of Inuit identity. The polar bear population is also declining because of climate change. Polar bears rely on ringed seals for food, so both of their declines are correlated. This decline is also harming ningiqtuq as polar bear meat is shared among Inuit people.

For the people of the Gwich’in Nation, an Anthabaskan Indigenous Nation in Canada, caribou are central to their culture. They have coexisted with the people of the Gwich’in Nation for thousands of years. As a result, their entire culture is at immediate risk. Caribou numbers are rapidly declining due to warmer temperatures and melting ice. Sarah James, a prominent Gwich’in activist, revealed, “We are the caribou people. Caribou are not just what we eat; they are who we are. They are the stories and songs and the whole way we see the world. Caribou are our life. Without caribou, we wouldn’t exist."

In Alaska, increased erosion and rising sea levels due to climate change have greatly threatened many coastal communities such as Kivalina. Kivalina is home to the Inupiat Alaska Native community. In recent years, the sea ice that has historically sheltered the community has retreated. Storms that would have previously hit the ice are also now hitting the town. The Inupiat who reside in Kivalina recognized they must relocate, but they did not have the adequate funds to do so. As a result, they formulated a lawsuit against twenty-two non-Indigenous energy producers such as oil companies and utility companies who have largely contributed to greenhouse gas emissions. Grouping them together into an "energy producer category," the Inupiat demanded compensation. They asserted the actions of the energy producers caused "a substantial and unreasonable interference with public rights, including the rights to use and enjoy public and private property in Kivalina." While the Ninth Circuit Court did not hear this case, the Inupiat did not stop fighting for compensation. In 2013, they sued the largest greenhouse gas emitter, ExxonMobil in Kivalina vs. ExxonMobil Corp. The people of Kivalina ultimately lost the lawsuit. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld this decision. Due to ongoing lack of concern and funding from the federal government., the Inupiat of Kivalina, along with four Indigenous groups who reside in Louisiana, formalized a complain against the United States. They sent this complaint to the United Nations, demanding that their voices be heard and their land be protected from coastal erosion and greater global climate change. All five groups together state the United States has “failed to protect the human rights of Tribal Nations in Louisiana and Alaska, who are being forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands.” As of April 2020, the town of Kivalina is still seeking compensation. There are reports that suggest melting permafrost, repeated storms, and decrease of land could make Kivalina unlivable by 2025.

Climate change is additionally causing wildfires to spark all over Alaska. These wildfires are spreading all over the state, impacting both urban and rural communities and Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. However, Indigenous communities do not have the same economic resources to deal with these fires, and their lifestyles and cultures are more dependent on the land that is burning. A study that compared the rural Koyukon Athabascan community of Huslia to Fairbanks concluded that those in Fairbanks have a higher mean household income to deal with these fires. This study also acknowledges how the rural Koyukon Athabascan community of Huslia relies more on its surrounding land for wild food harvest. Moreover, their calorie and protein intake is more susceptible to fire. Increasing fires mean they are more at risk for food insecurity.

For the Saami people, their relationship with reindeer is also at risk. Reindeer pastoralism has helped the Saami survive for centuries. The Saami who reside in Finnmark, a geographical area in Northern Norway, may seeing changes to this process due to climate change. Climate projections reveal many scenarios over the twenty-first century in which regional and local areas may no longer have proper conditions to raise and profit off of reindeer. Traditionally, Saami herders would react to environmental changes by moving to a more advantageous area with ideal snow conditions, temperatures, and other ecological resources. However, in modern times, resilience is no longer an option. Economic and legal barriers imposed on the Saami by Norway, loss of habitat, and significant loss of snow all hamper the Saami nation's ability to respond to these changes. There is also much uncertainty regarding climate change. Climate change may lead to even more unexpected difficulties in sustaining this traditional practice. Reindeer are not only economically important to the Saami, but they are also a core part of their culture. Reindeer inspired and continue to inspire sounds, festivals, language, and storytelling. In order to help the Saami as much as possible, Scandinavian countries and the international community must acknowledge both their traditional knowledge systems and ways of life and their right to be present at the decision-making table.

Because of climate change, the Tunumiit Inuit, who reside in east Greenland, are seeing changes to their food systems and cultural interpretations as well. There has been a general change from seal hunting to fishing. Unlike seal hunting, fishing is deemed as a low-status activity to the Tunumiit. Before recent years, the Tunumiit would equate lack of ecological resources to a paucity of collective human respect. This cultural tradition no longer carries the same weight because the Tunumiit believe they are losing agency in controlling the unpredictable weather. Many traditional hunters are shifting towards the tourism sector because they can no longer provide for their families through traditional forms of hunting. Catering to tourists has modified their culture, relationship with food, and increased global carbon dioxide emissions by encouraging more travel to east Greenland.

Try to do Russia if you have time. If not, try to add after winter break. Definitely should be incoporated.