Climate Change
Climate change affects all Alaskans, threatening our economy, natural resources, cultures, and public health. In Alaska, winter temperatures have increased as much as 5-7° Fahrenheit (F) over the last 50 years. Over the next 100 years, under a moderate emissions scenario, annual average temperatures are projected to rise 5-9°F over land and up to 13°F over oceans. The impacts from this warming have been dramatic, unambiguous, and extensive: melting glaciers, diminished sea ice, worldwide temperature increases, coastal erosion, increasing wildfires and destructive insect outbreaks, warming permafrost, shifting animal and vegetation ranges, stressed infrastructure, and major negative impacts on indigenous people. The map to the right shows how a 4-meter sea level rise inundates the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta; click the map for a larger view.
While a handful of skeptics continue to debate the science of climate change, the
world’s scientists agree that climate change is occurring, and is linked to human activities. The international Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a body of over 2,000 climate scientists, has concluded that “There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities."
Although climate change is one of the most daunting environmental problems facing us, the solutions are at hand. ACF is bringing Alaskans together to be part of the solution. Alaskans can invest in renewable energy and adopt modern technologies that cut carbon emissions, conserve energy and save money. Being at ground zero for climate change, Alaska also has a story to tell the rest of the nation: we must act now or lose the precious natural, cultural, and economic resources of our country.
- Here and Now – Climate Change Impacts on Alaska
- Southcentral Alaska
- Southeast Alaska
- Interior Alaska
- Western Alaska
- How Alaska Communities Will Be Affected by Sea Level Rise
- Be Part of the Solution
- Calculate your “carbon footprint.”
- Top 10 things you can do to reduce climate change pollution.
- Switch to renewable energy sources and buy “green tags.”
- Join the Stop Climate Change Virtual March.
- Contact our Congressional delegation.
- Write your local newspaper.
- Climate Change in the News
- Understanding the Greenhouse Effect
- Other Resources
- Strengthening Our Cities: Mayors Responding to Global Climate Change
- Alaska Forum on the Environment
