Global Climate Change: The Heat is On
Global warming is hot. Over the last few months the issue has made the covers of Time, Wired, and Vanity Fair. It’s been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, HBO, and is the star of Al Gore’s new movie “An Inconvenient Truth.” Unfortunately, Americans still don’t think global warming is a crisis. According to a Time/ABC News/Stanford University poll, 54 percent of Americans believe global warming is a problem for the future.
Global warming is a crisis and Alaska is at ground zero. Alaska is warming faster than any other place in the world. While the globe has warmed by about 1°F, Alaska and Western Canada have warmed 3-5°F in the last 50 years. By 2100, Alaska is expected to warm by 5-18°F. This warming has had and will have landscape-altering effects on Alaska.
Scientists now predict that summer sea ice in the Arctic will disappear by the end of the century, eliminating critical habitat for polar bears, seals, and walrus. Already, the Arctic sea ice has shrunk by an area twice the size of Texas since 1979. We are hearing tragic reports of polar bear drownings and abandoned walrus pups because of the rapidly diminishing sea ice. Other dramatic changes are in store for Alaska–disappearing glaciers, loss of Arctic tundra and evergreen boreal forests, and streams and rivers that are too warm for salmon.
However, one of the biggest global warming threats to Alaska and the world is the projected rise in sea level. Thermal expansion has already raised the oceans 4 to 8 inches, but that’s nothing compared to what will happen if we continue at our current pace of pumping out greenhouse gases. New findings published in Science (March 24, 2006) indicate that if we don’t do something soon about global warming, we are committed to 4 to 6 meters (13 to 20 feet) of sea level rise in the future. This is having and will continue to have a devastating impact on Alaska communities, infrastructure, and fish and wildlife habitat. The map below 
shows how a 4-meter sea level rise inundates the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta. More than 30 communities in this single region of Alaska would be threatened. So will the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to one of the most important shorebird nesting areas in the United States and provides critical habitat to millions of ducks, geese, and other water birds. Compelling photos of what Washington, DC, New York City, and San Francisco will look like appear in the May issue of Vanity Fair.
Residents of Shishmaref, located on an island off the coast of northern Alaska and inhabited for 4,000 years, have already voted to relocate inland because their community is literally falling into the ocean. Staying will put their lives in danger. Another 20 communities in Alaska are looking to relocate, and the Army Corps of Engineers estimates more than 160 are threatened by erosion. According to the Government Accountability Office, moving just one village could cost between $100 and $400 million.
Fortunately, we can and must do something. There is still time—but not much. Leading scientists believe that we have to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions within ten years—or else we will hit a critical tipping point where we may face catastrophic changes. ACF is working to promote action at every level of government in Alaska—local, state, and federal—to address global warming, and we are starting to get traction. Senator Lisa Murkowski recently stated that “…it is appropriate—and quite frankly our responsibility—to take steps to curb the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot afford to wait to take action ...”
The Alaska legislature just created the Alaska Climate Impact Assessment Commission, which is charged with assessing the effects and costs of global warming on Alaskans, the state’s natural resources, and its economy. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced steps the city is taking to reduce emissions and save money, and Juneau Mayor Bruce Botelho created a scientific panel that will make policy recommendations this fall. Alaskans are starting to recognize the immense threats global warming poses to our state, and are becoming part of the solution.
