skinsfanjoe Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=572&ncid=572&e=1&u=/nm/20040416/lf_nm/environment_warming_dc Warming Climate Disrupts Alaska Natives' Lives Fri Apr 16,10:10 AM ET By Yereth Rosen ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - Anyone who doubts the gravity of global warming should ask Alaska's Eskimo, Indian and Aleut elders about the dramatic changes to their land and the animals on which they depend. Native leaders say that salmon are increasingly susceptible to warm-water parasites and suffer from lesions and strange behavior. Salmon and moose meat have developed odd tastes and the marrow in moose bones is weirdly runny, they say. Arctic pack ice is disappearing, making food scarce for sea animals and causing difficulties for the Natives who hunt them. It is feared that polar bears, to name one species, may disappear from the Northern hemisphere by mid-century. As trees and bushes march north over what was once tundra, so do beavers, and they are damming new rivers and lakes to the detriment of water quality and possibly salmon eggs. Still, to the frustration of Alaska Natives, many politicians in the lower 48 U.S. states deny that global warming is occurring or that a warmer climate could cause problems. "They obviously don't live in the Arctic," said Patricia Cochran, executive director of the Alaska Native Science Commission. The Anchorage-based commission, funded by the National Science Foundation (news - web sites), has been gathering information for years on Alaska's thawing conditions. The climate changes are disrupting traditional food gathering and cultures, said Larry Merculieff, an Aleut leader from the Pribilof Islands in the Bering Sea. Indigenous residents of the far north are finding it increasingly difficult to explain the natural world to younger generations. "As species go down, the levels of connection between older and younger go down along with that," Merculieff said at a recent Anchorage conference. SAFETY AFFECTED Climate and weather changes even affect human safety, said Orville Huntington, vice chairman of the Alaska Native Science Commission. "It looks like winter out there, but if you've really been around a long time like me, it's not winter," said Huntington, an Athabascan Indian from the interior Alaska village of Huslia. "If you travel that ice, it's not the ice that we traveled 40 years ago." River ice, long used for travel in enterior Alaska, is thinner and less dependable than it used to be. Global warming (news - web sites) is believed to result from pollutants emitted into the atmosphere, which trap the Earth's radiant heat and create a greenhouse effect. The warming is more dramatic in polar latitudes because cold air is dry, allowing greenhouse gases to trap more solar radiation. Even a modest rise in temperature can thaw the glaciers and permafrost that cover much of Alaska. There is no question that global warming is having pronounced effects in Alaska, said Gunter Weller, director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research. Average temperatures in Alaska are up about 5 degrees Fahrenheit from three decades ago, and about twice that during winter, said Weller, who also heads the Cooperative Institute for Arctic Research established by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the university. That causes serious problems not only for rural Natives who live off the land but for major industries and for public structures, he said. Most of Alaska's highways run over permafrost that is now rapidly thawing, meaning maintenance headaches for state officials. The thaw has already caused increased maintenance costs for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, which uses special vertical supports for suspension over the tundra. If the plight of Alaska Natives does not get politicians' attention, then the economic toll should, Weller said. He cited the cost -- estimated at over $100 million -- of moving Shishmaref, an Inupiat Eskimo village on Alaska's northwestern coastline, to more stable ground. The village of 600 is on the verge of tumbling into the Bering Sea because of severe erosion resulting from thawed permafrost and the absence of sea ice to protect the coastline from high storm waves. Along with Shishmaref, there are about 20 Alaska villages that are candidates for relocation because of severe erosion, with similar costs, Weller said. Alaska's economy has already suffered from the permafrost thaw, said Robert Corell, chairman of the international Arctic Climate Impact Assessment committee. The hard-frozen conditions needed to support ice roads around the North Slope oil fields now exist for only about 100 days a year, he pointed out. Thirty years ago, oil companies could use ice roads for about 200 days of the year, he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 i know its racist, but man when I saw this title I couldn't help but picture some poor eskimo whose igloo was melting.... -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panel Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 What, every change in the artice if going to be because of Global warming? That is Crap. It is called GLOBAL warming, so how come of fish don't taste like crap? Melting glasursers displace all over the ocean, and they do it fast, so we should be affected too. The world Changes naturally. JUST 1 of those constintly burning fires in canada puts out more polution than all the cars in the world combined. Shoot, the the gases emited from anamials in the world puts out more puluiton than all the cars in the world combined. I don't doubt that the magnetic artic will have a warm year during the 11th year of the ssun spot cycle, but I don't think it is because humans cause too much polution, which by the way has been in decline for a long time now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 So panel you think the tons of sh*t we throw up in the air that nature never intended has no harmful effect? Just want to clarifyyour position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panel Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Human caused air pollution has tons of bad effects on those people and anamials who live were it is produced, (everyone know that if you leave a car running in the garage, it will kill you. But as to it's affects to global warning? I don't think it puts a dent in the worlds climent. I don't believe that stuff they say about nucular weapons either, that there is enough to blow up the surface of earth 10 times? Yeah right, if we took EVERY nuke in the world and detonated them all in the south poll, we wouldn't fell a single vibration. The Earth is too large, too power full, and has too many self check systems for us to put any long term damage to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinsfanjoe Posted April 17, 2004 Author Share Posted April 17, 2004 Originally posted by panel Human caused air pollution has tons of bad effects on those people and anamials who live were it is produced, (everyone know that if you leave a car running in the garage, it will kill you. But as to it's affects to global warning? I don't think it puts a dent in the worlds climent. I don't believe that stuff they say about nucular weapons either, that there is enough to blow up the surface of earth 10 times? Yeah right, if we took EVERY nuke in the world and detonated them all in the south poll, we wouldn't fell a single vibration. The Earth is too large, too power full, and has too many self check systems for us to put any long term damage to it. And you base all of these statements on what? You sort of sound like a little kid telling himself over and over that monsters aren't real while at the same time hiding under the blankets.:whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Originally posted by panel What, every change in the artice if going to be because of Global warming? That is Crap. It is called GLOBAL warming, so how come of fish don't taste like crap? Melting glasursers displace all over the ocean, and they do it fast, so we should be affected too. The world Changes naturally. JUST 1 of those constintly burning fires in canada puts out more polution than all the cars in the world combined. Shoot, the the gases emited from anamials in the world puts out more puluiton than all the cars in the world combined. I don't doubt that the magnetic artic will have a warm year during the 11th year of the ssun spot cycle, but I don't think it is because humans cause too much polution, which by the way has been in decline for a long time now. :applause: :applause: :applause: I'm glad to see there are some people out there that don't believe this bullcrap..... btw, you hit the nail on the head with the 11 yr sunspot cycle... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Originally posted by Destino So panel you think the tons of sh*t we throw up in the air that nature never intended has no harmful effect? Just want to clarifyyour position. It has positive effect. increased veg growth rates... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 http://www.intellicast.com/DrDewpoint/Library/1246/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 http://www.oism.org/pproject/s33p36.htm#Message56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 In the 70 pollution was going to cause an ice age, now global warming, tomorrow it will cause an ice age..... There is so much speculation surrounding global warming it's hard to trust the motives behind many reports. Is a study commissioned by the power industry and any more reliable that one commissioned by the Sierra Club? The temperature of the earth has NEVER been constant, and the sky is falling when it ticks up 1 degree? And it’s the fault if US? Capitalism? When the sun runs out of hydrogen we are all dead anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Punani2 Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Originally posted by Duncan In the 70 pollution was going to cause an ice age, now global warming, tomorrow it will cause an ice age..... There is so much speculation surrounding global warming it's hard to trust the motives behind many reports. Is a study commissioned by the power industry and any more reliable that one commissioned by the Sierra Club? The temperature of the earth has NEVER been constant, and the sky is falling when it ticks up 1 degree? And it’s the fault if US? Capitalism? When the sun runs out of hydrogen we are all dead anyway. Exactly... Look, I work in this field and we can't even predict what the weather will be like 7 days from now. That's how complex the atmosphere is. I wouldn't put to much faith into computer models trying to predict the climate 100 yrs from now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArmchairRedskin Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Global warming caused by pollution is a myth. There just isn't enought information to support that theory. How long have we been around to document the changes in the earth's climate? The earth's climate changes naturally. The ozone for instance, is affected more by methane gas discharges (cow farts) than anything humans send up in the atmosphere. It's all a bunch of new age hooey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.