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Observing & Understanding Human Responses to the 2007 Sea-Ice Minimum
Maribeth S. Murray University of Alaska Fairbanks Lessons from the 2007 Arctic Sea-Ice Minimum Workshop, 19 March 2008, Palisades, NY
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Quantifying Human Response
Observational Scale Local Regional National International Types of Response Individual decisions Socio-political Socio-cultural Socio-scientific Regulatory Economic Political
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Issues for Consideration
No systematic and networked program to collect real-time observational data on the human component. Understanding human response generally requires some historical perspective.
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Observations of Local Response
Immediate Impacts from 2007 travel on the ice was unsafe hunters had to wait for a good south wind marine mammals bearded seal and walrus had then moved on with the ice hunters then had to travel very long distances which is not safe ice keeps air temperature down ice acts as a refrigerator for meat during processing and transport This year meat was prone to rot it was difficult to keep the flies from laying eggs on meat Some Cumulative Impacts Long distance travel is expensive Fuel costs continue to rise Subsistence harvest is increasingly less successful Subsistence harvest is increasingly more expensive Purchased food is increasingly more necessary (rather than just an option) Diminished health returns from store bought foods (Gerlach et al., in press) Need for increased income Increased out-migration to central locations like Fairbanks and Anchorage Communities are increasingly unsustainable Observational data courtesy of Ken Stenek, Shishmaref, Alaska, March 13,2008.
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Some Historical & Regional Perspective
An Example from Norton Sound Coastal North American Arctic and Subarctic Seasonal ice is critical platform Heavy ice conditions can be equally problematic Anomalous years can be managed for Multiple bad years, especially in a row led to relocation Options for relocation were less limited than at present Options for subsistence were less limited Ecosystem changes did not necessarily result in increased risks to food security
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Observations of National Response
Media coverage Political response Activist response Artistic responses Fairbanks Daily News Miner, March 10, 2008
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Observations of International Responses
UTUBE VIDEOS 131 #1 : NASA Sea Ice Loss posted 4 months ago 54,597 viewings Media Coverage Political Decisions Regulatory Economic Recommends an EU policy on the Arctic and a UN discussion on security risks resulting from change in Arctic sea ice
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Other Potential Data Streams
Permits for development Permits for exploration Permits for travel Fish farming practices Policy trends IPCC
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