The Fight for Indigenous Life

Unsafe drinking water. Air pollution. Toxic heavy metals. These are just some of the environmental dangers associated with climate change that are affecting indigenous communities across the world, and nowhere is feeling the effects quite like the Arctic.

A melting iceberg in Greenland. Photo courtesy of Science Daily.

People of color have a long history of living in or near heavily polluted areas, and indigenous communities are no exception. In fact, indigenous peoples are afflicted the worst by climate change due to their intimate connection with their ecosystems. According to the United Nations' Department of Economic and Social Affairs, "Climate change exacerbates the difficulties already faced by indigenous communities including political and economic marginalization, loss of land and resources, human rights violations, discrimination and unemployment."

Encompassing parts of Alaska, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Northern Canada, Norway, Russia, and Sweden, as well as the Arctic Ocean, the Arctic is the northernmost portion of the world. The Arctic is also one of Earth's most fragile ecosystems, and is home to around 4 million people, 10 percent of which are considered indigenous. Warming at a rate of 2 to 3 times the global rate, the Arctic is the region most affected by climate change.

A map of indigenous groups that live in the Arctic. Photo courtesy of The Arctic Portal.

Thinning sea ice, drastic and unpredictable weather patterns, thawing of permafrost, freshening of surface ocean water, and contamination of drinking water are some (but not all) of the issues plaguing indigenous Arctic dwellers. Because indigenous populations are so intimately connected to their ecosystems, climate change has the potential to cripple them. Thawing of permafrost increases erosion which can destroy buildings and shelters within native communities, and in extreme cases can lead to the relocation of entire villages. Changes in surface ice and snow affect peoples' ability to hunt, fish, harvest and herd, which in turn increases their likelihood of malnutrition and food insecurity because they must turn to store-bought food which is less healthy and prohibitively expensive. Changes in ice conditions also impact migration patterns of animals like the bowhead whale, which many Arctic communities depend on for subsistence.

A group of Yupik women (related to the Inuit tribe) prepare freshly caught salmon. Photo courtesy of The Guardian.

Vera Metcalf is the director of the Eskimo Walrus Committee which represents 19 native Alaskan communities. According to a Guardian article, Metcalf said that thinning sea ice is not changing walrus populations, but rather it is changing walrus migration patterns, and hunting conditions for indigenous peoples because there is an increased risk with traversing thin ice. Metcalf said, “The window of opportunity for hunting continues to shrink. The communities are worried about this because food insecurity is something we are now having to tackle every single day.”

For most indigenous peoples, animals are not considered separate beings, but are part of the land and often play an essential role spiritually, thus it is difficult to measure the social and cultural impacts that the loss of native species has on indigenous Arctic communities.

What about climate-changing industries that are located within the Arctic? While oil production from onshore reserves in Alaska and Russia has been the norm for decades, offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean is now on the rise due to advances in technology, as well as increased accessibility caused by melting sea-ice. In the Murmansk region of Northern Russia, 8.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) comes from fisheries around the Barents Sea. Two indigenous populations—the Saami and the Komi peoples—call the Murmansk region home, and would be directly affected by environmental damage caused by oil and gas extraction in the Barents Sea.

A petroleum processing facility in Norway. Photo courtesy of Joakim Aleksander, Creative Commons.

Time for a quiz: what portion of the world's oil and gas comes from the Arctic?

- 25 percent of the world's natural gas

- 10 percent of the world's oil

Aside from oil and gas, the Arctic has many other sought-after natural resources like fish, forests, and minerals, which beckon extraction companies. The global demand for these resources has lead to an increase in Arctic migration, which has resulted in increased urbanization in the region. These changes can be both positive and negative, and have social, cultural, political, and health effects on indigenous communities such as loss of languages, obesity and diabetes, increased education, and increased job opportunities.

Here are some of the detrimental impacts that extraction companies have on the Arctic:

- Contamination of drinking water

- Loss and/or relocation of game animals

- Air pollution

- Soot deposits

- Erosion

- Chemical pollution in water and animal tissue

Why does the Arctic matter? The effect of climate change on the Arctic will undoubtedly impact the rest of the world. According to Tim Williams of the Canadian Library of Parliament, "The three mechanisms most often discussed [regarding global climate change] are decreasing reflectivity of the Earth (albedo), changing ocean circulation, and releases of carbon from thawing permafrost." Decreased reflectivity of the Earth due to a decrease in ice and an increase in water means the planet will retain more of its heat. Ocean circulation will change due to a decrease in the salinity of ocean water, potentially causing drastic temperature fluctuations across the globe. Melting ice in the Arctic also means rising sea levels in other parts of the world, biodiversity loss in oceans, plus a plethora of other consequences that have yet to be examined.