Adaptation of the indigenous peoples to climate change effects in Yakutia: Gender aspects

• Published in: Polar Science
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Climate change; Floods; Indigenous peoples; Arctic; Russia; Yakutia; Sakha; Khatystyr; Polar Science; Republic of Sakha
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=16342; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00016221/

Global climate change is one of the main problems facing humans at the beginning of the 21st century. In the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), it has led to significant social consequences, especially those caused by flooding, which is very common in the region. One way of protecting settlements from catastrophic floods is to relocate them to non-flooded terraces. In the article, the author examined the local adaptation to consequences of flooding after relocation the cases two villages, Kyllakh and Khatystyr. Field studies of adaptations to the relocation showed social down sides, including the risks of broken family ties, as well as artificially created gender tension. Currently, residents of the two villages are divided into two groups. Families with children live in the new village sites (mostly women with preschool and schoolchildren), while the older population stay in the old village sites. The article analyses the causes and consequences of this gender situation.