Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerabilities, and Adaptation in Northwest Alaska

• Main Authors: Leiserowitz, Anthony, Robin, Gregory, Failing, Lee
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Decision Research 2006
• Subjects: Climate change; Northwest Alaska; Environmental adaptation; Climate change vulnerabilities; Arctic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1794/20648

16 pages A two-day workshop on climate change impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation in northwest Alaska was held in Kotzebue on May 24 & 25. The overall objective of the workshop was to help key stakeholders in northwest Alaska consider climate change impacts and vulnerabilities in the region, discuss the pros and cons of various adaptation strategies, and identify several potential near- and medium-term actions. Workshop participants included members of the Northwest Arctic Borough (NWAB) Assembly, the city of Kotzebue, and representatives from several villages located within the Borough. Other participants included representatives from Maniilaq, NANA, the Alaska State House of Representatives, the Selawik National Wildlife Refuge, the National Park Service, Audubon Alaska, and the University of Alaska-Juneau. The workshop was organized by Anthony Leiserowitz, a geographer with Alaskan, national and international experience in public and stakeholder responses to climate change, and led by Robin Gregory and Lee Failing, decision analysts with experience helping communities to develop management plans for complex environmental and cultural problems. As an initial workshop on climate change impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptations in the region, the participants did not make any official recommendations. The participants emphasized that any final recommendations need to incorporate the perspectives and concerns of people living in all 11 villages of the NWAB.