Climate change is occurring globally. Greenhouse gasses are drastically influencing climate change. The greenhouse effect, “warming that results when the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth toward space” (NASA) is contributing to climate change and is affecting Iñuit cultural practices. The Iñuit’s Arctic habit is experiencing warming weathers that are commencing sea ice deterioration, prolonged summers, and transient spring and winter seasons. The imbalance in weather is not only affecting the Arctic habitat, but also the people and animals that subsist off the region being impacted. The Iñuit culture depends on the Arctic ecosystem for survival. As our warming climate changes the Iñuit traditions face endangerment.
Greenhouse Effect
The earth receives a vast majority of its energy from the sun. Infrared radiation is emitted from the sun towards earth; some of this radiation is absorbed by the earth and some is reflected into the atmosphere. According to Fahlman et al. (2018):
“Some of this incoming radiation is reflected back into space by the dust and aerosol particles suspended in our atmosphere (25%). Other parts of this incoming radiation are reflected by the surface of the Earth itself, especially those regions white with snow or sea ice (6%). Thus, 31% of the radiation received from the sun is reflected. The remaining 69% of the radiation from the sun is absorbed, either by the atmosphere (23%) or by land masses and oceans (46%). We can account for all the sun’s radiation by adding the reflected and absorbed radiation: 31% + 69% = 100%. (130).”
Infrared radiation that is reflected into the atmosphere transmits energy to greenhouse gases causing them to vibrate, emitting the energy back to the earth in the form of heat. These greenhouse gases include: water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Although an extensive amount of greenhouse gasses is generated naturally, there has been an unprecedented amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere instigating global warming. Global warming is affecting regions of the world diversely. The Arctic region is undergoing climate change which is warming its natural habitat.
Anthropogenic influences are producing a multitude of greenhouse gasses reinforcing this climate change. Industrialization has increased the amount of CO2 and CH4 emissions through burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, irrigation, and agriculture. Accumulated greenhouse gasses through natural causes and anthropogenic occurrences are stimulating the greenhouse effect, which contributes to climate change and global warming. There has been a record trend of global warming, and a profound record of climate change in Alaska.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) researches and monitors the atmosphere and ocean globally. NOAA compromises of four observatories throughout the world which are in: Barrow, Alaska; Mauna Loa, Hawaii; American Samoa; and South Pole, Antarctica. These diverse regions offer supplementary information on how the greenhouse effect occurs in distinct environments. NOAA’s research shows that the Arctic region is experiencing climate change more rapidly than other regions of the world (Figure 1).
* Figure 1 NOAA Graph displaying average temperature (Celsius) Arctic & Global rates.
Arctic Region
Global warming in the Arctic region is accentuating. The severity of declining sea ice, prolonged summers, and transient spring and winter seasons are becoming paramount factors in the Arctic’s climate change. The albedo effect is weakening as sea ice deterioration transpires. Decomposition of soil organic matter, that was once frozen in permafrost, is contributing to CO2 emission. Spring and winter seasons have been noticeably reduced as respiration increases.
As sea ice declines in Alaska, prominently in the North Slope region, the ocean is absorbing more heat from the sun. Arctic cryosphere (sea ice, snow cover, & glaciers) is a central part of the albedo feedback system. According to UNESCO:
“The cryosphere is arguably the most visible and informative indicator of climate change over the Arctic region, as dramatically seen during the last decade, as noted by Stroeve (2009). Through its influence on surface energy, moisture fluxes, clouds, precipitation, hydrology, and atmospheric and oceanic circulation, the cryosphere plays a significant role in not only the regional climate of the Arctic, but also in global climate (5).”
The albedo feedback system depends on cryosphere to reflect solar radiation back into space. Deterioration of sea ice, snow cover, and glaciers in the Arctic mitigate the albedo feedback system, causing more open waters and land. Open waters and land absorb solar radiation, warming the earth.
As the ocean’s open water significantly absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere, warming of the ocean is strengthening sea ice melt. Sea levels are rising, ice is melting, and many marine mammals who depend on the sea ice are suffering, as their habitat is disappearing.
Sea ice is not only melting from above but also from below. Warm ocean currants are melting ice from beneath the ice surface. There has been a record trend of sea ice loss in the Arctic, and it’s continuing to worsen (Figure 2).
*Figure 2 graph displaying declining Arctic sea ice throughout time
Not only does the ocean absorb CO2 but it also releases it back into the atmosphere. Fahlman, et al. state, “When bubbling occurs, carbon dioxide is coming out of the solution in a process known as degasification. The same process can occur in our oceans when the temperature rises. During degasification, some of the carbon dioxide originally dissolved in the ocean is released into the atmosphere” (125).
Arctic Marine Mammals
Sea ice is vital part of sustenance for Arctic marine mammals and the Iñuit people. The Arctic sea ice is a habitat for marine mammals including: seals, walruses, whales, and polar bears. These animals subsist off the ice for shelter and food. They depend on the ice as a platform to feed, give birth, molt, and a source of protection from predators. Seals give birth and nurse their pups on ice. Walrus rest on the ice after long periods of feeding under water. Polar bears use ice in search of prey. These animals migrate with the ice.
With declination of sea ice these marine mammals face endangerment. Beached seals and walruses are becoming a norm, they have no choice but to rest on shorelines rather than the safety of ice. Vast number of walruses hurtle to shorelines for refuge recklessly harming and even killing young. Whale migration is commencing earlier than usual. Polar bears scavenge towns for food, rather than the ice. New predators are emerging such as killer whales; and parasites are appearing in the organs of marine mammals.
According to the Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna, “Scientists expect that many sub-arctic marine mammal species will extend their range into the Arctic as temperatures and habitats change. These species may compete with arctic marine mammals for prey or habitat, alter predatory-prey relationships, and introduce diseases and parasites novel to arctic marine mammals.” These marine mammals are suffering adaptation to sea ice deterioration and may not persist if this rate continues.
Iñuit Culture
The Iñuit culture subsist off the Arctic environment, including the animals that inhabit it. Iñuit values, traditional practices, spirituality, and livelihood have depended on the Arctic ecosystem for sustenance a time immemorial. Indigenous people are aware of the climate change the Arctic is experiencing and fear for the future of their cultural practices.
Inuit’s are marine people; their cultural identity is closely connected with the ocean. Iñuits have a spiritual connection with the harvest of animals. They respect the animals and thank them for offering their lives to them. They respect the traditional practices that their ancestors endured for survival and continue to utilize them today. Iñuits have survived off marine mammals for millennia. Hunters not only rely on marine mammals for nutrition, but they also continue traditional customs such as using the blubber of seals for oil lamps, walrus tusks for hunting tools, and the baleen of whales for arts and crafts. Hunters use the skins of bearded seals for umiaqs (skin boats), mukluk hard bottoms, and for clothing. They use the intestines of whales for drums. Iñuits try to utilize all aspects of the animal, making sure the harvest isn’t being wasted.
Climate change is affecting Iñuit cultural practices. Sea ice deterioration makes hunting dangerous, affects the animals being harvested, and is slowly subsiding traditional practices as this change increases. Carolina Behe, indigenous knowledge, and science adviser for Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska, says that climate change and food security are more than just a matter of calories and nutrition; they’re also a matter of culture. “People here are identified by their ability to hunt and provide food for those who need it,” she says. “This identity is threatened when it becomes unsafe to go out on the ice to hunt, or too expensive to travel the long distances that are now needed to track down animals on land” (Struzik).
Thinning ice has made it unsafe to use as a platform for hunting and unsafe to travel on. When pulling up a whale, hunters fear there won’t be a stable place on the ice to settle the whale to butcher. Well-known retired elder whaling captain, Wesley Aiken from Barrow, Alaska shares his knowledge on climate change and the thinning ice:
“There has been much change in our ice conditions due to global warming. We have had frequent southerly winds bringing warmer weather during our whaling season. The ice is thinning dramatically, and we have to be very cautious. The ocean current plays a big part in ice movement and causes cracks to open and leaves whalers stranded from the shore ice. We also do not have the strong ice ridges that anchor the ice. These ridges used to form and were strengthened in early February, but everything is different now. We have to be more observant and remain cautious anytime we are hunting on the ice (49).”
*Figure 3 A whaler waits for the bowhead whales from shore in Utqiaġvik, Alaska, during whaling season in the Chukchi Sea. Photo by Steven J. Kazlowski/Alamy Stock Photo.
It is understood that subsistence offers food and nutrition for Iñuits, but it isn’t acknowledged enough that subsistence and the experience of harvesting marine mammals provide a sense of spirituality for the Iñuit culture and heritage. The ice is the foundation of Iñuit heritage, without it the culture would become lost (Figure 3).
The marine mammals migrate with the sea ice; hunters follow them in order to harvest them. When ice conditions change, migratory patterns change also. Some cases of change of sea ice is so extreme it has affected access to usual feeding and nesting areas for marine mammals, forcing either adaptation or starvation and population loss. Hunters realize the shift in migration and population due to sea ice declination. They have to adapt hunting traditions and expectations.
Austin Swan, 68 years old from Kivalina, Alaska states, “We’ve always been able to adapt to natural change in the environment,” he says. “But what’s happening up here now is not natural. It’s making it difficult to put food on the table.” (Struzik). Climate change is just one of the various factors that affect Iñuit lifestyle but is a critical one that is worsening. Hunters now face diverse hunting expectations than what they are used to. The safety of hunters has become questionable as they travel on the ice in search of food. Traditional celebrations such as Nalukataq (whale feast; celebration of the whale) is being impacted as there is less whale meat and muktuk (whale skin and blubber) to serve to the community because the loss of sunken whales that couldn’t remain on the ice long enough to be fully harvested. Suzanne Benally shares her concerns on the effects of climate change and Indigenous culture:
“Water is life. And our oceans are precious sources of that life. As Indigenous Peoples, we have been sounding the alarm for decades, warning the world that a shift needs to happen towards a more sustainable and equitable future. It is sad and horrifying to see how greed is destroying the delicate ocean ecosystems that have sustained generations for thousands of years. Every day Indigenous communities around the globe are impacted by climate change. We are working to adapt or mitigate climate change based on practices rooted in culture tradition, Indigenous knowledge, and science accumulated over millennia (1). ”
Climate change is causing stress on Iñuit traditions; the security of the future generation of traditions is unknown.
Conclusion
Climate change is accentuating globally. There is an unprecedented amount of greenhouse gasses in Earth’s atmosphere instigating global warming. The Arctic region is experiencing a warming climate change that is commencing sea ice deterioration, prolonged summers, and transient spring and winter seasons. This change is affecting the Iñuit culture and the animals that subsist off the land. The Iñuit culture relies on the Arctic ecosystem for sustenance. Iñuit cultural practices are facing endangerment as climate change increases.
Works Cited
NASA. (2018) A Blanket Around the Earth. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/causes/
Montgomery, M. (2016). Arctic Report 2016; Warm and Getting Warmer. Retrieved from http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/12/16/arctic-report-card-2016-warm-and-getting-warmer/
NASA. (2018). Video: Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 1979-2016 with area graph. Retrieved from https://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/155/video-annual-arctic-sea-ice-minimum-1979-2016-with-area-graph/
Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna. (2009). A Framework for Monitoring Arctic Marine Mammals. Retrieved from https://www.mmc.gov/wp-content/uploads/valencia_report.pdf
Fahlman, B.D., Purvis-Roberts, K.L., Kirk, J.S., Bentley, A.K., Daubenmire, P.L., Ellis, J.P., Mury, M.T. (2018). Chemistry in Context: Applying Chemistry to Society. New York: NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Gearheard, S., Holm, L., Huntington, H., Leavitt, J., Mahoney, A., Opie, M. Sanguya, J. (2013). The Meaning of Ice: People and Sea Ice in Three Arctic Communities. New Hampshire, Hanover: International Polar Institute Press.
Struzik, E. (2016). Food Insecurity: Arctic Heat is Threatening Indigenous Life. Retrieved from https://e360.yale.edu/features/arctic_heat_threatens_indigenous_life_climate_change
UNESCO. (2009). Climate Change and Arctic Sustainable Development: Scientific. Social, Cultural and Educational Changes. Paris: UNESCO.
Langlois, K. (2018). When Whales and Humans Talk. Retrieved from https://www.hakaimagazine.com/features/when-whales-and-humans-talk/
Benally, S. (2017). Our Oceans. Our Futures. Cultural Survival, 41(4).