VANISHING VILLAGE IN ALASKA
By Anton Antonio
September 11, 2015
“A picture paints a thousand words.” The accompanying picture, however, paints a
thousand pains for the residents of Kivalina, Alaska, USA. Please read…
“THIS IS CLIMATE CHANGE: ALASKAN VILLAGERS STRUGGLE AS
ISLAND IS CHEWED UP BY THE SEA
By Maria L. La Ganga
August 30, 2015
This is what climate change looks like, up close and
personal. In this town of 403 residents
83 miles above the Arctic Circle, beaches are disappearing, ice is melting,
temperatures are rising, and the barrier reef Kivalina calls home gets smaller
and smaller with every storm. There is
no space left to build homes for the living.
The dead are now flown to the mainland so the ocean won’t encroach upon
their graves. Most here agree that the
town should be relocated; where, when and who will pay for it are the big
questions. The Army Corps of Engineers
figures Kivalina will be underwater in the next decade or so.” --- latimes.com
Kivalina is a city and village in Northwest Arctic Borough,
Alaska, United States. The population
was 377 at the 2000 census and 374 as of the 2010 census. The island on which the village lies is
threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion. As of 2013, it is predicted that the island
will be inundated by 2025. Due to severe
sea wave erosion during storms, the city hopes to relocate again to a new site
12 kilometers from the present site; studies of alternative sites are ongoing. According to the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the estimated cost of relocation runs between $95 and $125 million,
whereas the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimates it to be between
$100 and $400 million. (Wikipedia)
With the enormous amount of funds needed to protect
Kivalina, the more practical alternative is to simply relocate the
village. Perhaps, more than the
“solution” or “solutions” being crafted would be the determination of the
“cause” or “causes” of the problem that necessitated such solution/s. The natural response is “rising sea level”… but
what is the root cause? Rising sea
levels is caused by melting polar ice… melting polar ice is caused by global
warming and climate change... and this could go on and on if we really dig
deeper. Again, we seem to go around in
circles and eventually arrive at global warming and/or climate change as the
root cause.
Unfortunately, some influential world leaders are still in
denial of the existence of climate change and that climate change is a real
threat. The Kivalina case is proof that
climate change exists and can be considered a world community problem… and,
therefore, needs world community solutions and intervention. Are nations waiting for their territories to
shrink or vanish before some degree of action is made to mitigate climate change? Or, perhaps, the question that needs to be
addressed is: “Are there no lessons to be learned from the vanishing village in
Alaska?”
Thoughts to
promote positive action…
(Please
visit, like and share Pro EARTH Crusaders on Facebook or follow me at http://antonantonio.blogspot.com/
and http://twitter.com/EarthCrusader/)
REFERENCES:
www.latimes.com,
(2015). “This is Climate Change: Alaskan Villagers Struggle as Island is Chewed
Up by the Sea”. Retrieved on September 11,
2015 from http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-arctic-obama-20150830-story.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=post&utm_term=Alaska%2Cclimate+change&utm_campaign=Climate&__surl__=Ig2He&__ots__=1441559096394&__step__=1
Wikipedia. “Kivalina, Alaska”. Retrieved on September 11, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kivalina,_Alaska
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