Alaska Relies on Ice. What Happens When It Can’t Be Trusted?

@Bill, there will ultimately be nowhere to go. The biggest threat from climate change to humans will not be the rising seas or the melting ice - while those are disastrous, they are in the long run manageable, albeit perhaps at a cost humanity cannot easily afford. No, the real problem - and why there will be nowhere to go - will be the disruption to our food and water supplies across the globe because of random weather fluctuations and changing climates. E.g., desertification of currently productive areas, acidification of oceans, high daytime heats that make being outdoors dangerous for working the fields, more frequent weather events like the recent midwest floods and untimely freezes that kill crops, and the disappearing glaciers which supply potable water to much of humanity. And don't forget we're losing the animals we eat and our natural pollinators at unsustainable rates. All that is happening while human populations are still growing exponentially, especially in the poorer areas of the world. Ultimately, when there is enough disruption to the food supply, there will be massive migration and, probably, ruinous wars. That is why we should pay attention to those reminding everyone that climate change is an existential threat: because it really is.

@Andre Jursic Except by then, Florida will be under water.

@Andre Jursic, Republican humor, I assume....

@Lisa McFadden Well said. People talk the talk, but rarely walk the walk.

@Lisa McFadden: choices. Do I drive my hybrid car for five days to help my elderly in-laws 2400 miles away, or do I fly? And what workable alternatives will be offered for what we give up? Where are the reliable long-distance trains? Last question: we are visiting in Arizona; why does a state with 300 days of sunshine per year have less than 5% usage of solar energy????

@Randall....In 2016 the whole country...with the help of the Electoral College..voted for Trump to actively make the Country Worse Off! MAGA? Not when we're bringing back coal and gas pipelines etc! Windmills don't cause Cancer...but Trump's Presidency is definitly making the USA sick!

@Terry Totally agree. Under Obama, the cap-and trade legislation called ACES for short went down. Why even cap-and-trade?? In the 70s, the governments told polluters to stop polluting or else. But now, unless we have a market-based program, nothing happens. And even if we have a market-based approach, it doesn't get passed. The targets in the Paris Agreement are insufficient. The Clean Power Plan came too way late and was yet another instance of governing by executive order because the neoliberal, centrist Obama failed to build his party and capture the imagination of the people who were still being taken advantage of by corporations under his administration despite his one signature reform, the ACA. Let that all sink in when considering the present candidates. Perhaps we have had enough of incremental approaches when we have 12 years to turn the Titanic around. Perhaps we want someone who by-passes gridlock in Congress and appeals to the people directly to get laws passed.

@Peter, Obama did do something. The Clean Power Plan was an Obama administration policy aimed at combating anthropogenic climate change (global warming) that was first proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in June 2014. The Clean Power Plan set the first-ever limits on carbon pollution from U.S. power plants, the largest source of the pollution in the country that’s driving dangerous climate change. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Power_Plan https://www.nrdc.org/stories/how-clean-power-plan-works-and-why-it-matters Meanwhile, Trump and his band of climate denialists are busy shredding it. Are there no real sources of news in your bubble ?

The first two years, Obama was a bit busy with getting the country out of Bush's recession and trying to provide millions of Americans with health care coverage. Then he spent six years fighting GOP obstructionists in charge of Congress. And the next president will probably spend 8 years trying to clean up Trump's messes.

@Peter Because he was stonewalled for NINE years.

@Ed Good points but your forgot the mention the always right republicans.

@Ed You must have skipped over the fifth paragraph of the article you're commenting on. Or maybe you had a lapse of memory. I'll refresh your recall: "Alaska is the fastest-warming state in America, heating up along with the rest of the Arctic at twice the global average rate, according to the Fourth National Climate Assessment. Springtime temperatures are averaging 2 to 5 degrees higher now than 50 years ago, and record highs were set across the state in March...." That's a trend, not a one-time exception. If you need more evidence, consider the 2017 wildfires in Greenland https://www.popsci.com/greenland-on-fire#page-3 Also, the loss of Arctic Sea ice, which leads to even more and faster heat absorption as more expanses of open sea are exposed http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/ It needs to be noted that surface expanse of ice is not the only data of importance; the thickness of the remaining ice has also declined precipitously, as have the land ice sheets https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/ice-sheets/ So the time expanse of global warming IS in the tens of years, not "millions of years." This is not theoretical speculation, it's proven fact. It's also such a recent, widespread, drastic change in the polar regions that simply badgering Alaska residents to "suck it up" is a hand-wave that's both ignorant and cruel.

@Ed Under Obama, via the Dept of the Interior, a lot of work was being done to help Alaskans in the villages and towns that will be (and are) being affects the most quickly to figure out ways to deal with the changes. This work included preparations, when necessary, to move. But, of course, this entire program (and the funding) has been dismantled under the current administration. So please, first do your research before saying Alaskans are just wishing for the climate to stop changing. It is not an easy or inexpensive process to shore up a community -- or have the whole place move. Here is one article about the well known whistleblower: https://climatecrocks.com/2017/07/19/scientist-blows-whistle-breaks-silence-on-trumpputingop-war-on-science/ Here is another one about what one village is attempting to do (and, oh btw, the costs are enormous): https://www.npr.org/2017/01/10/509176361/alaskan-village-citing-climate-change-seeks-disaster-relief-in-order-to-relocate

@Socrates Not all of us have voted for them...

@Arvay Yes and thank you. But Socrates is not talking about you specifically.

@Socrates That maybe true but what was Hillary going to do about this. Especially with a republican controlled Congress? The democrats are equally implicit.

@Enemy of Crime Well said. Life isn't always unfair.

@Enemy of Crime The AK permanent fund dividend has only been greater than $2k twice since it started in 1982. The cost of living in AK is astronomical. Health care, for example, is more expensive than anywhere else in the US. That permanent fund dividend doesn't last long in our pockets and purses.

@Enemy of Crime What a lofty perch you look down on us from, painting every Alaskan with a broad and scathing brush. 51% of Alaskan voters voted Trump, which is indeed a majority as you say, although a scant one. Not so far off the national 46%, in fact, so perhaps we should condescend to the entire United States as a single block that's getting what they deserve, you included. You've left out of your indictment of Alaskans as money-grubbing oil lackeys the fact that through the permanent fund dividend program alone, over 25,000 Alaskans donate a collective $3 million annually to charitable causes. Yes, it's a red state that clearly needs to do more to combat climate change, as do many others. But distancing yourself from the problem and sneering at the general public is hardly a productive step toward change. You can go ahead and pat yourself on the back in smug superiority, but don't forget we're all in this together. Perhaps being constructive instead of insulting would effect real change faster.