Shirley Caudill
The Times-Tribune
— Some folks make fun of the theory of “global warming.” I don’t know whether they are as silly as Pollyanna or whether they are just being politically disagreeable. My environmental science course was all about global warming back in 1971. It is not a new topic.
As the years have gone by, we can see it slowly coming to pass — beginning in Alaska. Just this morning I read an article from the Courier-Journal, written by reporter Anna York, talking about the pending disaster to Newtok, Alaska and at least 200 other Alaskan villages. Although Newtok is the first casualty of global warming, it won’t be the last one. And where will they go?
Lynn Allen was my excellent science teacher at Sue Bennett College during the 1970s. She talked about global warming melting the permafrost and the ice caps and causing the oceans to rise and cover coastal lands. Parts of the Atlantic coastline and the Gulf coast may be covered with water, as well as other parts of the world. I believed her then and I believe her now. Yet there are those who pooh-pooh reports and seem to have little concern for future generations.
Ask Alaskans whether or not global warming is real. Sally Russell Cox is a planner with Alaska’s Department of Commerce and Economic Development. She has been working for three years trying to help develop ways to relocate villagers that are being overtaken by rising ocean waters and melting permafrost due to global warming.
Newtok is suffering from flooding and erosion and is slowly sinking into the mud, according to reporter Anna York who traveled to Alaska to see firsthand how the rising sea threatens the stability of the village and its residents.
York’s trip coincided with a visit by the state department and federal government’s trip to propose some new village sites nine miles north of Newtok.
Wooden boardwalks connect houses and community buildings in Newtok, instead of roads and regular sidewalks. The boardwalks keep the residents from sinking into the muddy ground as they walk or ride around the village.
Long before scientists spoke of climate change, the elders warned that the villagers should move to higher ground. Stanley Tom, who serves as tribal administrator (mayor) and grew up watching the Eskimo village as it changed, said, “I refused to believe them.”
Just as my environmental science teacher explained in 1971, the writer pointed out that there is a layer of permafrost beneath the tundra that remained frozen, providing a foundation for the buildings and a sturdy buffer against the sea — until recent years.
Now, as Alaska’s climate gets warmer and warmer, the permafrost is melting beneath the crumbling buildings and whole village. The old school and community hall have buckled and have begun to sink into the earth. Some villagers say the erosion increases at least 100 feet per year. Some buildings have been abandoned altogether because of their precarious location on the shoreline — and their constant risk of flooding and high tide.
Tom’s cousin tries to stand at the village shoreline during unseasonable storms and howling winds — sometimes they knock her to the ground. She says that Mother Nature is angry and she knows it is dangerous to stay there. Things were different 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.
Worldwide, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimates that 150 million people could become environmental refugees by 2050. Managing them will become a problem for governments.
Because of rising seas 3000 residents of the Carteret Islands in the South Pacific are evacuating to Papua, New Guinea. Rising seas are affecting the Pankhali region of Bangladesh and Twalu so dramatically, their respective governments are now considering wholesale migration for public safety.
Time is running out for Newtok, according to human rights and immigration attorney Robin Bronen, who has been following the work of the Alaskan government and Newtok’s situation. So far, she says, the government has not developed an effective way to protect communities at risk for climate change.
For those who act like Pollyanna and those who disagree for the sake of being disagreeable — it’s best to take notice and take an environmental science course or two.
Get REAL!
Shirley Caudill of London is a former newspaper editor/publisher and longtime freelance columnist. She is a Nashville native who has lived in Kentucky 40 years. She has six children, 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren and is married to a retired Army First Sergeant. She can be reached at gunnstar4912@gmail.com
