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The EPA's climate change adaptation plan is open for public comment.
Indigenous people are among the most vulnerable communities in North America.
Tribes are more vulnerable
to climate change impacts because of their dependence upon a specific geographic area for their livelihoods,
the degree to which those geographic areas embody climate-sensitive environments, and their unique cultural,
economic, or political characteristics and contexts. Also, tribes generally have fewer resources to prepare for,
respond to, and recover from natural hazards, including those related to climate change.
The disproportionate
vulnerability of tribes to climate change affects EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment in
Indian country.
Examples of the impacts climate change is already having on tribes include:
• The coastal Inupiat village of Shismaref Alaska is one of many coastal villages in Alaska facing relocation
due to threats from flooding and erosion related to a rise in sea level and a decrease in sea ice. Sea walls
have been broken and homes washed away. Residents have decided to relocate farther inland for safety,
giving up their traditional fishing, sealing, and home-building sites.
• Drought is perhaps the most pervasive climate-induced weather impact on tribes. Water is at the heart of
many tribal cultures and the foundation of their livelihoods, economies, subsistence, and treaty rights.
Water is essential to the sustainability of the fish, wildlife, and plants on which tribes rely. The recent trend
toward more severe and frequent droughts, especially in the American Southwest, threatens the very
underpinnings of tribal communities. The Southwest is already in the midst of a 10-15 year drought, and
climate projections suggest the Southwest may transition to a more arid climate on a permanent basis over
the next century and beyond.
In fact, climate observations indicate that this transition may have already
begun.
• Moose, a species important to many tribes in the Great Lakes region, are suffering the impacts of warmer
weather. In a recent study of moose at the southern edge of their range in northwest Minnesota,
researchers found that over the past 40 years, declines in the moose population are related to increases in
mean temperature with winter and summer temperatures increasing by an average of 12 degrees F and 4 degrees F,
respectively, over this period. Lack of food resources and increased exposure to deer parasites associated
with warmer summer temperatures appear to be the primary causes of more decline.
Tribes are more vulnerable
to climate change impacts because of their dependence upon a specific geographic area for their livelihoods,
the degree to which those geographic areas embody climate-sensitive environments, and their unique cultural,
economic, or political characteristics and contexts. Also, tribes generally have fewer resources to prepare for,
respond to, and recover from natural hazards, including those related to climate change.
The disproportionate
vulnerability of tribes to climate change affects EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment in
Indian country.
Examples of the impacts climate change is already having on tribes include:
• The coastal Inupiat village of Shismaref Alaska is one of many coastal villages in Alaska facing relocation
due to threats from flooding and erosion related to a rise in sea level and a decrease in sea ice. Sea walls
have been broken and homes washed away. Residents have decided to relocate farther inland for safety,
giving up their traditional fishing, sealing, and home-building sites.
• Drought is perhaps the most pervasive climate-induced weather impact on tribes. Water is at the heart of
many tribal cultures and the foundation of their livelihoods, economies, subsistence, and treaty rights.
Water is essential to the sustainability of the fish, wildlife, and plants on which tribes rely. The recent trend
toward more severe and frequent droughts, especially in the American Southwest, threatens the very
underpinnings of tribal communities. The Southwest is already in the midst of a 10-15 year drought, and
climate projections suggest the Southwest may transition to a more arid climate on a permanent basis over
the next century and beyond.
In fact, climate observations indicate that this transition may have already
begun.
• Moose, a species important to many tribes in the Great Lakes region, are suffering the impacts of warmer
weather. In a recent study of moose at the southern edge of their range in northwest Minnesota,
researchers found that over the past 40 years, declines in the moose population are related to increases in
mean temperature with winter and summer temperatures increasing by an average of 12 degrees F and 4 degrees F,
respectively, over this period. Lack of food resources and increased exposure to deer parasites associated
with warmer summer temperatures appear to be the primary causes of more decline.
http://epa.gov/climatechange/pdfs/EPA-climate-change-adaptation-plan-final-for-public-comment-2-7-13.pdf
4 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's a serious issue I know.
The EPA is so hard-hearted. 
