Group A - Collaborative Climate Adaption Project

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• Group A - Concept Mapping of Seminar Topics

Place	Barrow
Country	Alaska
Topic	Effects of climate change and adaptation possibilities - case study from Barrow, Alaska
Author(s)	Palmowska Agnieszka, Shrestha Neha, Szilagyi-Nagy Anna
Source	http://www.alaskadispatch.com

Rationale: Why have you selected this case study area?

• We have selected the area of the city Barrow, which is located in the north of Alaska, because this area is a perfect example to show that climate change is really progressing and causes the changes in many main areas of life. Barrow is known as the "Ground Zero for Climate Change".
• To select this area also encouraged us Dr. Klaus Görgen who talked about problems in Barrow, Alaska, during the first online seminars.

Authors' perspectives

• We are a landscape architects so we are closely associated with the climate, and also we have to constantly adapt to climate change. Showing the problem from the perspective of a place so distant may be helpful in understanding the general problem of climate change and will expand our knowledge about this topic.

• It is important that everyone should be aware that climate change is a global problem and its consequences are visible even in the farthest regions of the world.

Landscape and/or urban context

Urban contex of city Barrow

• The immediate Barrow situated in Alaska, in the largest and nordernmost state in U.S. (1,477,300 km2, it extends, to the Eastern Hemisphere so the westernmost and easternmost as well) which has more ocean coastline than all of the other U.S. states combined (6640 miles). http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21729.pdf and a capital, Juneau, that is only accessible via ship or air.

• Barrow is the most famous city of the Northern Economic Region in North Slope Borough, because it is northernmost town in the United States. This region is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue, King Salmon, Dillingham, and includes Katmai National Park, Kodiak Island, and Unalaska-Dutch Harbor.

• With approximately 4,500 residents, the Barrow area has probably the harshest weather in Alaska. It is one of the world's largest Inupiat Eskimo settlement where traditional culture and modern life are blended. While many modern conveniences are available, the subsistence life style is still very much in evidence, and fishing, hunting, and whaling are a way of life. North Slope oil discovery has brought wealth to the area, including modern influences such as snowmobiles, but it has been continuously occupied for 5,000 years by people who have learned how to live in the harsh arctic climate. The sun shines and never sets for 82 days from early May to early August and it is dark for 51 - 67 days (the sun never rises) between November and January.

Transportation

Distances Within Alaska

Infrastructure, quality of life

The city itself is hardly accessable just with plane or ship. For researchers, local ground transportation can be provided on a reimburseable basis by BASC and include trucks, four wheelers, snow machines and small to relatively large boats. Local vehicle hire and taxi services are also available. Off road traffic is limited to the period of permanent seasonal snow cover (ca. October-May).

• As the seat of the North Slope Borough, many regional health and social services are located in Barrow. Some of the public facilities include: senior citizen center, city teen center, women's shelter, and family services center. Health care, police station and fire stations.

• Many Barrow homes are heated by natural gas from nearby gas fields, and have modern water and sewer systems. Utilities are available through Barrow Utilities and Electric Cooperative, a local member-owned cooperative, which offers electric power, natural gas, and water and sewer services. The North Slope Borough provides trash and sewer pick-up free of charge.

• Seven churches, an elementary, middle and high school and a post secondary education center, Ilisagvik College, serve the community. On evenings and weekends, the high school's swimming pool, weight room and gym are open to the public. Residents also use Barrow's recreation center, which boasts a gym, racquetball courts, weight room and sauna.

• Communications in Barrow include phone, mail, a public radio station and cable TV station. The community also contains four hotels, many restaurants, a dry cleaner and a bank. Barrow has a large grocery/merchandise store and several convenience stores. The City of Barrow regulates the import of alcoholic beverages, and sale is banned. Major repair services include marine engine, boat, auto and aircraft mechanics. Diesel, propane, marine gas, aviation fuel, unleaded, regular and supreme gas are available for purchase.

• '''Population'''
• '''Flora and fauna, landscape types'''
• •The landscape consists of polygonized tundra, vegetated drained lake basins, ponds and lakes.
• •Vegetation types include aquatic, seasonally flooded, wet, moist, dry and occasionally bare ground. The Coastal Plain flora includes 124 vascular plant species, 177 mosses, and 49 hepatics (Brown 1980).
• •Terrestrial fauna include 10 mammal species and 28 bird species.
• •The northeast corner of Alaska is covered by the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which covers 19,049,236 acres (7,708,952 ha).
• === Cultural/social/political context===
• '''Culture'''
• •The first people to inhabit Alaska have a rich history of tradition and lifestyle that enabled them to survive the unique challenges of living in the northern latitude.
• •Alaska's Native people are divided into eleven distinct cultures, speaking eleven different languages and twenty-two different dialects.
• •Residents of the northern part of Alaska belong to two groups - The Inupiaq and the St. Lawrence Island Yupik People.
• •Inupiat were actively celebrated Christian and national holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter, and Independence Day.
• '''Historical overlook'''
• The full history of Alaska can be found on the website http://www.akhistorycourse.org/timelines/pre1741.php .
• • Archaeological sites in the area indicate the Inupiat lived around Barrow as far back as AD 500.
• • Later, the military came, setting up a radar station, and in 1947 a science center was founded at Barrow.
• • The United States Army established a meteorological and magnetic research station at Barrow in 1881, and the Cape Smythe Whaling and Trading Station was established in 1893.
• • In 1888 a Presbyterian church was built at Barrow, and in 1901 a United States Post Office was opened.
• '''Economy'''
• Approximately one-third of the working population of 1,955 is employed by the private sector. Some work for oil companies at Prudhoe Bay. The borough employs 46.2 percent of the work force and the School District employs another 19.3 percent.
• They are working into the next sectors:
• •Services
• - Government services, public schools, public hospitals and military bases.
• - During the summer months, tour operators offer package tours of Barrow and the surrounding area. Visitors might be interested in purchasing such arts and crafts as baleen boats, etched baleen, carved ivory, masks, parkas and fur mittens.
• - Barrow is served by passenger jet service from Anchorage and Fairbanks. Freight arrives by barge in the summer and air cargo year-round.
• • Mining
• - Oil and gas exploration and development to the east, south and offshore from Barrow provide revenue to the local community. Oil provides about 95 percent of Alaska's mining income.
• - Other mined products are gold, zinc, silver, coal, crushed stone, lead, molybdenum, and sand and gravel.
• • Local subsistence hunting is common and focuses on marine mammals, fish, waterfowl and caribou.
• '''Legal framework'''
• Direct link to the statutes about the establishment of Alaska Climate Center - http://www.touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title14/Chapter40/Section085.htm
• === Local Climate ===
• Barrow's climate is cold and dry, and is classified as a polar climate. Winter weather can be extremely dangerous because of the combination of cold and wind, while summers are cool even at their warmest.
• Program “Discovery” has created a short documentary about climate change in Alaska. It is available on the website
• Http://news.discovery.com/videos/earth-signs-of-climate-change-in-alaska.html .
• The table shows the changes that have occurred in northern Alaska (included Barrow) in just last few years. As we can see, in northern Alaska in the past few years happened a lot of climate changes that affect both humans and the environment.
• === Analysis of vulnerability ===
• Climate change can be seen in Barrow even by their inhabitants. The table shows the opinions of several members of the Barrow community on changes that have occurred in their town, and changed their lives.
• The main problems that occur in in Barrow:
• • Carbon dioxide
• • Melting sea ice
• • Coastal erosion
• = Climate change sub-cabinet in Alaska =
• (Final Report of the Alaska Climate Change Strategy’s Mitigation Advisory Group, Submitted to the Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet August, 2009, EX-2)
• * Immediate Action Working Group (IAWG) focusing on near term actions needed in Alaska;
• * Adaptation Advisory Group (AAG) to identify and propose methods to adapt to the impacts of climate change on Alaska; and
• * Mitigation Advisory Group (MAG) to identify and propose measures to mitigate Alaska’s greenhouse gas emissions;
• * Research Needs Work Group (RNWG) to recommend research strategies for mitigating greenhouse gases and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
• To develop its recommendations, the RNWG worked with the Technical Working Groups (TWG) of the MAG and AAG to identify research needs that dovetail with the policy recommendations being offered for the climate change strategy.
• == Proposals for Climate Change Adaption, the MAG TWG ==
• * How could your case study area become more resilient to climate change?
• * Which measures would need to be taken to adapt to the new situation?
• * How could you assure sustainability of these measures?
• * Please describe 2-3 measures
• === GHG emission and carbon footprint of Barrow ===
• The datas ont he 6 different GHGs between 1968 and 2012 see below. The graficons are saved from the offitial database of NOAA: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/dv/iadv/index.php?code=brw
• '''here comes pictures'''
• == Proposals for Climate Change Mitigation ==
• * Which measures would need to be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other drivers of climate change within your case study area?
• * How could you assure sustainability of these measures?
• * Please describe 2-3 measures
• = Your scenario =
• *How will this area look like in 2060?
• Illustration: Map/diagram/sketches photos and background notes
• = What can be generalized from this case study? =
• *Are there any important theoretical insights?
• *Which research questions does it generate?
• *Short statement plus background notes
• = Presentation Slides =
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Image Gallery

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  Satellite map

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  Alaska National Parks

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  Rivers in Alaska

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  Lakes of Alaska

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  Tundra

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References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Alaska 2. http://fairbanks-alaska.com/barrow.htm 3. http://www.eu-interact.org/field-sites/barrow/ 4. http://www.arcticscience.org/aboutBarrow.php 5. Wohlforth, Charles P. (2007). Frommer's Alaska 2008. Frommer's. p. 434. ISBN 0-470-15288-5, ISBN 978-0-470-15288-1 6. http://fairbanks-alaska.com/barrow.htm 7. http://www.google.pl/intl/pl/earth/index.html 8. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=156 9. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=151 9. http://www.labor.state.ak.us/research/pop/present/jan272011.pdf 10. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21729.pdf 11. http://www.northerneconomics.com 12. http://www.arcticscience.org/aboutBarrow.php 13. http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t2.html (July 10, 2001) 14. Carpenter, Alan, and Carl Provorse. The World Almanac of the U.S.A.. Mahwah: World Almanac Books, 1996. Print. 15. http://www.netstate.com/economy/ak_economy.htm 16. http://www.arcticscience.org/aboutBarrow.php 17. http://www.netstate.com/economy/ak_economy.htm 18. http://www.netstate.com/states/government/ak_government.htm 19. http://globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts/full-report/regional-climate-change-impacts/alaska 20. Larry D. Hinzman, Evidence and implications of recent climate change in northern Alaska and other arctic regions, climatic change (2005) 72: 251–298, springer 2005.) 21. Elizabeth N. Cassano, Classification of synoptic patterns in the western Arctic associated with extreme events at Barrow, Alaska, Submitted to Climate Research, September 21, 2005 Revised, December 2, 2005 22. http://education.arm.gov/outreach/kiosks-barrow 23. http://researchmatters.noaa.gov/news/Pages/arcticCO2.aspx 24. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NOAA-barrow-ice.jpg

Source of jpg: 1. http://www.alaskadispatch.com 1. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/images/akheritage/large/unit2chart5.jpg 3. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/images/geography/large/l5.jpg 4. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/images/geography/large/l6.jpg 5. http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/national-parks/maps/alaska-national-parks.jpg 6. http://www.worldlakes.org/uploads/ALASKA2.jpg 7. http://www.hookandbullet.com/c/fishing-barrow-ak/#ixzz2FJNKJTZs 8. http://geology.com/state-map/maps/alaska-rivers-map.gif 9. http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2008/03/GOA_AkMapLG.gif 10. http://www.fs.fed.us/land/ecosysmgmt/colorimagemap/ecoreg1_akprovinces.gif 11. http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/images/thumb/9/98/Tundra_map.gif/300px-Tundra_map.gif 12. http://labor.alaska.gov/research/census/econregions.pdf 13. http://economicinfo.org/ 14. http://weatherspark.com/averages/32906/Barrow-Alaska-United-States 15. http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/obop/brw/ 16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NOAA-barrow-ice.jpg 17. http://alaskaphotographics.photoshelter.com/image/I0000NwUk3F74YL4

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