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Amanda Lynch

Towards an Integrated Assessment of Observed Climate Change and the Impacts of Extreme Events in the Western Arctic

When the heavy ice is way out, old timers say "I hope we don’t have that storm."

The warming is associated with increasing amounts of open water in the arctic seas, rising sea level and thawing permafrost. Coastal geography and increasing development along the coastline are contributing to increased vulnerability of infrastructure, utilities, and supplies of food and gasoline to storms, flooding, and coastal erosion. Secondary impacts of coastal flooding may include harm to animals and their land or sea habitats, if pollutants are released. In Alaska, Inupiat subsistence harvesting of marine sources of food, offshore resource extraction, and marine transportation may be affected. This talk summarizes observed changes in the Arctic, and describes an effort to understand, support and enhance the local decision-making process on the North Slope of Alaska on socioeconomic issues that are influenced by warming, climate variability, and extreme weather events.