Module II - Geography of Alaska

No matter where you are, we're glad you're here!

Petroglyph patterns emerge in the dappled light near Juneau, AK. 

Photo by C. Good

  

Essential Questions:

• How are Alaska's natural systems interconnected?
• How have Alaska's natural systems changed over time?
• How does digital information change our understanding of natural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems inform our understanding of cultural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems relate to the roles of educators?

ENGAGE

Ever since humans started scratching maps in the dirt and etching stone markers, it's been in our nature to understand the nature of our surroundings. Naturally, we named this study of our place, Geography. Literally - Picture of the Land.

How else could tiny humans begin to grasp the scale and extent of this Great Land and the processes that shape its contours? 

Fortunately, now we have more than drawings in the dust or carvings in stone to inform us in this rapidly changing world of digital information.

EXPLORE

Alaska History and Culture Studies

Now is a good time to visit one of the keystone resources for this course, Alaska History and Culture Studies.


CLICK HERE to access this great collection. Then click on the Geography link right on the top of the page. There you'll find excellent summaries, maps and other information about Alaska's places, regions and physical geography.

For this exercise, review please follow the first four links found on the Geography of Alaska page.

1. Introduction
2. Alaska's Location
3. Places and Regions 
4. Physical Geography

EXAMINE 

1. Relative Locations vs. Absolute Locations

• Where on Earth is Alaska?
• What are the physical dimensions of Alaska?
• Furthers points East, West, North and South?

2. Places and Regions

• Distinguish between formal, functional and perceptual regions.
• What roles do physiographic features play in delineating regions?
• What roles to cultures and languages play in delineating regions?

 

3. Physical Geography 

• What are the major spheres that constitute Alaska's landscapes?
• How do the spheres interact to create the landscapes of Alaska?
• How does the geography of Alaska influence its cultures?

EXTEND

• Describe the geography of the place where you live.
• How is the culture of that place influenced by its geography?
• How does the geography of place relate to the roles of teachers?

What's Next?

Now that we've a taste of what Alaska History and Culture Studies has to offer, let's move on to a more detailed view of Alaska's Lithosphere.

Module II - Lithosphere

No matter where you are, we're glad you're here!



Essential Questions: 

• How are Alaska's natural systems interconnected?
• How have Alaska's natural systems changed over time?
• How does digital information change our understanding of natural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems inform our understanding of cultural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems relate to the roles of educators?

ENGAGE

Blue Mouse Cove, Glacier Bay - C. Good

It's Just a Matter of Time
Massive mountains hunkering down under the weight of colossal glaciers, or the annual migration of wildlife along our shores and across the expansive northern tundra may give an impression of permanence or timelessness. 

However, the landscapes, climate and ecosystems of today's Alaska are fairly new on the Big Clock of geologic time, and have changed dramatically over the vast sweep of time. 

Perhaps the best way to begin our understanding of the natural history of Alaska is to first look at Earth as a large, complex, dynamic, interconnected system that began some four and a half billion years or so ago.

EXPLORE

Teachers' Domain 

To help visualize Earth as a System, watch this brief TD video by the same name.

Earth as a System

EXAMINE

• What are the different pathways for the flow of matter and energy on Earth? 
• Which change slowly?
• Which change rapidly?

EXTEND

• How has our growing understanding of Earth as a System informed our view of the world and our place in it?

ENGAGE

Geology Rocks!

You don't have to be a rocket scientist or a rock scientist to appreciate the basics of plate tectonic and mountain building forces that have shaped Alaska since the break-up of Pangaea a couple hundred million or so years ago.

Of the several discrete components that make up the complex natural systems of this planet, we will begin our exploration of Earth's lithosphere and the geological forces that have placed Alaska on the map, both literally and figuratively.  We'll explore Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, and even its cryosphere, a little later in this module.

Landform Forces -Mountain Building  

We all look up to mountains. But how did they get there? And why are they so tall? Not to say that all of Alaska has towering mountains.  Far from it. There are also vast  plains sweeping for hundreds of miles between Alaska's great mountain ranges. But why? How did the mountains and plains and all the rest of the myriad smaller feature of our landscapes come to be? What's their history?

It’s easy enough to figure out how a volcanic mountain forms because its processes are visible and rapid on either the geologic or human time scale. But what about other features that form more slowly, like Denali (Mt. McKinley), or Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest), or Uluru (Ayer’s Rock)? Clearly, these mountains are not volcanic, so early geologists struggled to piece together the puzzle of how these mountains were formed and in turn are worn away.

Little did early geoscientists realize the answer to the mystery of mountains was directly related to other important questions, such as the curious puzzle-fitting shape of the Atlantic continents and the similar fossil record and geology on opposite shores across the ocean.

EXPLORE

Teachers' Domain

Let’s use these select TD resources to take a closer look at the geologically recent discovery of plate tectonics and how it explains the origins of Alaska's mountains, volcanoes and even how entire continents drift apart.

Plate Tectonics: An Introduction

Tectonic Plate Movement in Alaska

Volcanoes in the Infrared






Explore Alaska's Volcanoes





EXAMINE 

• What is the relationship between tectonic forces, mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes in Alaska?
• How active are geologic forces in Alaska? Where?

EXTEND

• What local geologic structures and/or processes are evident to your students?
• How may knowledge of such be important for you or your students?

• Teachers' Domain has many great non-video, interactive resources if you want to delve into the subject a little deeper, or if you are looking for teaching resources for your class.

Mountain Maker, Earth Shaker

Tectonic Plates, Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Rock Cycle Animation

EXPLORE SOME MORE....
Sometimes it seems like everything about Alaska is super-sized. The biggest mountains. The biggest earthquakes.  The biggest tsunamis.  Let's jump way ahead in our geologic timescale and take a look at the causes and effects of geologic upheaval in a few videos about some big geologic events and some bad days in recent human history.

1964 Alaska Earthquake






Alaska Tsunami



 

EXAMINE

• How are tectonics forces responsible for earthquakes and tsunamis?
• Why are tsunami inevitable along the gulf coast of Alaska?

 
EXTEND

Surviving the World's Biggest Waves
Some of the most dramatic Alaska Tsunami stories in Alaska are the result of the seismically active Fairweather fault that runs hundreds of miles along the coast of southeast Alaska--right through the head of Lituya Bay south of Yakutat on the Gulf of Alaska. 

Tlingit oral tradition tells of one such earthquake and resultant tsunami in 1853 or 1854 that devastated a village in Lituya Bay. The story, as told in Francis Caldwell's Land of the Ocean Mists, says that most of the men had left their village to hunt and returned later that same day to find their village was gone and only one young girl and her dog were spared because she had been on high ground picking berries. 

Another tsunami visited the same bay in 1936, wiping out the garden and shed of the Bay's sole inhabitant, Jim Huscroft. He, and his little cabin on Cenotaph Island, just barely survived that wave.  

But the most dramatic story in Lituya Bay tsunami history occurred late in the evening of July 9, 1958. Fishermen in their boats anchored in the sheltered waters of Lituya Bay for the night awoke to the terrible shaking and groaning of the earth. The result - a wave more than 1700 feet high.

Some fishermen lived to tell the story....

BBC Nature, MegaTsunami

What's Next?

Well, that was quite the journey. From plate tectonics to giant tsunamis, we've explored the BIG picture of the forces and processes that created Alaska's lithosphere. 

Now, we're off to explore how water in its various forms works to wear it all back down in the next section Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Cryosphere.

 

Module II - Atmosphere, Hydrosphere and Cryosphere

No matter where you are, we're glad you're here!
 


Essential Questions: 

• How are Alaska's natural systems interconnected?
• How have Alaska's natural systems changed over time?
• How does digital information change our understanding of natural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems inform our understanding of cultural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems relate to the roles of educators?

ENGAGE

A deeply carved fjord in Glacier Bay - C.Good

It's Cyclical 
You probably remember the water cycle from your school days.  Water evaporates from warmer regions of the planet and is transported by Earth's winds to the colder regions where it condenses and falls as rain or snow. Sound familiar?

And you may also recall learning how the surface of the Earth is weathered and eroded by various forces over time, and that the eroded sediments are transported by wind, water and gravity where they are deposited in low lying areas, including the ocean. No surprises, right?

In our previous section, we learned a bit about how mountains are made.  But we didn't discuss the fate that awaits them, as does all land above sea level.

Hanging glacier, Glacier Bay.  C.Good

Tall mountains - all mountains - become small mountains. It's just a matter of time. And gravity. And heat. And water. Lots and lots of water. Both liquid and solid.

In this section, we'll explore the tremendous force water in its various forms exerts on Alaska's landscapes.  From vapor to rain; From glaciers to rivers; From permafrost to sea ice - the atmosphere, hydrosphere and the cryosphere may be listed separately, but each are profoundly interconnected.

And ultimately, all three must be regarded collectively in order to understand how Alaska's climate dynamics, water and ice have shaped its physical contours for millions of years - and its cultures for thousands of years.

EXPLORE

Water, Water Everywhere?
Water, water everywhere, but how much can you drink? How much of Earth's water is in the ocean? How much is fresh? How much is in the atmosphere? How much is in lakes, rivers, or underground? How much of Earth's fresh water is stored frozen as permafrost and glaciers?  

Alaska's Water - A Big Drop in the Bucket
How would you estimate the planet's precious supply of water is distributed?

• CLICK HERE to explore some USGS educational resources.

 

I Only Have Ice For You

How much fresh water on Earth is stored in glaciers? How would you estimate the distribution of glaciers on Earth? In Alaska?

• CLICK HERE for more great USGS resources.

The Cryosphere is Here

Icy - I See Why
Our planet uses many of the same tricks that over-heated humans use to cool off. Our circulatory system is like the great ocean currents moving our excess heat to cooler places. We mist and fan ourselves, put on a white shirt and white broad-brimmed hat, or we head for the shade.

Likewise, Earth wears a white broad-brimmed polar cap that reflects radiant energy instead of absorbing it. Its raft of floating clouds create shade and its winds carry heat in the form of evaporated water away to cooler places. Same-same.

Along with the hydrosphere and lithosphere and atmosphere, we also have a region of Earth called the cryosphere that is dominated by ice. It's a relatively new term in our common language, but it's understanding is important as we learn more about the separate, but connected variables influencing climate in Alaska for millions of years.

Because heat always moves from where it's hot, to where it's not, we can suffice it to say Earth's icy poles provide the very desirable function of disposing excess planetary heat absorbed at lower latitudes. Sort of like Earth's air conditioner.

EXPLORE
Teachers Domain
 
This brief TD video describes the role of the cryosphere in regulating Earth's climate, as well as some of the dynamics observed in the sea ice and glaciers of the region.

Earth's Cryosphere: The Arctic

EXAMINE

• What are some roles of the cryosphere in regulating global climate?
• How are glaciers and sea ice different?

EXTEND

• What kind of snow and ice data exists for your region?
• Who in your area has an historical sense of local snow and ice dynamics?

ENGAGE 

Glaciologists--Ice Sages

Mendenhall Moulin Explorer-C.Goo

Imagine a mountain valley catching the moisture that falls within its boundaries and funnels it down into a lake sprawling across a low lying area. When the precipitation exceeds the capacity of the lake, it spills over into a river that flows down toward sea-level. Sounds reasonable and familiar. We've all seen it.

But what if the moisture that falls in the high mountain valley is snow that doesn't melt each spring? What's different? Erosion and sedimentation processes notwithstanding, any glaciologist will tell you, not too much is different -- if you've got the time to watch.

Snow falling at high elevations probably evaporated from the surface of the tropical ocean no more than a couple of weeks prior. This accumulating young snow compresses under its own increasing weight over time turning into dense, clear ice. 

When the lake of ice (ice field) fills to overflowing, the plastic river of ice flows out of the confines of its upper reaches and meanders slowly and massively downhill, grinding and eroding its own deep valley along the way on its journey to the sea.

Herbert Glacier near Juneau-C.Good

Inland glaciers flow out of high mountain valleys until they reach lower, warmer elevations and liberate their solid water and sediments into lakes and rivers off to find the sea. Alaska's coastal mountain ranges host many glaciers that surrender their centuries old cache of water directly into the ocean as ice--tidewater glaciers.

Tidewater glacier, Glacier Bay - C.Good

Whether indirectly by river or directly by glacier, water is constantly rejoining the ocean for the first time in many, many years. And it's doing so at a rate that presently exceeds the rate at which it is returned to the mountains as snow.

And like a river, a glacier's rate of flow is determined largely by the amount of precipitation accumulation that fills its reservoirs . Advancing glaciers are driven by accumulation rates that exceed its melting, or ablation, rate.

The Great Recession
Unlike liquid rivers, glaciers frequently change phase (melt) abruptly as they descend to warmer elevations. Glaciers that melt faster than they advance are called receding glaciers. This dance between accumulation and ablation, advance and retreat, is expressed over time as a glacier's mass balance.

Most glaciers have been receding since the LGM. But ice sages studying the mass balance of glaciers world-wide have noted recent acceleration in the ablation rates of glaciers, indicating overall increased rate of reduction in glacier mass balance.  

Lyrical Landscape Lexicon
Left behind the receding ice are the curious landforms unique to the forces of glaciers: esker, drumlin, kettle, moraine, cirque, tarn, kames, varve and arete are just part of the lyrical lexicon of glaciologists describing specific processes and formations that result from the advance and retreat of glaciers. You might be surprised by how many of these post glacial landscape features are part of our common geography.

From the Great Lakes to Cape Cod. From Long Island to Lituya Bay, each is a geologically recent product of the work of glaciers. And each was settled for the first time by the earliest north Americans shortly after the ice melted.

EXPLORE SOME MORE....
Teachers' Domain

Earth System-Ice and Global Warming








EXAMINE

• What different kinds of ice loss are evident?
• What factors affect a glaciers mass balance?
• How does glacial melt affect sea level?

EXTEND
Extreme Ice Survey 

Glaciers are often compared to rivers in terms of their motion, but to most of us they look solid and static. But what if you could speed-up time?

That's just what the scientists at the Extreme Ice Survey did by placing remote cameras focused on glacial landscapes and leaving them for more than a year. What emerges in the compressed sequence of images is the fluid motion of ice.

Visit the Extreme Ice Survey website and watch a time lapse Vimeo of the Mendenhall Glacier during the 16 months between May 2007 and September 2008.

Visit the USGS - Alaska Glacier Repeat Photography Project. It's an engaging collection of recent and old photographs contrasting many of Alaska's Glaciers over time.

ENGAGE   

See Ice - Sea Ice - Sea Level 
Slightly overfill a glass container with ice cubes and then add water, just so that it doesn't spill over. Let's call this container the Arctic Ocean. Then watch as the ice melts. What will happen to the sea-level in your glass as the ice melts? What would your students predict?  (Find the quick answer here)

We are told that as ice in our cold polar regions melts, sea-level increases as the ocean takes up the extra water. True enough--in part.

But as it turns out, the effects of melting ice depends very much on where the ice is located, whether on land or sea. And because so much ice was stored on land as glaciers, sea level was hundreds of feet lower during the last ice age, creating the Bering Land Bridge between northern Asia and North America

And even though most of North America lay under thousands of feet of ice from Anchorage to New York, much of central and a vastly more western Alaska harbored great ice free plains sandwiched between the towering ice fields and glaciers stretching to the east and south. 



EXPLORE SOME MORE....
Lower sea level at the time allowed the migration of all kinds or organisms between the northern continents. Great wooly mammoths and short-faced bears were among the local Pleistocene fauna here to greet early humans wandering the great ice free plains sandwiched between towering ice fields.

CLICK HERE to see an excellent interactive Alaska PaleoGlacier Atlas showing the extent of Alaska's glaciers over time.

CLICK HERE to visit the NPS site, Bering Land Bridge.

 
EXAMINE

• Why do does melting sea ice and glaciers have different effects on sea-level?
• How have landscapes and lifeforms changes since the Pleistocene?

ENGAGE

Seasonal Terrestrial Ice--Rivers & Lakes 
Besides glaciers, other terrestrial surface ice includes seasonal ice on lakes and rivers. The thickness of ice and the time of year at which lakes and rivers freeze and thaw is part of the seasonal cycles that shape the land and the behaviors of those that use them.

EXPLORE
YouTube 

Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Captured by regular folks with video cameras, these YouTube videos give you an idea of what annual river ice break-ups are all about.
 
Check out one or all.

• Tanana River Breakup 2009
• Ice Breakup on the Nenana River
• Breakup on the Yukon in Galena, Alaska

EXTEND

Teachers' Domain   

In this TD video we'll learn how students across Alaska are engaged in relevant and useful scientific measurements. They are helping to track local climate change in their region by measuring heat flux in lake ice across Alaska.


Students Measure Changes in Lake Ice and Snow

Fire and Ice   

As most any prankster with a Bic lighter can tell you, methane is flammable. Now let's see what happens when you give grown-ups a lighter and send them out on a frozen lake.


YouTube
Click on any or all of these YouTube videos relating to the relationship between lakes and methane. Some are pro and some are not.

• Methane flare from a lake in Fairbanks, Alaska
• Burning Methane from a Frozen Lake
• Burping Lakes
• Melting Permafrost Accelerating Global Warming

ENGAGE

Permafrost--A Sleeping Giant

Glaciers are easy to observe and monitor. They are right out in the open. But an enormous quantity of solid water is found just underground over much of the surface of North America.

Because these icy soils remain frozen year-round, we call them permafrost. But just how permanent is permafrost? And, is permafrost a sleeping giant problem?

Every year, the shallow surface, or active layer, in permafrost zones thaws in the summer allowing a brief window for plants to grow, die and partly decompose. But because freezing inhibits microbial decomposition of ancient plant matter, decomposition is very slow work in cold climates.

The non-decomposed material left over each year accumulates in an every-growing massive biomass store of frozen carbon. This is good if you want to take carbon out of the atmosphere--as long as it stays frozen.

How Firm a Foundation?

Ice can be very structural, as long as it remains solid. But, when sub-surface ice melts, man-made structures and natural systems are disrupted and altered. Undulating waves of surface soils and odd soggy polygonal patterns are indicators of localized changes in hydrology and the depth of permafrost.

Pingo, polygon ice wedges, thermokarst, and solifluction not yet in your daily vernacular? Permafrost science has its own fun language and heroes. Ever seen Tunnel Man? It's time to explore the weird world of permafrost.

EXPLORE SOME MORE....

NOAA's Ark of Arctic Information

One of Alaska's permafrost ice science heroes is Vladimir E. Romanovsky, Associate Professor Geophysical Institute University of Alaska, Fairbanks. NOAA hosts his research and photos on their Arctic Theme Page.

• CLICK HERE to read his overview of Alaska permafrost issues
• CLICK HERE to view an excellent permafrost photo gallery. 
• CLICK HERE  to visit NOAA's Arctic Theme Page. 
• CLICK HERE to visit the National Snow and Ice Data Center

EXAMINE

• How does melting permafrost affect local hydrology?
• How does permafrost changes affect topography?
• What positive feedback systems accompany melting permafrost?

EXTEND

Teachers' Domain

People on the land see firsthand the changes in the Melting Permafrost.

YouTube

 CLICK HERE to if you're brave enough to visit Tunnel Man.

• Describe the connections between water in its various phases where you live.

What's Next?

Whew! You survived a lot of ice science and a visit with Tunnel man.  Now we are prepared to discuss Climate Change and Human Migration.

Module II - Climate Change and Human Migration

No matter where you are, we're glad you're here!
 


Essential Questions:

• How are Alaska's natural systems interconnected?
• How have Alaska's natural systems changed over time?
• How does digital information change our understanding of natural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems inform our understanding of cultural systems?
• How does knowledge of natural systems relate to the roles of educators?

ENGAGE

Glacial Ice Ages
Pleistocene epoch, ice age, interglacial period, last glacial maximum--it's all a bit confusing until we tease out what these different terms mean and how they help us understand the long history of terrestrial ice on Earth.

Put simply, ice ages are longer periods of colder climate during which ice sheets cover much of the Earth. Interglacial periods are shorter periods of time in which glaciers periodically advance or recede in response to shorter-term climate cycles within the present ice age.

The maximum extent of the last glaciation (LGM) occurred about 18,000 years ago. Except for comparatively brief recent periods, glacial recession has been the norm for quite a while--ever since the last interglacial period ended about 12,000 years ago.

During the LGM, a person could have walked from Alaska to New York across an uninterrupted ice sheet, in places thousands of feet thick. Now, except for the return of seasonal snow each winter, the landforms of most of North America are clear of most of the snow and ice that covered so much it for about 100,000 years.

Thousands of years ago, Earth's climate was again beginning to warm for reasons related to large complex climatic cycles that have regulated ice ages over millions of years.

With just a few million people world-wide at the beginning of agricultural settlement about 10,000 years ago, humanity's carbon footprint was the tiniest fraction of our present scale of carbon combustion. But as populations grew and people migrated, humans became part of the post-glacial biological succession, naturally, as ice sheets and glaciers receded and people advanced into the emerging landscapes.

EXPLORE

Teachers' Domain

Taking Earth's Temperature is a TD video that correlates several methods scientists are using globally to measure the rate and extent of climate change.




EXPLORE SOME MORE....

Visit NASA's Earth Observatory to see their animation of global seasonal snow  between the Feb. 2000 and Sept. 2009.  Check out some of the other interesting Earth systems animations while you're there.



Visit the Alaska PaleoGlacier Atlas and find interactive maps detailing Alaska's topography and climate.
 



National Snow and Ice Data Center and Alaska Climate Summaries  offer excellent data regarding weather and climate data in specific regions.


EXAMINE

• What are some ways Earth's temperature is measured daily?
• How has Alaska's climate changed over millions of years?
• Why is Alaska an important indicator for climate change?

EXTEND

• What are some other sources of credible climate information?

ENGAGE

Climate Control Issues
There's much more to Earth's dynamic climate than the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at any given time. There are many climate variables that interact in complex cycles over long periods of time.

The Sun's increasing energy output, Earth's changing orbital distance, speed of rotation, tilt, plate tectonics, land-to-ocean ratio, volcanoes, wildfires and even meteorites all play roles in the climate dynamics on this little planet.   

But Earth's complex history of atmospheric gases reveals that over millions of years, Earth has moved its carbon stores around using various biological, chemical and geological processes. 

And as a result, Earth's climate has fluctuated many times over eons from cold to hot to cold, over and again, more or less gradually, as numerous climate variables interacted over the eons.

For the folks conducting actual climate research, it's big math and big science to fit the pieces the puzzle together properly.

Anthropogenic Climate Change
So how is climate change now any different than in the past? What's causing the recent acceleration in the increase of the average temperature on Earth? In a word, industrialization.

The carbon which nature has been sequestering for hundreds of millions of years, humans have been liberating as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, mostly through our industrial technologies and agricultural practices over the past 150 years.

In short, by re-releasing atmospheric gases from nature's carbon caches at rates far exceeding those nature used to create and store them, humans have thrown some of Earth's intricate systems out of balance. Because everything is connected!

EXPLORE

Teachers' Domain

Here's the basic science of how Earth's different systems interact to regulate the planet's climate.  

The Physics of the Greenhouse Effect



EXAMINE

• What causes climate to change?
• Why is change sometimes sudden?
• What are some ways Earth naturally stores and releases carbon dioxide?
• What is the role of anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gases? 

EXTEND
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.



Information is Beautiful - Climate Change Consensus

Information is Beautiful - Sea Level Change

ENGAGE

When Did the First Americans Arrive?

One thing that is constant is change. Today, Alaska certainly doesn't look anything like it did when humans first started poking around this patch of ground. Starting with the fact that the ocean was lower by hundreds of feet and it was dry land between Asia and Alaska. And giant mammals abounded.

So, even though the rate of sea level change is presently increasing, it's easy to see sea level has been rising and falling for quite a while. But what role did sea-level and ice play in the people-ing of places?

EXPLORE

Teachers' Domain

When Did the First Americans Arrive? 

EXAMINE

• What are some connections between climate, sea-level, glaciers and human migrations?
• What other evidence contributes to ideas about human migrations in North America?
• What are the likely routes taken by North America's earliest human inhabitants?

ENGAGE

Cultural Connections
In April, 2009, representatives of indigenous peoples from across the planet converged on Anchorage, Alaska to discuss the impacts of climate change in their respective regions - Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change, hosted by the Inuit Circumpolar Council.

Along with developing strategies to help curtail changes, as well as adapt to them, representatives also worked to improve cultural understanding in order to help assure the sustainability of indigenous cultures living closest to the land and traditionally relying most directly on its natural resources.

It's reasonable that those who have lived close to nature for many years are going to be first to notice changes. Science has a great deal to tell us about the Big Picture, but our friends and neighbors who rely on nature's abundance to survive don't need a scientist to see that sometimes change comes quickly.

EXPLORE
Teachers Domain

Check out these TD videos on the impacts of climate change on cultures that have depend on Arctic sea-ice.

Global Warming Threatens Shishmaref






Arctic Climate Perspectives






Hunters Navigate Warming Arctic

EXAMINE

• What is the role of sea-ice in providing food for Arctic people?
• How has the unpredictability of seasons changed the lifestyle of Arctic peoples?

EXTEND

• What are the local indicators of climate change where you live?
• What cultural resources can you use to describe local changes?
• What other digital resources reflect the climate perspectives of indigenous peoples?

What's Next?

Now it's time to ask the question, "How do you Google Earth?