Alaska a land of adventure where people and nature pose a test to each other but its also a part of the u. S. Thats being particularly hard hit by Climate Change. The last fifteen years ive seen a lot of change up here i mean it is really dramatic. Projection now is that by the end of the century about two thirds of the ice field to the jihads field will disappear. Nor the current trend of Climate Change continues. Most likely with the two to three decades asylum is going to be on the water. The Juneau Ice Field for alan gordon the most beautiful place on earth he comes here every spare moment he has the region comprises almost four thousand square kilometers of glacial terrain the effort invested in each climb is rewarded with spectacular panoramic views but he knows he has to savor this beauty while it lasts the ice is melting and when i first came out here a long time ago. The ice was a couple hundred feet higher and it was just flat across i could ski to or crossed out here. To get here but now i have to ice climb to get out here and its completely changed. The rapid pace of change to the glassy he tells us makes every one of his trips unique its a bittersweet feeling. Here and heard views the developments through the objective eyes of a scientist and. He and Alan Gordon Cross paths from time to time they talk about the weather climbing routes and natures vulnerability out there. Where we get up over here we can pray take a shower together theyre looking at a phenomenon the day that they call the suicide base in alaska. So it will go away and then as it floods in a nice will settle back down into the basin so essentially its kind of like a giant bathtub thats billowing out with melt water from the suicide glacier there and then draining out into the mendenhall so theres flooding on some streets they have to close some of the areas of the Visitors Center there to turn off the power in some areas. Measurements carried out by the scientist show that the ice is losing almost ten metres in height here every year u. S. President trump however does not seem concerned his government has slashed billions of dollars from federal funding for climate research. Here in hood feels his work is under threat. When they start to cut funding for Earth Science thats going to have a big impact on our ability to study you know things like this thats going on here and to study the changes that we see in mandan on the juno ice field and so thats really where the big impact is going to come and its not just his own research hes worried about trump he says has also managed to sow the seeds of doubt about Climate Change in the minds of Many Americans. There can ban said donald trump can come in and cut back on regulations cut back on Climate Change research and thats going to somehow stimulate the economy and you know thats very convincing to people that are you know need jobs and need to support their families. But the facts speak for themselves the mendenhall glass year alone retreated by five hundred fifty metres between two thousand and seven and two thousand and fifteen what is sorely lacking is the political will to stop this trend. President trump has said his country the objective of becoming energy selfsufficient and that goal turns environmental regulations into annoying obstacles so that at least is how trump explains it to his followers believe thats going to happen and i know you have a little bit of a drought weve lifted those restrictions on energy of all types were putting our miners back to work weve canceled restrictions on oil and natural gas weve ended the e. P. A. Intrusion into your jobs and energy a lives. Once literally cooled Climate Change a chinese hoax aimed at damaging u. S. Competitiveness and easy after becoming president he announced that the United States would pull out of the paris climate treaty. In order to protect american industry and workers we withdrew the United States from the job killing powers climate accord job killer people have no way. Many people have no idea how bad that was. The hard core of his supporters celebrate trump for his decision however only around one third of americans support the decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement. The lake looks placid enough but under the surface the effects of the melting glasses are making themselves felt and bold draw from the university of alaska is investigating the impact. What looks like a fishing trip is hard scientific work the size of the fish enables the team to assess the waters nutrient content glaciers around alaska are melting and receding and all of that glacial runoff and the downstream in the last two words here basically where the river meets the salt water and that changes habitat for fish its not just for fish that the habitat is changing so too are the scientists working conditions theyre already experiencing the impact of the president s opposition to climate studies and the resulting funding cuts. Everybody is is concerned about. Less and less funding for science and in my Research Group most of our funding is federal and some of it state and the state of alaska is having a tough time in terms of the budget too and so were kind of getting squeezed in from a couple different directions. The Research Funds are guaranteed for this year but soon the scientists could be facing very difficult times. But i think what it means is that we wouldnt be able to have as many students who are getting their training as scientists and thats i think a real loss for science overall because we need more young people coming in to kind of you know generate. New knowledge excitement for the environment. Were now on our way to an island that gradually drowning in the ocean six hundred native alaskan in new p. R. People live in the small village of shishmaref this light aircraft landsea twice a day. A cell signal greets us at the time yeah hes only twenty years old but already the village is most famous. A cell is an environmental activist he wants to show us how is homes being affected by Climate Change there are virtually no cars in shishmaref is no cinema and no restaurants for a long time the people here lived only off what they could hunt or fish. But the ocean is both friend and foe shishmaref is increasingly defenseless against storms and erosion every year the island loses several meters of land. Because of that. Two houses fell down actually my grandparents house is right there and there are other horrors that they had right beside it fell into the ocean and another house that. If you search subsystem are most likely youll see the house but as you can see its not here anymore. Nineteen other houses have been moved to another part of the island but theres almost no hope for shishmaref in the long term according to forecasts the entire island would have drowned in twenty to thirty years time you know its very. Disheartening and very sad to realize that we have to move our entire island one day because its going to erode away into the ocean because the climate to. Base our invites us to his home the menacing ocean is right outside his kitchen window. I says mother doesnt want to give up the house yet even though the danger is coming closer all the time. There was another storm later. That affected this home we had to evacuate within hours i packed everything up and moved my inlaws to another location. And now it was a. Community effort. Because the waves were actually crashing beyond the house first yeah with the help of his mother a sam wants to teach us how to make a new piano icecream. Its made using reindeer fat and seal oil mixed with berries. To Climate Change is an issue the berries have to be bought frozen in the past the family always picked their own but the environment has changed. Not enough snow fall. The snow helps retained. As far as watering the plants. Too much when its going to blow we need to flowering assess you much rain is going to ground them out so we worry. I saw has several photos of his uncle norman in his room it was his death that triggered a sows decision to fight for the environment the more the norman he passed away because of Climate Change he noted the ice where he felt through would usually be thick and. Broke when he drove on it. So he fell through the ice and passed away like so far earth warrior norman was more than just an uncle to a cell who had to grow up without a father activists you know he was my father figure he or was. Always there for me and he. And lightened a lot of peoples hearts he was really respected in the in the community he was a great hunter and a fisherman and provider and he sounds uncle is already present in the living room to. The weather conditions becoming a life threatening the island has voted in favor of relocating to the mainland by a small majority. They say i was in favor but his grandfather definitely doesnt want to leave shishmaref. No matter what that no matter what. They slow the game we will im. Ill probably be here. Yes. Oh wait no im not going to go nowhere. To my place here you were on board so theres a rift in the family that they dont like to talk about the grandparents admire you some because hes raising awareness across the us for the fate of fish morass. Hes even spoken in the white house barack obama subsequently sent him a Christmas Card what does a cell think about obamas successor trump i hope he doesnt give me a Christmas Card this year. Seeing that our president right now. Doesnt believe in Climate Change and you know i live here in just rafa and just rafas the front lines of Climate Change a law school is the front lines of Climate Change and two hundred twenty communities all over alaska. Should trump ever visit shish but i have a sourwood to take him here first to his uncle normans grave. On my. I do all this work because of him because no one should ever feel. That feeling that i had for the past ten years so i dont want anyone else to lose a lot of ground because of Climate Change. Were back with scientist iren hood hes showing us a few old where the water has two colors to the left lighter side is the melt water of the juno ice field by the end of the century two thirds of the glacial area will have disappeared he says which is one of the big outlet glaciers from the ice field and so its really important for us to understand how this water thats coming from the glacier is influencing the productivity of marine ecosystems because we know in the future that theres going to be a lot less of this water. The ecosystem is also home to these humpback whales. Working as a group they create a net of ad bubbles on the water which they used to drive small fish and crustaceans to the surface where theyre easy to catch its a trick called bubble net feeding. Bob jones runs boat trips for scientists a nature enthusiastic hes worried that the whales will be negatively affected by Climate Change. Are seeing changes with the in the food chain yet the food chain is change due to warming the water there were going to see changes in the well were not were not were Perfect Place for research for this right now i mean this is a great place for whale watching but whats really important Climate Change on the horizon and what we know is learning about it. Were going to were going to see more and more research being necessary. Hes outraged that President Trump appointed a climate skeptic as head of the Environmental Protection agency. I feel its a shame that our administration and our president has seen i climb or at least put it in the background if it is personally i think ridiculous sad and something that if we as american u. S. Citizens should be ashamed. Believe scientists like iran hood should have presented their research more effectively to the public then President Trump wouldnt have had such an easy time challenging them to bob has a solution in mind hes asking for donations to Fund Research in the future the results would be visible here one day at the Alaska Ocean Center which he plans to build on this post industrial waste land in juneau it will be part Research Facility partnering science visitor attraction from the distributing plant bump has to raise twenty four Million Dollars for the project and the part that extends up on top of the building as our administration came in and policies came into effect and we saw what was happening we even even took on a broader i idea thought that was to connect with the private sector as much as we can or there is already found the first scientist who wants to keep his Research Site from trump here Climate Change studies have already disappeared from some government websites if you think it through science places. Or the federal government as far as you know what im what im seeing and reading and what ive heard from my colleagues and scientists. Were very very concerned about data sets and information thats not being collected i mean not. Not even to talk about perhaps whats being done with the existing data set he wants to take better care of all the dates are in the future he also wants to encourage his fellow scientists to continue fighting for the cause theres a lot of concern anger depression but i dont think that i mean you get over that right and you need to move forward and this is one way of moving forward is getting the science out there more with the alaska science center. The Research Results are to be made public around the world also by the tourists you know gets from the cruise liners the stop here. For the residents of juneau is still wrestling with their attitude to Climate Change should they proclaim their support for the Paris Agreement even though the president has announced the u. S. Would pull out the town has been debating the issue for months the goal of the Paris Agreement is to limit warming to two degrees celsius the United States had promised three billion dollars a year to help climate protection measures. Appear a waste of money believes the mayor of juneau can coast like trump is a republican. What is america given given how they are giving away three billion dollars. That doesnt make sense to me i think its very important that we leave our next generation without this humongous debt that were currying. If were going to put in three billion dollars into something i think we need to make a huge impact and i think the amount of degrees lower in the temperature is fairly maneuvered. What does the myth think about the mendenhall glassy melting and with it one of his towns main attractions. Well just thirty miles south of posts we have pleasures that are advancing so you should see the taku glacier which is one that is advancing so. We feel badly that were losing our glacier but we also realize that things are cyclical or you know if we live long enough to go back but i dont think im ready. For some matches playing down such a serious issue is no laughing matter hes battling the consequences of Climate Change every day tom is junos emergency coordinator. Well one of the unique things about Climate Change is that not only is it getting warmer but we have extreme weather conditions where we sometimes have warmer winters and sometimes have colder and longer winter so were seeing extreme storm cycles this particular place is one of the biggest avalanche potential catastrophes in the world there are sixty two houses a hotel and a boat harbor all located in avalanche strain. For many people whove built their homes here that means their lives are at risk. So on any given day we could have an avalanche that would be a roughly six feet deep in the starting zone which would come through the houses down here down low roughly thirteen feet deep doing close to sixty miles an hour carrying houses with it. Tom has to take a cable car to get to his place of work its high up above the town. Using this weather station tom has to predict avalanches in the region his full costs can save lives but the consequences of Climate Change are a major challenge. So were finding bigger storms and longer duration storms and storms and more precipitation and perhaps even more warming through a storm than weve seen in the past all those affected avalanche conditions in a way that are very dynamic toms work is also affected by Climate Change not being a focus of the governments thinking and by cuts in funding. Our local National Weather service is significantly understaffed and once again with the new administration and budget changes theyre going to stay understaffed they dont have the ability to do a perfect job because they dont have enough people to do a perfect job. As a result its getting harder and harder to ensure the town safety for all the outstanding beauty nature cannot conceal its deadly side. The island of shishmaref has long been a deceptive it ill but despite the ubiquitous threat as south senaki is determined to nurture the traditions of the new pm. Needed seals and salmon drying in the arctic air supplies for the winter. Since the storm is approaching they summoned his friend sam a covering that catch with plastic sheets. Was the secret behind the traditional preparation of seal meat. With just what is your it and then we hang it yes thats the symbol of. The hunted self is becoming increasingly difficult the moment temperatures are rapidly changing the habitat of many animals. Protects the bar of the summer i sat our centuries years old up on the north pole its going to melt by the year two thousand and forty so. What that its very critical for our sea old for war is even the polar bears we dont really get the marks around just rough but also. Their. Populations are shrinking but at the moment everyone here is trying to make the best out of the adverse Living Conditions but the ocean is gradually claiming the island for itself when will the time have come to leave. We go to the town hall to find out more about the planned relocation madinah shows us on a map where the new shipment is to be built around ten kilometers from here on the mainland where we just recently voted. Heres where were at right now its unclear however whether all the residents would participate in the move the marys concerned or the Community Cohesion for which she loves a hometown so much could be lost for the old pond when theres a search and rescue and you know if somebody is lost in a snow storm we Work Together to find the hunter or the individual. We are carrying on our. Call turn traditions through teaching our young ones how to hunt can live off our land and understand our history so that the photographs don a bomb has in our office remind her day in day out of how much a community is threatened by storm surges and erosion she uses them to try and explain to older residents in particular the need to relocate this plan for the relocation that would save them already exists. There. The approved version has been on the table for a year now the move would cost around three hundred Million Dollars but the government in washington on the other side of the country hasnt agreed to any Financial Aid donna barr feels abandoned by donald trump i am not happy with our president trying to pull out of the Paris Agreement for Climate Change. Where real people here who live our lives like everybody else in the whole world. And Climate Change is real for us it affects our animals our way of life and our whole swear we live in. We say farewell to an island that washington does not want to know about and one will probably not see again. Soon our companies us to the mainland some of his relatives who have already fled to the port of numb. His girlfriend geralyn also lives here the people have no more open minded and hospitable even though the gold rush is long gone here the town carnival is always a very lively affair. Old and young living the legend of america as the melting pot of cultures. Knows about anything about nature the outdoors anyones welcome Fishing Hunting even picking berries off the tundra. Yeah anyones welcome here do all that even in the winter time is still. Generally a. Pretty Diverse Community as far as the ethnic says these. Nice place known as a place where many natives have come in the past and the integration i think works fairly well we have lots of activities that promote a cultural awareness and culture integration and i think gnome is a very open place for native culture always has been. New p. R. Performance is one of the highlights of the carnival. The man is a colorful character as a young man who sang on broadway in new york. When he felt life spinning out of control he sought and found peace in alaska how prepared does he think his town is for a growing number of climate refugees. The integration culturally does very close you know that is not particularly in issue housing thats an issue we need you know we need more housing and not just something that we were going to have to work on. But since the mood is good overall the man even gives us a sample of his previous life as a musical cabaret style. Our readers zuma abbey and char goodbye. I think these days all meets up with his uncle dick youre welcome. Thank you. Oh no dont cover your he moved from fishman after gnome with his family dickie preferred to go voluntarily rather than be forced to go in the future ensure he was responsible for preserving the new p. R. Culture which had a big influence on his nephew. Stretched theres a saying that goes it takes a village to raise a child and i was too with me i grew up with. Stephanie the whole entire system of community and thats howards shaped. Dickys decision to move to know was the hardest of his life but he simply couldnt see a future for his children in schiffman after. You. Have to give my my own kids a chance to adapt to western cultural. Lifestyles because in the future i dont think we have the news and the choices. Dicky still hasnt quite got used to the barbecue on the balcony with to babs from the supermarket. On the island he was able to take care of his family all on his own but he finds the town challenging. So this is this is a totally new. Hunting lifestyle that i have to adjust to interest round for grew up. I could tell the werther just by looking at the landscape i could tell the. Water when its going to church was going to rough and i could tell different. Species coming in. To his nets now remain dry on an increasingly frequent basis. That hes his relatives from shishmaref sometimes send the parcel with roll well me called back tack. This thought to all but that doesnt help with his in a conflict either dicky expresses his feelings with the barbed wire and the orca. This truck tool really shouldnt have always been my cultural her cage. And dropped in the washroom. And hes on his girlfriend are still going back and forth between two worlds. They dont know yet where they want to live in future he can continue his fight against Climate Change anyway its a fight for which generally very much advise him. He puts a lot of heart in it then he you know is out to do he like i dont know he just says touches peoples hearts and makes then were lives like that. He had the courage to move out of sr math like not a lot of people like move out of the village and it takes a lotta heart to get out of that village especially moving from my family who. Has only gets cold feet when the tide takes them by surprise and then its time for these two to say goodbye. And courage is the largest port in alaska and the States Economic center. Interning here with an Environmental Organization he wants to learn to organize his work more efficiently but his boss harvey is also learning from i admire its size humor because i think especially in our danny ainge we need humor to be able to guide us through some of the horrible things that are going down but also i think his depth of character and his integrity are they shine through everything he does including all the people that he me. Is also an environmental warrior who never gives up even though hes home of shishmaref is destined to disappear. And that the way that you saw shares the story is really compelling because it doesnt say weve got to throw our hands up how horrible is this its you know constantly and tirelessly saying you know weve got to not be drilling offshore weve got to keep fossil fuel in the ground down at the docks the viewpoint is quite different people here are hoping for a new oil and gas boom under president obama offshore drilling was banned in large parts of the arctic thats changing under President Trump. Treadwell was once alaskas left governor today he works as a consultant to Large Businesses the republican supporter sees golden times ahead for ill ask. The President Trump has kept his promises to alaska to reverse obamas policy on energy to push exports to push infrastructure to push National Security to reduce regulation were seeing all those things happen. His hope is for oil and gas to bring jobs and prosperity. The political debate about Climate Change is a nuisance for most people here. They prefer taxpayers money to be invested in expanding the harbor not into climate protection projects. And not us. I just i believe that there are some human impacts on the climate but at the same time you know if you think by raising your taxes youre going to change the weather i will sell you a bridge. Tried well once to convince us of the advantages of Climate Change and invites us to his home he wants to show us why the ice melting in the arctic ocean is a good thing for shipping now. The major advantage is that the arctic ocean is suddenly accessible for a big tourist ships were to see the crystal serenity come around through the Northwest Passage again china is already begin to ship container ships across here russia which only had a European Market for its siberian natural gas now can ship it to asia. Treadwell believes the whole environmental debate should kwanten down at last then he says well positive aspects of Climate Change would come to light but its an opportunity for the whole world. One thing that is said about this is that if a ship is saving forty percent of its distance to bring chinese goods to germany then youre helping the climate there because youre burning less fuel. So what do the locals think about such arguments sitting here having a beer its ironic that the favorite bar in the heart of this Economic Center is called darwins theory. Alaska particularly honestly the probably in the further ahead there will be hi there is theres enough benefits in the future to a Free Shipping in the Northwest Passage across canada and through last year with a very see and every day of other reasons that would increase economic well being. Americans with very different backgrounds come together here from dock workers to lawyers do they believe in the human impact on global warming. I i dont know that i mean i know i learned one when i learned in college is that Climate Change this is all right and over time and there have been periods of time where that rubble changes. You know whether its been hit salaried it or not by then finds out she was i dont know i dont know i think its arrogant to think that humans dont have an impact on our environment of course we do a lot more people a lot more. Work coming more knowledge is worse creating things building things on itself using resources that kind of thing. Theres a war being waged on the streets of america about whos right when it comes to Climate Change hes also an arc isnt scared of confronting his opponents directly. Right. Hes visiting the local youth wing of the republicans here in the lions den he wants to advocate for state funds for the relocation of the People Living on his threatened island environment its really hard to find the funding and the allocation and the resources of mine you know three hundred Million Dollars to relocate so. Thats why im stepping up and addressing this that were story here that in the back and the more people are still here that we are americans and we need the help i guess thats one thing that we you know where our nation when we talk about money and allocating funds i mean were i think twenty two trillion in debt so the reliance on the fact that they are saying that you know we just need a bunch of money but were broke although it sounds arguments are given an attentive the republicans here believe the state to have only partial responsibility the government has a role to play absolutely but it shouldnt be the sole role of the government to do this especially since this land was built on permafrost theres been a long long history of erosion and so if they choose to continue to build on this in this area youve got to go forward knowing that thats a dangerous and risky move. Wont accept that his community is merely dealing with the problems they created for themselves out of the other. Hadnt moved to the island voluntarily after all they moved there off to being pressured by the u. S. Government which built a school there it was part of an Education Program under which grandparents suffered you know they were abused and they were hit and they were. You know they were sent home and put in the corner and here were the rulers because they spoke in the back language in the school word that it was an encourage and they tried to some late us and try to let us not speak our language much only the goodbyes conciliatory and about the bush yeah if they can you leave on his way home he mulls over the mystery of why the republican stance on Climate Change is so uncompromising after a few exhausting appointments like this one. Has the edge to get out of the city. Hes heading for a glacier he visited a few years ago. Hes a wanted to forget about politics for a few hours but when he sees how much the class era has retreated in such a short time he cant help being vocal. Having our president. Who has no experience in politics no experience in meeting even a community who has multiple bankruptcies. And does not. Know how to lead my past present such a present like that is just very sad. While tourists have a good time here is all becomes melancholy as he walks around the glass and. You know every time im by you know water by hours think of my uncle. Norman. He was a father figure for me me and him would do everything together we would go hunting and fishing and camping together. As i would like to have children sooner rather than later hes already thinking about what kind of wont they would be born into. Wondering if my kids and their kids are going to live to see a glacier actually and theyre living here in alaska. In the future of the theyre going to live here in alaska and ask me you know. Whats a glacier and the hawk to see it in books and in movies them not in person like we are privileged to see right now. Alan golden also fills every one of his climbing trips is a big privilege when hes out here eos himself why so Many Americans are burying their heads in the sand most notably the current occupant of the white house. The president s denial of Climate Change is kind of mind blowing i dont understand it like how you can not see whats happening right. Front of us. Just as he hammers his ice ax into the melting glass yet alan would sometimes like to hammer home the facts about Climate Change to his fellow americans and ideally witnesses impact here for themselves. Whats Pretty Amazing out here and i challenge everybody to try and get out in the mountains and explore the glaciers while we can still enjoy them i know theyll be here for a while but theyre receding and changing so much. Its not too late yet to experience alaskas ice fields and at the moment at least everyone has a little bit of influence over how long this land of adventure continue to exist. One hundred million tons of sand. Tempest precipitates. Deadly consequences to. Dust storms. Come the loss of. The america two and frequency. Once they start theres no stopping them. The storm is starting to feel safe on t w. It is the number one killer the number one noncommunicable diseases that we are. This is news coming to you live from berlin performing peace some of south koreas best known bands play a rare concert in chong yet the north Korean Leader kim jong un tells state media he was deeply moved by the experience so what does it mean for diplomacy also coming up in syria rebel fighters are reported to have agreed to a deal to give up a key stronghold near damascus but the plight of civilians trapped there remains unclear. Their response to u. S. Pres
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