The NRF theme project group on Climate Change provides an opportunity for open discussion of issues, concerns, solutions and debate on climate change in the Arctic and beyond, especially as it effects local populations, both indigenous and non-indigenous. Local populations in the North are on the front lines of this global problem at a time when their cultures and livelihoods are already threatened by such trends as accelerating natural resource development stimulated by trade liberalization, alienation of their youth and increasing influences of consumerism and globalization.

Beyond the overall global effect of rising temperatures, on local scales, climate change is resulting in combinations of effects including the altering of the timing, frequency and intensity of precipitation, the direction and intensity of winds, waves, ocean currents and storm circulations, the volume of rivers, and the ranges of plants and animals. Researchers say the greatest number of people will be affected by climate change through more frequent drought and spreading desertification, by rising sea levels that inundate coastal communities, through the expanded range of diseases like malaria and dengue fever, and by the disappearance of glaciers, which is already occurring in the Arctic and other areas.

Theme project group of Climate Change is coordinated by:

Patricia Cochran, Executive Director, Alaska Native Science Commission, Alaska (pcochran [@] aknsc.org)

Ass. Professor Susie Crate, George Mason University, USA (scrate1 [@] gmu.edu)