Such changes are not merely curiosities from a remote area. They have severe impacts on the lives of residents of northern Alaska, most of whom are Alaska Natives pursuing traditional ways of life deeply rooted in the local environment. The changes seen in the Arctic are the early signs of changes in climate that are likely to affect much of the world in the next several decades. The impacts to Arctic residents and the lessons those impacts have for the rest of the country and the world are ignored at our peril. It is clear that more attention is needed to assess the risks that we face and to identify actions that can be taken to minimize those risks.
More attention is needed to the species that affect people directly.
Policy makers give too little attention to environmental change. Better information is needed about specific regional scenarios for changes in sea ice, especially for helping to identify potential impacts to communities. More systematic use should be made of the expertise that Alaska Natives have in observing the environment, extending back many decades in personal memory and farther in what has been handed down from past generations. Subsistence hunting, fishing, and gathering are vital and irreplaceable activities for Alaska Native communities, but it is difficult or impossible to express their full significance. A common thread to these and other discussions during the workshop was that climate change is a far-reaching threat to coastal communities.