How have changes in Arctic environment over the past 50 years affected the Alaska Native community?
Native observations of change in the marine environment of the Bering Strait region Caleb Pungowiyi Special Advisor on Native Affairs Marine Mammal Commission P.O. Box 217 Kotzebue, AK 99752, USA Since the late 1970s, Alaska Natives in communities along the coast of the northern Bering and Chukchi Seas have noticed substantial changes in the ocean and the animals that live there. While we are used to changes from year-to-year in weather, hunting conditions, ice patterns, and animal populations, the past two decades have seen clear trends in many environmental factors. If these trends continue, we can expect major, perhaps irreversible, impacts to our communities. With these concerns in mind, we believe this workshop will be a vital opportunity to discuss our concerns and observations with scientists who are working on similar issues in the same area, and to work together to figure out what can be done. Beginning in the late 1970s, the patterns of wind, temperature, ice, and currents in
