Thursday, October 15, 2009

Blog Action Day: Climate Change

As a part of Blog Action Day 2009, I am doing a post about climate change. Over 9,000 other blogs in 150 other countries are posting about this same topic today. Why am I concerned about climate change? Because the changes that I have seen in Alaska's climate, just in my lifetime, will surely have big consequences for my child's future. The Elders I work with in the Alutiiq community always say the environment is changing, that they can no longer predict when the berries will be ripe, or if there will be good salmon runs or an easy winter.

It seems ridiculous for people to still be insisting that climate change is a myth, when 99% of the scientiic community agrees that climate change is occurring, and that it is caused by man. The scariest thing is that the best we can hope for is to slow down the rapidity of climate change long enough to give ourselves time to adapt. Even if we stop all greenhouse gas emissions today it will take hundreds of years for the atmosphere to recover.

I know that I am in part to blame for the greenhouse gasses that are contributing to climate change. I drive a car. I sometimes drink bottled water. I don't always recycle. I fly frequently by airplane. But I plan to do better. And I hope that on this day you will think about your own role and make one little change to help slow down climate change.

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