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Barrow, Alaska: Ground Zero for Climate Change [from the Smithsonian]
Photo courtesy of: Denis Scott / Corbis
'Bowhead' whales are named for the massive bony skulls that enable them to break through ice to breathe. They can live up to 200 years; adults weigh up to 100 tons. Their biannual migrations between the Bering Sea and the Eastern Beaufort Sea carry them past Barrow each fall and spring. “The whale is central to our culture,” Mayor Itta had told me. “The warmer ocean and currents will markedly shorten our spring whaling season.” He was concerned about possible changes in whale migration patterns and sea ice conditions; hunters must travel over ice to reach whales. “The impacts are around us already. We need more baseline science so we can measure these impacts over time.”
Bowhead whales are a major source of food for Native Alaskans. Scientists in Barrow are studying the whales' migration patterns as well as the abundance of the krill that feeds bowheads off Barrow each year.
[ article.]
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As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world (that is the myth of the Atomic Age) as in being able to remake ourselves. —Mohandas K. Gandhi
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