According to BusinessWeek magazine, the wind crossing Cook’s Inlet in Southwest Alaska still feels pretty cold in the month of March, but lately it’s not cold enough. For the past half-century, the daily minimum temperature in Homer, Alaska averaged minus 7C degrees (19F). However, in the past five years, it has averaged minus 4C degrees (25F), and last March averaged minus 1C degree (30F) just two degrees colder than Washington, D.C., located 1,200 closer to the equator.
Ask yourself if you think we are encountering a climate change. As winters turn warmer in Alaska, snow turns to rain, coastal bluffs begin to erode, less snow means less drinking water, and warmer streams threaten Cook’s Inlet’ billion dollar fishing industry.
Warmer water has also increased the toxic plankton blooms that leach into oysters and clams. When eaten by humans, the toxins can cause amnesia, extreme diarrhea, paralysis, and even death.
Homer is lucky compared to neighboring villages that are slipping into the ocean. Across Alaska, in towns built on permafrost, rising temperatures are causing the ground to sink. During the summer, drier temperatures are leading to more forest fires. “Environmental change is not a theoretical in Alaska”, says the state manager of Climate Sciences and Services.
Alaska is an extreme example of the U.S.’s failure to prepare for climate change, and this is due to a lack of planning and funding. States along the Atlantic Coast have resisted adopting the latest model building codes designed to protect against extreme weather. In the absence of state actions, the federal government has taken on this responsibility. But that planning and spending may be in doubt with President Trump’s initial budget cut requests. If Alaska does not pay attention, other states will be next.
Hopefully, British Columbia is doing all it can to prepare for climate change.
