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Late Breaking News |
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| Date: August 12, 1998 10:46am Contact: Greenpeace Kalee Kreider, 202-319-2414 or 202-256-1207 (mobile), or Andrew Davies, 202-319-2432, (both in Washington); or Dan Ritzman of Greenpeace (Alaska), 907-277-8234 |
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Latest News Releases
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Alaska Natives Provide Personal Testimony of the Impacts of Global Warming | ||
| WASHINGTON - August 12 - News Advisory: Decreased sea ice extent and thickness, the earlier onset of spring and the influx of insects and other animals from the south are some of the changes which Alaska Natives have identified in personal testimonies on the impacts of climate change, as compiled in a Greenpeace report released today. While the world last month sweltered through the hottest month since record keeping began a century ago, the Western Arctic is warming at a rate approximately 3-5 times the global average. Alaska Natives and climate scientists agree that the Arctic is already experiencing the impacts of global warming. "Subsistence ways of life and activities, such as hunting, fishing and gathering of plants, are crucial to Alaska Native peoples' way of life. Even subtle changes in temperature over the long term can affect our ability to live as our parents and grandparents have," said Art Ivanoff, chair of the non-profit organization Arctic Network and a resident of Unalakleet, Alaska. "We need a healthy environment to fully preserve our traditional values, culture and spirituality." Alaska Natives joined Greenpeace and Arctic Network to release the report, "Answers from the Ice Edge." It is a product of a two-year project which gathers eyewitness accounts based on traditional knowledge -- a foundation that includes thousands of years of observation and living on the land. The report then compares this record with Western science, such as the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. "The result of this testimonies project is a startling clear convergence between the Western, peer-reviewed science of climate change and the traditional knowledge of Alaska Native peoples," said Kalee Kreider, U.S. director of Greenpeace's Global Warming Campaign. People from the Bering and Chukchi Sea villages of Savoonga, Gambell, Wales, Deering, Kotzebue, Point Lay and Wainwright participated in this first-ever documentation of testimonies from Arctice peoples about the impacts of global warming on their families, communities and way of life. "The speakers today put a human face to the science of global warming," said Kreider. "Despite all of the evidence of global warming and its impact on Alaska, the Clinton administration opened a huge swath of Alaskan wilderness known as the National Petroleum Reserve to new oil development." The report is the first to document, in their own words, the changes witnessed by Alaska Natives. According to John Kulowiyi Sr., an Alaska Native Elder and whaling captain who lives in Savoonga, "When I was younger, we used to go out on the ice. It was real solid. But as the years go by the ice started getting thinner and thinner." According to Kreider, Greenpeace understands and recognizes that subsistence is a vital part of the lives of Alaska Native people. The more oil we burn, the more global warming threatens Arctic communities. That is not a trade-off Greenpeace is prepared to accept. The Greenpeace vessel m/v Arctic Sunrise is continuing its 1998 Expedition to the Western Arctic, and has just concluded its second year of work on the testimonies project. Greenpeace is the leading independent organization which uses peaceful and creative activism to protect the global environment. -- Satellite Feed: Noon - 12:30 EST Galaxy 6/C Band/Transponder 5 ------ Note: For more information, video, photos or copies of the report, call the contacts listed above. -0- |
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