ABSTRACT

Climate-induced environmental change threatens the lives and livelihoods of indigenous communities in Alaska. The combination of repeated extreme weather events and ongoing and accelerating rates of biophysical change, such as erosion, are causing the residents of some of these communities to choose community relocation as the adaptation strategy that will protect them from these climate change threats. State, federal and tribal government and non-governmental agencies have issued numerous reports documenting the social–ecological crisis faced by these communities. Historically, Alaska Native communities could move away from areas affected by erosion because they did not depend on built infrastructure. However, the construction of public facilities such as power plants, schools, health clinics, and airports, ties communities to the land and limits their ability to move.