Tag: Mark Carey

Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Languages of the Arctic Region

Presenter(s): Ally Shaw − Asian Studies, Linguistics

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 184

Research Area: Environmental Studies

This study investigates the impacts of Arctic climate change on indigenous language sustainability. I argue that: climate change leads to a loss of biodiversity and ecosystem functions necessary to support human survival; reductions in ecosystem services can or may trigger community upheavals, human migrations, and cultural change; and community and cultural changes – most often for small, dispersed indigenous populations – lead to documented language changes that historically have included linguistic shifts, language attrition, and language loss. This investigation focuses primarily on North American and northern European Arctic regions, where climate change is affecting the predominant ecosystems at some of the fastest rates on the planet. I synthesize available scientific evidence from the fields of linguistics, climate science, wildlife studies, and anthropology to evaluate climate-induced language change in several indigenous, subsistence-based communities. Study results suggest that anthropogenic climate change and consequent impacts to ecosystem services coincide with language change, and, therefore, that sustainability of one (i.e., language) must involve sustainability of the other (i.e., ecosystem functions) in order for indigenous communities to persist physically and culturally. Language is tied to cultural identity; when languages change, ways of interpreting the world also change, inter-generational communication pathways are challenged, and a vast abundance of cultural knowledge cannot be passed on to the next generations without a shared common vocabulary. It is vital, therefore, that language sustainability be considered when assessing climate-change prevention and mitigation strategies.

Effects of Climate Change on Subsistence Fisheries Communities in the Coral Triangle

Presenter(s): Erin Parker − Marine Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 177

Research Area: Social Science

Coral reefs provide critical habitat for over one-third of all marine fish species, including many commercially valuable species. They also provide humans with a wide variety resources and services, including coastline protection, food and drugs, and the bases for booming tourism economies. Unfortunately, these valuable ecosystems are in decline worldwide due to the effects of both human caused global climate change and localized threats that include pollution and overfishing. Many coastal populations in the Coral Triangle, a biodiversity hotspot in the Indo-Pacific, rely heavily on subsistence reef fisheries for their livelihoods and for most of the protein in their diets. Without the reef, they likely would not be able to get enough food for themselves and their families, in addition to losing a job that provides both a steady source of income and a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment. The importance of reef fish to these communities means that falling fish stocks encourage increased fishing effort, which depletes stocks even further, creating a positive feedback loop of overfishing and reef destruction. This research will explore the negative impacts experienced by coastal subsistence-based fishing communities in the developing nations of the Coral Triangle when reefs are degraded or destroyed by human actions and climate change. I will evaluate impacts in terms of fishers’ ability to provide for themselves and to maintain their cultural identities, and argue that climate-caused reef degradation is contributing to the positive feedback loop of reef destruction by adding stress to reefs and preventing their recovery.

Climate Change and Indigenous Food Systems in the Andes

Presenter(s): Haley Nicholson − Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 173

Research Area: Social Science

Climate change will have substantial impacts on agriculture which may affect our modern food system as we know it. Despite all of the climate change research that has been conducted, there is not enough importance placed on how climate change impacts indigenous food systems, particularly in the Andes region. Indigenous food systems are at particularly high risk for adverse climate change impacts because of their reliance on environmental predictability. Modern climate changes result in immediate nutrition and food security consequences for farmers in the Andean region, which is why it is so important that these impacts and possible mitigation strategies are studied. Through research in various peer-reviewed journals and United Nations and World Bank reports I will discuss how climate change has resulted in decreased food sovereignty, security, and nutrition for indigenous food systems in the Andes. I will also examine how climate change has already spurred adaptation strategies based on traditional knowledge of the agricultural landscape in the Andes. These adaptation strategies demonstrate the importance of traditional knowledge in the face of climate change.

Traditional Knowledge as the Essential Component in Preservation of the Environment and Culture in the Arctic

Presenter(s): Trenton Martinez − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 168

Research Area: Environmental Science

Indigenous communities within the Arctic region directly experience the consequences of climate change and have been disproportionately impacted. However, environmental projects and research concerned with these regions have failed to consider the cultural values and traditions of the local people. Popular world-views have contributed to the marginalization of indigenous populations in the Arctic as they are perceived as insignificant in relation to the global population. Thus, traditional knowledge is an essential component in collecting observational data and developing sustainable practices that maintain the community’s values, traditions, and relationship with the environment. Through examination of specific cases, the importance and use of traditional knowledge is demonstrated in its implementation, or lack thereof, within environmental strategy, design, and practice. Collectively, some of the most valuable data and information was obtained from oral narratives that provide an environmental history, personal experiences of environmental events and disasters, and the cultural adaptations, including hunting and traveling behaviors, as a response to local observations of environmental changes. This type of data is scientific knowledge specific to the region and culture, which prevent generalizations to be made through comparisons between similar environments without comparing differences between indigenous cultures as well. Incorporating these cultural aspects ensures that strategies to combat climate change protect the lives as well as the values and traditions of the people.

Climate Change, Water Policy, and Society in the Peruvian Andes

Presenter(s): Rennie Kendrick − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Oral Session 1M

Research Area: Social Science, Humanities

Climate change has posed a threat to fresh water supplies, which has worsened conflicts over water. Simultaneously, corporations have strategically offered water privatization schemes as a solution to climate change problems. Although privatization may benefit key economic interests, a review of literature examining its impact on water users in Peru as a
case study and its impact on the environment at large, calls into question the viability of this model. I argue that water privatization in Peru has produced negative social impacts on water access, including reduced water access for certain groups, violation of traditional meanings of water, and changes to water’s legal character. More broadly, the privatization of water resources represents a larger flaw in current approaches to climate change, which often rely on market-based solutions over governmental regulation. Because market-based solutions rely on the integrity of private actors, these private actors may, and often do, make decisions that further undermine the natural environment. An understanding of both the negative social and environmental impacts of water privatization will eventually lead to creation of new forms of water governance in the face of climate change and social inequities.

Melting Sea Ice and its Effects on Indigenous Arctic People

Presenter(s): Nick Hawes − Biology

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 157

Research Area: Social Science

The purpose of this research is to identify how melting sea ice affects the indigenous people of the arctic. The indigenous people of the arctic, or Inuit, are very susceptible to changes in their environment due to their strong connections with the land and ice. Over many years the Inuit have adapted special techniques to survive in the harsh conditions of the arctic environment. As the natural environment gets disrupted due to climate change, the sea ice melts, changing their cultures. Melting sea ice affects the Inuit both physically and spiritually and has an impact on how they travel and interact with the environment. The other major problem produced from melting sea ice is the effect it has on the migration patterns of native species such as whales and seals. The effect on whales and seal is a problem since the changing migrations patterns force changes and adaptations of the Inuit hunting techniques, as well as representing increased vulnerability of the Inuit people to climate changes. The effect melting sea ice has on the Inuit people was determined through case studies of communities, studies on the migration of whales and seal, as well as other readings.

Creating Climate Change Debate Through Think Tank Politics

Presenter(s): Katlyn Har − Psychology, Political Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 156

Research Area: Humanities and Environmental Studies

Scientists across the globe reached a consensus that anthropogenic climate change poses a serious threat to the human race. With little scientific dispute on the climate science, governments should be able to implement actionable policy to mitigate the consequences of climate change and prevent further anthropogenic warming. However, today’s climate discussion involves a two-sided debate with the climate scientists on one side and the climate change skeptics on the other. These skeptics are not climate scientists but rather physicists or economist that attempt to discredit the existing climate science. Despite their seemingly misaligned credentials, they have gained an audience with powerful politicians and American constituency. Why has scientific research been thwarted at the expense of officials not in the field, especially in the political realm that is critical to policy change? This think tank works to politicize the issue, claiming the climate change has been propagated by leftists, in order to gain party support and thus creates a formidable obstacle to climate change policy. This paper will investigate how The Heartland Institute, a conservative think tank, contributes to climate change denialism by attacking renowned environmentalists, mystifying climatology, and glorifying the fossil fuel industry. The research will involve analyzing the Heartland Institute’s main website and the surrounding literature on think tanks and conservatism. The following will analyze the methods and tactics used in order to attack climate change. This paper outlines the misinformation disseminated by the Heartland Institute so that we can dismantle unfounded denialism and promote progressive legislation.

Climate Change’s Impacts on Indigenous Women, Responsibility, and Adaptability

Presenter(s): Simone Hally − Pre-PPPM, Spanish Literature And Culture

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 155

Research Area: Environmental And Social Studies

While climate change discourse increasingly recognizes the unique vulnerabilities of indigenous peoples, the experiences of indigenous women with respect to climate change continue to receive less attention, especially with respect to scientific and policy writing. In this paper, I aim to apply Kyle Whyte’s framework that binds “collective continuance” and systems of responsibility with regards to the relationship between climate change and indigenous women. I will apply his framework based on the relationship between the Anishinaabe women and water. I will then test it on the indigenous women in South Goulburn Island’s relationship and responsibility to marine resources, the Baka women’s relationships to the Nbwakha fish, and Indigenous Peruvian women’s responsibility to seed saving and harvesting. I will ultimately argue that Whyte’s lense effectively explains how ability to adapt to and carry out traditional responsibilities factors into climate change’s impact on indigenous women. In all these examples, the ecological effects caused by climate change disrupt the responsibilities of the indigenous women and enables them to adapt in order to fulfill their responsibilities, or create new ones altogether. This adaptation reveals the both oppressive and emancipatory nature of climate change’s effect on women’s responsibilities. Writing about indigenous women and climate change is important not only because of their wealth of experience and knowledge of the environments in which they live, but also because incorporating their voices perpetuates a balanced discourse surrounding indigenous women and climate change. Their perspectives are instrumental in global and regional climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Climate and Water Privatization in the Andes: Indigenous Livelihood and Political Agency vs. the World Bank’s Professed Faith in the Free Market

Presenter(s): Miles Evans − Music, Humanities

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 150

Research Area: Natural Science, Social Science, Political Science

Water and climate change are inextricably linked on numerous levels: ecological, experiential, and political, to name a few. In the Peruvian Andes, climate change has had a profound impact on hydrology, which has in turn threatened the water supply of indigenous agricultural peoples. In the early 1990s, growing water scarcity provoked persistent criticism of the ability of Andean governments to provide water to their people, effectively paving the way for water privatization in the Andes, an effort spearheaded by the World Bank (WB). Although privatization has since been dismantled in countries such as Bolivia and Ecuador, it has more often endured despite various public protests, such as those in Lima and Santiago. These protests decry both the failure of private corporations to provide quality, affordable water and the growing political sway of multinational corporations in the Andes. This paper will analyze WB documents on climate change, water scarcity, water privatization, and Peruvian hydrology alongside academic articles on these same subjects (as well as on indigenous perspectives and political agency) in order to assess and criticize the WB’s arguments for water privatization. The stated rationale and intent of the WB will be compared to its apparent impact on Andean water supplies and to various indigenous criticisms. In particular, this paper will explore the following criticisms of the WB’s efforts in water privatization: they undermines indigenous political agency, have not meaningfully improved water supply, and espouse a free-market fundamentalist approach that is conducive to climate change.

Mental Health in Indigenous Inuit Communities and Canadian Climate Change Legislation: Conceptualizing the Link Between Research and Policy

Presenter(s): Eleanor Estreich − Economics, English

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 149

Research Area: Humanities

An emergent literature emphasizing community-based research examines the relationship between climate change and mental health in Inuit communities in Canada, which is driven in part by the fact that Inuit communities are “particularly vulnerable to health-related climate change impacts” (Harper et al. 2015: 1)*. While this academic research has identified approaches toward conceptualizing the link between climate change and mental health, national legislation in Canada about climate and health does not sufficiently reflect the lessons of these community-based efforts. By using methodological, theoretical, and rhetorical criticism, this paper will attempt to provide an answer for how the relationship between climate change and mental health is conceptualized for indigenous Inuit communities in the academic literature, and by comparison, how Canadian national laws dealing with climate change currently address this relationship. This paper will compare academic and legal approaches with the overall aim of judging to what extent national legislation has addressed the important link between climate change and mental health in indigenous Inuit communities. This comparative task is needed, because national climate change legislation shapes priorities and may help determine the extent of the human impacts of climate change in the future. The preliminary research seems to suggest that Canadian legislation primarily focuses on adaptive policies that target the general health of indigenous Inuit peoples as a result of a globally framed climate change issue; as a result, national legislation is currently poorly set-up to incorporate the insights from community-based participatory research. *Harper, S. L., Edge, V. L., Ford, J., Willox, A. C., Wood, M., & McEwen, S. A. (2015). Climate-sensitive health priorities in Nunatsiavut, Canada. BMC Public Health, 1–18. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-1874-3