If there is one place on Earth that is severely suffering from the effects of climate change, it is in Newtok, Alaska. The village has 403 residents and is located 83 miles above the Arctic Circle. In here, sea ice is melting leading to rapid erosion, ocean temperature has gone up, beaches have started to disappear and the Kivalina barrier reef becomes smaller and smaller with the passing of every storm. Alaska's warming is two to three times faster than the US mainland.
Practically no space is left where homes for the living can be built. The dead are flown to the mainland so that ocean water will not gobble them up. A great majority agree that the tiny Alaskan village should be relocated, but as to where, when and who will shoulder the expenses remain to be unanswered at this point. An estimate by the Army Corps of Engineers figures that Kivalina will be submerged in water in the next twenty years or so.
Earlier, the White House advance staff checked on whether President Obama could see the place when he visits the Arctic this week- a first for an incumbent White House occupant. In his weekly address, Obama described that the Alaskans are already living with the changes brought by climate change: "More frequent and extensive wildfires. Bigger storm surges as sea ice melts faster. Some of the swiftest shoreline erosion in the world - in some places, more than 3 feet a year."
"Alaska's glaciers are melting faster too, threatening tourism and adding to rising seas. And if we do nothing, Alaskan temperatures are projected to rise between six and 12 degrees by the end of the century, changing all sorts of industries forever, "he added.
But while Obama sees the state "as the U.S. poster child for climate change", some residents do not agree, although they are happy that the president permitted to give a limit to offshore exploration. They wish to have more access to the natural resources of their homeland and the Alaskans are not comfortable of having a leader who sees their place as a "global warming disaster area."
