A remote Alaskan island is reeling from the effects of warming ocean temperatures and providing a stern warning for the rest of the nation. The disappearance of sea ice has devastated its wildlife and the small native population's way of life, according to reports by The Washington Post.
What's happening?
St. Paul Island is one of the most isolated places in the United States; it's a three-to-four-hour flight from the nearest city, Anchorage. Most of the island's population is Aleut, the descendants of workers forcibly relocated to the island by Russia in the 19th century.
There are almost as many bird species (321) as people on the island (338), and both are declining rapidly. Half of Alaska's common murres (4 million birds) have died due to a marine heat wave across Alaska, the largest die-off on record, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The sea ice, which used to encircle the island yearly, is gone.
"Now, most years it doesn't come at all," Brian Brettschneider, a climatologist for the National Weather Service, told The Washington Post.
Wildlife that used to flock to the area is now dwindling due to the lack of sea ice. Fur seals, for example, have decreased in numbers.
"It's just like, where did they all go?" National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration statistician Rodney Towell told the Washington Post. "It's really disappointing. Almost painful."
Why is the loss of sea ice around St. Paul important?
Sea ice loss around St. Paul devastates the local economy as fish and wildlife populations plummet. Warmer temperatures in the Bering Sea have led to the loss of billions of snow crabs and caused the island's primary source of tax revenue, a crab processing plant, to close.
It's part of the broader trend of Arctic sea ice melting rapidly and disturbingly, about 12.2% per decade, according to NASA. This leads to rising sea levels and causes the Arctic to go from one of the planet's key carbon sequesters to a net emitter as permafrost disappears. These problems are attributed to human activity and the emissions caused by dirty energy, which worsen extreme weather events and conditions.
What can be done to protect St. Paul's way of life?
In the short term, opposing the proposed funding cuts to NOAA's science division, which carries out vital research in the area, should be a priority. Calling your local representative is easy and can make a big difference.
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Definitely 👍 In the long term, phasing out the polluting energy sources that are accelerating sea ice loss and replacing them with clean energy is critical. Raising awareness and making sustainable changes at home in the local community is our collective responsibility.
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