Week 7: Direct forms of dispossession: Climate change

Weather

The mix of events – such as sun, rain, fog, snow, etc – that happen each day in our atmosphere.

• Weather constantly changes as a result of air pressure

  • (high pressure = sunny, clear; low pressure = rainy, cloudy and windy)

• Though weather is constantly changing, its foundational patterning is localized and generally predictable (e.g., rain shadow, Great Lakes, etc)

Climate

The average weather pattern in a place over several decades is called climate.

• el nino, la nina

• lake snow/ rain effect

• chinook winds

• seasons

• humidity

Climate change

• Climate refers to any long-term significant change in the “average weather” of a region or the earth as a whole

• Different environments affected disproportionately

  • More extreme and unpredictable weather events: droughts, storms, winds, shifting currents

• Arctic temperatures predicted to increase by as much as 8 degrees Celsius

What is causing climate change?

• Earth’s atmosphere contains more greenhouse gas molecules than ever before

• Infrared energy emitted by the surface ends up being absorbed [trapped] by the atmosphere

• Extra energy radiates back down to the surface

• Earth's surface temperature rises.

Climate Change impacts for Indigenous peoples and ecologies

• Indigenous Knowledge is key for survival and wellness of People in their local ecosystems/ ecologies

• Indigenous livelihoods operate in relation to their natural resources, many of which are directly affected by climate change

• Indigenous people inhabit economically and politically marginal areas in diverse, but fragile ecosystems

• Changes in weather can have significant effects on varying ecosystems

• These changes are often not predictable

• They make IK difficult to practice

Climate change and colonization

• Richest 10% account for >50% carbon emissions

• Abilities to use/harness IK transformed by colonial rules and governance, among many other transitions of power

• Overwhelming poverty among Indigenous people

• Limited to marginal lands and islands

The Atolls: South Pacific

• A ring-shaped coral reef, island, or series of islets. The atoll surrounds a body of water called a lagoon

• There are four atoll nations in the world (the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Maldives)

• These nations are home to more than half a million people, arguably the most vulnerable on the planet to climate change

A predicted __________ temperature rise could literally wipe many countries “off the map”.

point-eight-degree

Climate change in the Pacific islands

• Relocation is an economic problem

• But also considerable social, cultural and spiritual costs

• Leave the graves of ancestors

• Leaving traditional fishing grounds

• Leaving sources of identity and livelihood

• Others?

  
  

• The significance of “land and place” to Pacific people cannot be understated

• The long-term effects of displacement and replacement can be severe

New evidence: Atolls growing over time (good news!)

• A new study released late 2020 examined the evolution of Jeh Island (part of the Marshall Islands)

• Evidence of 13% growth in land mass from 1943 – 2020

• Build up of sediment from the nearby coral reef is contributing to atoll growth

  
  

  Problem

• Climate change/ bleaching is damaging coral reefs

• Healthy coral reef essential for growth of atolls

• Climate change will both raise sea levels and damage the reefs

How will climate change affect Australia?

• Climate change in Australia is caused by global greenhouse gas emissions

• Climate change is causing Australia to become hotter, and more prone to extreme heat, bushfires, droughts, floods and longer fire seasons.

Australia fires 2019-2020 (most intense fires ever recorded on that continent)

• 33 people died (including nine firefighters)

• 3094 houses were destroyed and.

• 17 Million hectares of land was burned.

• [Conservative estimates] project losses > one billion mammals, birds and reptiles combined.

• Loss of insects was reported to be in the ‘hundreds of billions’.

• Cause of the fires: lighting

• Root cause: warming climate

cultural burning

• Aboriginal people have long been practicing “cultural burning” – it is a practice to control/ manage fire, but also support local ecologies, add nutrients to soil, encourage rain, and feed mammals

• "It's the concept of maintaining country - central to everything we do as Aboriginal people. It's about what we can give back to country; not just what we can take from it."

Climate change in the Arctic

Traditional livelihoods in the Arctic are threatened by melting ice shields and permafrost

• In a single Inuit dialect, there are > 100 words for snow and ice

• Hunting and fishing strategies depend on stable ice

• Homes built on ice/ permanently frozen ground

• Travel/ safety depends on solid ice

• Polar bear, seal, other food items affected

The global effect of polar ice cap melting

• Polar ice caps are melting as global warming causes climate change

• Arctic sea ice is declining at a rate of almost 13% per decade

• Over the past 30 years, the oldest and thickest ice in the Arctic has declined by a stunning 95%

• Worst case estimates predict the Arctic could be ice-free in the summer by 2040

• Sea ice loss has far-reaching effects around the world (i.e., temperatures, coastal communities, food, shipping, wildlife, permafrost)

Alpine/Mountain Systems – Glacial Retreat

• Alpine systems are also disproportionately warming

• Predicted to increase by as much as 5-6 degrees Celsius in the 21st century

• Glacial retreat was one of the first phenomena to draw our attention to global warming

Consequences of glacial retreat

• Significant shifts in plant ecology in alpine areas

• Upward movement on mountains of tree line and alpine plants

  • Plants at the highest elevations are being outcompeted

• Endangered animals such as snow leopard, mountain sheep affected as foods move upward

  • Resource harvesting becomes more tedious, less predictable and more dangerous

Other consequences of glacial retreat?

Tibetan and Andean highlanders depend on Alpine flora and fauna for medicines, food, grazing and hunting

• Water access in future?

• Food access?

• Medicines?

• Urbanization?

• Reliance on new foods?

Ecological grief: mental health impacts of changing/deteriorating quality of land

“When we talk about climate change, we’re really talking about the outputs of a global capitalist system premised on settler colonialism and resource extraction. What’s hiding under climate change that we never talk about, and who does that silence protect?” [Ashley Cunsolo, Dean, Memorial University]

Reasons to be hopeful?

Indigenous connection place, including IK, serves an anchoring role in resilience to climate change

• Deep links to place create moral relationships of responsibility to protect and care for the environment

• This way of knowing provides the foundation for the other resilience factors by shaping belief systems, identity, language, knowledge, and livelihood practices

Sovereignty, power, social justice, development, and history are critical for restoring Indigenous identities and wellness; and abilities to care for the land