http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8724028p-8626071c.html

Congress to feel heat from north

CLIMATE CHANGE: Natives from Alaska will join a rally in Washington today.

By ALEX deMARBAN
Anchorage Daily News

Published: March 20, 2007
Last Modified: March 20, 2007 at 02:59 AM

Blaming a hotter planet for endangering their lives and culture, more than
125 Alaska Native organizations have signed a resolution urging Congress to
take stronger action to combat global warming.

Several village leaders plan to give the resolution, which asks for a
mandatory cap on greenhouse gas emissions, to members of Congress on
Wednesday.

"We want to make the point that our community needs drastic changes in
order for us to survive far into the future," said Tony Weyiouanna of
Shishmaref, a Northwest Alaska village threatened by coastal erosion.

The resolution, representing the voices of thousands of Natives, is
unprecedented because it includes input from every region of Alaska, said
organizer Anna Davidson, a Yup'ik mother of three.

Supporters include the Alaska Federation of Natives -- a large statewide
group -- as well as tribal governments, village corporations and regional
social-service organizations, she said.

Environmentalists, members of Congress and Mayor Stanley Tocktoo of
Shishmaref will be among the speakers at a rally today at the U.S. Capitol
aimed at reducing the causes of climate change.

Organizers have said that thousands will attend what they call Climate
Crisis Action Day, which would make it the largest demonstration held in
Washington on the subject of warming global temperatures.

The Arctic is warming faster than other parts of the planet, and Alaska
Natives, often outdoors practicing subsistence lifestyles, have more to
lose from global warming than most Americans, she said.

Dramatic environmental changes imperil Natives and the animals they hunt
and fish, the two-page resolution says, and changes are needed quickly.

Warmer air and water have caused diseases in fish, plants and wildlife, the
resolution says. Storm-bred waves are eating the ground beneath villages --
they're less protected by shoreline ice -- forcing a handful of villages to
plan for relocation. Thinning ice has made winter travel on lakes and
rivers riskier because snowmachines and people can crash through.

People in Shishmaref, a village of 581, are afraid walrus will stop coming,
Weyiouanna said.

Walrus hunt from the ice, diving to sea bottoms to feed. If the ice moves
out too far, above sea bottoms the walrus can't reach, they may not
survive, he said.

The coastal village, built on an island in the Chukchi Sea, is eroding
quickly, he said. The community is looking at new locations. It can survive
another 10 to 15 years before it needs to move, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers reported last year.

"Considering the amount of erosion we see every summer and fall, we don't
have much time," he said.

Many leading climate scientists have said the average Alaska temperature
has risen 4 degrees in 40 years and could rise another 5 to 9 degrees in
the next 100 years. Satellite measurements taken late last summer show sea
ice off the North Slope has shrunk substantially, leaving open water for
longer stretches of the year.

Many scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions that come from the burning
of fossil fuels, such as oil in cars and diesel in power plants.

Alaska Sens. Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski, both Republicans, have
sponsored bills to improve fuel-efficiency standards and reduce petroleum
use.

The measures are a good start but not strong enough, said Deborah Williams,
Alaska Conservation Solutions president. The Anchorage-based group gave
Davidson's effort money, Williams said.

The senators need to support bills that limit greenhouse gas emissions, she
said.

Murkowski is considering a bill by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., that would
do that, said spokesman Kevin Sweeney.

The limits are lower than in other bills before Congress, but it's less
likely to slow the economy, he said.

Murkowski has asked the state university's Institute of Social and Economic
Research to study the impacts of Bingaman's bill on Alaska's economy,
Sweeney said. If it doesn't hurt the economy too much, she may vote for it,
he said.

Stevens said he's working with Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, to review all the
climate change proposals before Congress, according to spokesman Aaron
Saunders.

"I am focusing on the changes we see and how to help Alaskans already
affected by this change," Stevens said.

Stevens added that the Alaska Native groups should review the work by Syun
Akasofu, recently retired director of the state university's International
Arctic Research Center. Akasofu has questioned the human contribution to
global warming, saying other factors should be considered, such as recovery
from the last Ice Age and a sun that's releasing more heat.

Davidson, originally from Southwest Alaska, now lives in Anchorage. She
began sending draft resolutions to Native organizations last summer after
noticing that berries bloomed and bird eggs hatched earlier every year near
Kwigillingok, a Southwest village she travels to every summer.

She blames warmer temperatures and said earlier hatching times could hurt
chick survival if mothers can't find food.

There will be more changes if Congress doesn't act soon, she said.

"We know this is happening and it's affecting us and we need our leaders to
do something about it," she said.

Daily News reporter Alex deMarban can be reached at ademarban@.... The
Washington Post contributed to this article.