Module IX

How are climate, terrestrial ice and Alaskan indigenous cultures all connected?

Mendenhall Glacier Photo: A.Rodriguez


Explain:

Terrestrial ice is frozen fresh-water sources that are being stored in lakes, rivers, snow, permafrost and glaciers – essentially, it is any ice found on land. Terrestrial ice is a very complex system that is dependent on a number of factors including temperature, altitude and precipitation, among others. Some of these factors are directly connected to the changes in climate that are occurring due to green house gases in our atmosphere. The most apparent change that we are seeing is an increase in temperatures around the globe. These increased temperatures are impacting the volume of ice found in different regions of the world and are causing increased melting of many of the terrestrial ice sources.

Earth System: Ice and Global Warming

In particular, regions of Alaska are being greatly affected by the loss of all types of terrestrial ice. For instance, we can see the drastic changes that have occurred to regions in Alaska due to the loss of glacial ice in the video, Documenting Glacial Change. We have felt these impacts close to home here in Juneau with the receding of ice from the Mendenhall Glacier. The loss of ice that is seen in this video from the Extreme Ice Survey is astounding.

For many, terrestrial ice provides a place of recreation such as ice skating, ice fishing, or ice climbing, and is simply a picturesque landscape to enjoy. For others, terrestrial ice provides their communities with resources such as transportation, water and food. In many parts of Alaska this resource provides a cultural connection to the land, animals and traditional way of life.

History shows that these traditional lifestyles were quite different for the elder generations of Alaska Natives. Many of the Northern Alaska Native peoples were a semi-nomadic people. If resources were minimal, or if the land changed so that resources were no longer available, the people would pack up their belongings and move to where the resources were available. Changes in climate, technology, and the land provided opportunities for this movement.

For example, the Inuit people of Alaska (Yup’ik and Inupiaq Eskimos) were traditionally hunters and fisherman and would move to where they found the most abundant resources. With the development of the qajaq, the Inuit were able to extend their hunts to sea mammals, which provided another source of food. The semi-nomadic way of life diminished with Western influence and so different indigenous groups that no longer live their lives as their ancestors once did are being greatly impacted by these drastic changes in the climate (and it’s affect on the volume of terrestrial ice). The Inuit people are feeling the lasting effects of these changes as is described in the article, Heroes of the Environment 2008: Sheila Watt-Cloutier.

Changing Arctic Landscape

Explore:

While working through this Module I was again reminded of my experiences while at a Cryosphere training at Chena Hot Springs last winter. I recalled the brief introduction into permafrost and it’s affects on the regions surrounding Fairbanks and other Arctic communities. I can distinctly remember asking myself, “Permafrost, what in the world is permafrost?” As I left the training I know I was still unsure of the implications of permafrost and what the melting of the permafrost really meant to a community. As I watched the TD videos and the Tunnel Man episodes (which are quite funny considering I have met Dr. Romanovsky and he does not seem like the type to wear tights), I was excited to explore this topic more and to find a way to connect this concept to my students here in Juneau. I am intrigued by the studies that have found the high concentration of methane in terrestrial lakes and the correlation between permafrost melt and methane being a by-product of decomposition of organic matter. Is it possible to find similar effects at the bottom of any lake? Even if permafrost is generally non-existent in our southeast region, are our frozen lakes holding on to methane from other decomposing materials? What conditions are needed for decomposition to occur and for methane to be created in these lakes? These researchers could be my students next year!

Students Measure Changes in Lake Ice and Snow




I think I see the beginning of my final blog in the works!

Module VIII

How are Arctic sea-ice, climate and culture all connected?

Polar Bear's on Arctic Iceberg

Explain:

The Cryosphere was described by the “National Snow and Ice Data Center” as the places on the earth that scientists describe as regions that are cold enough that water freezes to solid ice or snow. I describe the Cryosphere as the parts of the World that have water in a solid phase such as snow, lake ice, sea ice or glaciers. The Cryosphere has a different significance for each region that it supports, but on a global scale it is essentially our cooling system (or air conditioning if you will). The Cryosphere, or solid water of the world, provides our planet with the ability to maintain the cool temperatures that allow all living things to thrive. It keeps our ocean temperatures consistent and keeps our atmosphere from overheating.

Depending on the whether it is snow or ice, water phase will determine the amount of heat that is absorbed or reflected from the surface of the earth. The absorption of heat is what melts the ice or water of our earth. The reflection, or albedo, is what keeps the temperature of the atmosphere stable. The interactive video, Earth’s Albedo and Global Warming is a perfect example of the effects that the absorption and reflection heat from the earth’s sun can have on the Cryosphere. As we see in the video, liquid water absorbs the most heat from the sun - resulting in increases of sea or lake water temperatures around the globe.




By using on-line research programs such as The Cryosphere Today, we can see the direct effects of the absorption of heat currently taking place in different regions of the world. We can also compare the total area of ice in these regions from earlier dates. We are seeing drastic declines of sea ice in the Arctic. The Arctic sea ice is very important because it is the world’s sensor to the effects of climate change. However, being the world’s sensor is not it’s only function; culturally, Arctic Sea ice provides subsistence hunting grounds and means of travel for many indigenous peoples. The ice allows the indigenous peoples a way to connect the younger generations to their cultural ways of life. The sea ice also provides an ecosytem to many animals including polar bears, whales, walruses and sea lions among many others.



Extend:

Rodriguez Digging a Snow Pit at Chena Hot Springs Photo. S. Cambell

The study of the Cryosphere is something that I was formally introduced to after a training that I attended at Chena Hot Springs last winter. I had informally been studying the Cryosphere while learning about snow hydrology and avalanche safety through University of Alaska Southeast as an undergraduate. I remember being intrigued by the concept of the idea of something called Snow Water Equivalent - or SWE - and how this simple measurement could help us determine the water availability in a particular area. I now have a true appreciation for this knowledge and recognize how this can help researchers determine temperature increase due to ice and snow melt. I also remember how excited I was last year while developing lessons in coordination with the inquiry based science I had been doing all week at the training at Chena Hot Springs and my excitement has been revitalized with the idea of incorporating the Cryosphere into my curriculum.

Polar Bear Picture

Module VII:Earth's Changing Climate

How is Earth's climate connected to its geological, biological and cultural systems?


Mendenhall Glacier Photo. A. Rodriguez
Explain:

The geological system that has created the planet earth that we know today is an extremely complex and amazing system. This idea is supported in the TD video Life Before Oxygen. Earth has evolved from a system that originally could only support anaerobic organisms and then progressed to an oxygen-rich environment that was potent to the living organisms that existed at that time - many of which retreated to oxygen-free areas such as thermal vents where they are still thriving today. Currently, we have an oxygen-rich atmosphere that is supported by photosynthesis, cyanobacteria, and gas exchange. Our current environment supports dynamic groups of living organisms including bacteria, plants, and animals. Our atmosphere is rich with necessary gases that are created and recycled through our complex atmosphere. All of these processes are directly correlated to how the Earth’s atmosphere changes and in-turn effects our climate change.


Salmon run in Steep Creek Photo A. Rodriguez

Here in Southeast Alaska we have been greatly impacted by the changes in our climate conditions biologically, geologically and culturally. Primarily, if we look at how the climate changes have directly affected our glaciers within Southeast, we see that the changes in increased temperatures in our region are causing Glaciers within our region to quickly recede, which changes the geological and biological conditions of these areas. Some of the impacts can be seen and explained by the video Climate Change Impacts Alaska Glaciers.



Secondly, we can also see the effects of climate change locally with the changes in our precipitation levels within our region. We can see the correlation between our salmon returns and how this relationship controls our commercial and subsistence fishing. Here in Southeast Alaska we greatly depend on our salmon return to provide our residents with not only fish as a food source, but we highly depend on commercial fishing as a major industry within our region as well. We are also seeing an impact in our local deer populations and the health of their offspring. This greatly impacts the residents in our community that depend on subsistence hunting to provide for their families.

These same impacts are being represented throughout different regions of the state. The video Inuit Observations of Climate Change discusses how these same impacts of climate changes are similarly negatively impacting the biological processes of the animals, water, and land in other communities around the state. This in-turn is altering the way of life in many communities and is changing the cultural ways of life for many residents of these communities. Alaska is not the only place in the world feeling the impacts of this climate change. It has been observed that the Moose populations in Minnesota have diminished greatly due to warmer temperatures and diminished forests in that region.



Evaluate:

While exploring the resources available on Teacher’s Domain (TD), I am intrigued by many of the topics that are discussed in the video. This interest then requires me to begin a search on different topics relating to the videos. The TD resource has challenged me to find more information on an array of topics but has given me a way to quickly engage my students with these easy to comprehend videos.

Module III

Glacier Bay National Park

Essential Question Redux: How are landscapes formed and how, in turn, are cultures shaped by their landscapes?


Explain:
One landscape that has awed me from the first time I learned about the effects of the landscape on the culture of this region is Glacier Bay, Alaska. This landmass lies on continental plates that are converging which causes erosion from movement of the glaciers that once covered the land. This erosion and receding of the glacier ice is leaving behind erratic geological features and carving out valleys that are forming the beautiful landscapes that we see today.
My first exposure to how this landscape formation directly affects the culture of an area was during my undergraduate program at UAS. I was working on a summer research program with Cathy Connor. She required that we kayak around the islands in Glacier Bay and take tree core, invertebrate, and sediment samples, as well as GPS points of each sample and physical markers that we felt had scientific significance. The purpose of this study was not to simply provide more data to researchers about the regression of the glaciers in Glacier Bay (numerous studies about that exist and are on-going), but to find scientific evidence to support the rate of regression that had been orally expressed by the indigenous people of this region. Put another way, we were to provide scientific evidence for the human history of this region with our study, The Neoglacial Landscape and Human History of Glacier Bay, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Southeast Alaska, USA.

Glacier, Glacier Bay AK

View Larger Map

I remember thinking how amazing it was that I was earning college credit to kayak around this beautiful and pristine area that I knew very little about. The research that I was taking part in had no true meaning to me at the time, and

I did not realize the significance of our work until I spoke to some elders about this experience later on in my life. It was through this discussion that I realized what an impact this study had on bringing the scientific and indigenous communities together to work side by side. This data provided the scientific community with culturally and scientifically relevant insights and a more well represented oral history than what they had available before. It validated the indigenous peoples stories with scientific data to support their oral history. I now recognize the importance of providing these two very important modes of shared information with a connection. On their own, the science of how and why the glaciers are receding and the oral history of the changes that have occurred in Glacier Bay are intriguing. Yet if we can combine these two ways of knowing to offer support and validity to one another, then we are only strengthening the knowledge that we can share with the next generations.

Evaluate:
While getting lost in the exploration of Google Earth I recognized the expanded knowledge that this resource can bring to my classroom. The use of Google Earth encompasses not only the availability of exploring different parts of the earth in great detail, but introducing my students to a new and ever-changing technology while providing them with the confidence to explore and play with an amazing program. I very much like the idea of giving my students a scavenger hunt that would allow them to explore all that Google Earth has to offer while exposing them to new places around the globe! What an exciting and worthwhile tool that I can use with my students, or as an extension for many projects.

Image: Glacier Bay National Park from https://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.glacier-bay.html
Image: Glacier from http://www.groundtruthtrekking.org/photos/GlacierBay3.jpg

Module VI

Sunrise Akiak, AK

Essential Question:
How are the Earth, atmosphere and cultures all connected?

Explain:
While traveling on an exchange to Akiak, Alaska last year I was lucky enough to experience these connections first hand. I remember walking to the school early in the morning with my students and wanting to get a picture of the sunrise. My five students and I bundled up and walked out to the front of the school to see the sunrise and we were awed by its beauty. It had such beautiful vibrant colors, and although we were all very cold we stood outside together and watched the sun rise above the trees. As I was working through this module it struck me that at the time I did not recognize the significance of this experience. I now understand how something that I considered so beautiful then is a significantly different importance to me as an educator.
This experience is something that I can bring back to my students not just as an image, but with a story. With this story I can teach not only the scientific significance of this experience, but how something so beautiful can be such an important indicator to the indigenous people of that region. I can explain how this sunrise is created by the particles of pollution trapped within the atmosphere (transported here from various regions such as North America, Europe and China). I can teach about the atmospheric process that pushes the equatorial or lower latitude warm air towards the poles which creates a belt of subtropical high pressure system which ultimately comes in contact with the Polar Front (creating very complex wind patterns). These wind patterns that are drawing air from other regions of the world end up bringing that air, and any pollutants in it, to the Arctic regions.

Global Circulation


This phenomena indicates how important it is to have an understanding of how the Earth’s processes work because they are directly connected to the atmospheric processes that influence the changes occurring in all regions of the world. Whether it be a change in the seasonal weather patterns, the migratory patterns of animals due to these changes, or the direction of the surface winds that will in-turn alter Earth’s weather patterns, we must recognize that every natural process can alter the process somewhere else. It is essential that we understand that by increasing our influence on these natural processes with our activities, we will impact the natural flow of the Earth in ways that we may not understand until much later. The beautiful sunrise in Akiak, for example, should not have been so beautiful.

Evaluate:
While taking in the vast amount of information through this module, I found myself being excited by the quality and number of its great resources - and even more excited by the array of resources I found while exploring “teachers domain” and the NASA website. Amidst my excitement, I was taken aback by the realization that although I knew much of this information I lacked the “stuff” that makes the passing of information and knowledge exciting and engaging… until now! Being a new teacher I know that I will build a mecca of resources throughout the years, but for me it is not about quantity – it’s all about quality. This class has introduced me to a pool of resources that will allow me to diversify my teaching and provide me with updated data and information. This will allow me to quit spending my time “recreating the wheel” and spend more time differentiating my instruction. This also made me reconsider how I classify resources. As I explained above, I need to remember that a simple photo or recollection of an experience is enough to get our brains processing. We do not always have to have bells and whistles to engage learners.