Title: In Barrow, Alaska, climate change in action | NOAA Climate.gov
Headings: In Barrow, Alaska, climate change in action
In Barrow, Alaska, climate change in action
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The way sea ice used to be
Changes in sea ice lead to local climate change
Climate consequences for people, livelihoods, and property
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Content: Today, about 4,500 people call Barrow home. Instrumented weather and climate observations were first made at Barrow during the first International Polar Year in 1881-82. The modern era of weather observations commenced in 1920. Climate observations have continued uninterrupted to the present. These observations support what every resident in America’s northernmost town can see: climate change is happening—right now—in obvious and dramatic fashion. The way sea ice used to be
Even before the climate changes of the past decade, sea ice near Barrow has rarely been a solid, unbroken sheet stretching to the limitless horizon. Even during the winter, some ice would be grounded in shallow waters near the shore, but farther out, long breaks would develop in the floating ice as winds and ocean currents push and pull at it. These areas of open water, called leads, are favorite places for sea mammals to congregate, as they provide areas to surface and breathe and to haul out and feed. For Iñuipat hunters, it is this access to sea mammals that has made the northwest coast of Alaska a favored living area for a very long time.