In Alaska, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, 86% of Native communities are threatened by flooding, coastal or riverbank erosion, and thawing permafrost. These risks are no longer distant: many are already facing permanent damage to housing, roads and runways, and other essential infrastructure. Entire communities, including well-known ones like Newtok and Shishmaref, as well as newer cases such as Akiak and McGrath, are already contending with substantial destruction  impacts and the reality of climate-forced relocation.

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In this video, experts and community voices come together to illuminate urgent challenges. Through striking imagery and firsthand accounts, it illustrates how climate change is reshaping lives and placing the very survival of Arctic communities at risk, while also highlighting their extraordinary resilience.

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Community voices:  Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, Director of Climate Initiatives, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium • Cimiugaq / George Carl, Newtok Village Council Member • Naunraq / Andrew John, Newtok Village Council Administrator.

 

Authors:  Marya Rozanova-Smith, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences  • Alexander Shiklomanov, University of New Hampshire • Richard Lammers, University of New Hampshire • Andrey Petrov, University of Northern Iowa • Vladimir Alexeev, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

 

Video editor: Nikita Shiklomanov.

 

Our sincere appreciation to Patagonia, the Newtok documentary production team including Michael Kirby Smith, Andrew Burton, and Marie Meade, and the Newtok community for sharing their stories, hopes, and concerns.

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