How Does Climate Change Affect Me?

• Indigenous Peoples, Pacific Islanders, and local land-based communities are the first to experience the devastating impacts of climate change like affects to hunting, fishing and gathering rights, land lost, food security, respiratory illness, infectious disease, and economic and cultural displacement.
• It touches on tribal sovereignty and treaty rights and is an Indigenous Nations security issue that affects the future generations to come. Climate justice is a human rights issue.
  
  

What are some of the Impacts of Climate Change on Indigenous Peoples in the U.S.?

Arctic region
• Those who live in the Arctic are experiencing shorter winters that disrupt the lifecycles of plants and animals that they depend on.
• The Yupik people see the winter ice pack receding sooner every year limiting walruses to breed and feed themselves.
• Rising water level from the melting glaciers forced several communities on the Arctic coast and islands to abandon their homes and traditional lands.
• Many arctic communities already have their lands and natural resources polluted by oil spills and oil development that has seriously disrupted the environment and their health.
  

Great Lakes Region
• Climate change provides an ecological risk that disrupts traditional foods of wild rice, berries, and maple syrup for the Indigenous communities that live in northern Minnesota and other Great Lake areas, such as the Anishinaabe.
• Early and rapid winter snowmelt led to flooding of various rivers and lakes causing damage and havoc.
• Dramatic fluctuations in water levels and warmer temperatures of lake waters has affected fish populations and insect populations such as fish kills from increasing dead zones in lakes and severe infestation of disease spreading insects such as mosquitoes.

Southwest Region
• Drought has affected the water table levels and limited water sources that depend on the little rain the region gets to replenish them causing plants and livestock to die.
• Droughts have caused beetles to suck the saps of trees such as the piñon tree for water and lead to tree deaths, some of which are medicinal plants.
• Much of the Navajo (Dine') and Hopi peoples have suffered their lands being desecrated and poisoned by fossil fuel mining companies.

Great Plains Region
• Increased extreme weather events such as blizzards and droughts are threatening Great Plains tribal economies where livestock and land extensive agriculture are the primary sources of income.
• Water resources are becoming scarce and depleted before they can be replenished.
• In the past 10 years droughts, blizzards, and flooding have caused six national disaster declarations in the Dakotas.
• Summer heat and severe weather has increased health risks of children and elders.