U.S. Climate Report: For Some Native Groups, There’s Literally Nowhere To Run

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/06/3434488/nca-report-indigenous-tribes/

By Emily Atkin May 6, 2014

They can hide, but they can’t run.

Some indigenous groups living in remote areas of Alaska and the Pacific Islands will have “overwhelming” difficulty adapting to sea level rise, coastal erosion, and other harmful effects of climate change, in part because they will have no sovereign land to go to if they have to leave, according to a landmark federal report released Tuesday by the White House.

“Some climate change adaptation opportunities exist on Native lands, and traditional knowledge can enhance adaptation and sustainability strategies,” the report, called the National Climate Assessment (NCA), read. “In many cases, however, adaptation options are limited by poverty, lack of resources, or — for some Native communities, such as those along the northern coast of Alaska constrained by public lands or on certain low-lying Pacific Islands — because there may be no land left to call their own.”

Written by 300 leading climate scientists and experts, the wide-ranging NCA report laid out some pretty bleak predictions about what climate change could do to the U.S. and its territories. But the report also offered some hope, laying out different response strategies that could improve life in a warming world.

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