Blog Action Day: An Alaskan’s Thoughts on Climate Change

It’s my pleasure to join Blog Action Day for the second year in a row and help further the global conversation for change and awareness!  This year’s Blog Action Day is climate change, which I feel I have a unique perspective on since I live in Alaska. 

I was reading through a Top 100 list of the effects of global warming which really brought things into a tangible sphere.  There are 100 specific things listed that will disappear if the climate change keeps going at its current rate.  In the first page, I saw several changes that had to do with Alaska and other cold weather locations, such as polar bears that become cannibals and eat each other when the lack of cold & ice keeps them from their regular food supply!

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska, right in the interior of the state, and arguably one of the coldest places to live in the world.  It’s not unusual for us to see temperatures of –60 to –70 degree Fahrenheit, and that’s before you figure in a windchill factor.  That’s the straight-up temperature showing on the thermometer.  One of the most fun things about the harsh cold is to drive by a store with a digital thermometer sign that shows the time and temperature and take a picture of it at extremely cold temperatures.  I wish I had one to share right now!

Here’s an interesting fact about thermometers, while we’re on the subject: many thermometers don’t go below –70 degrees F.  If you’re unlucky enough to have one of these not-intended-for-Alaskans-thermometers hanging on your porch and it’s a particularly cold day, your cold-gauge may get to the bottom and stop! 

Looking back on our weather history as a life-long Alaskan, I can remember winters in my childhood and even 20s during which the cold weather was more frequent,  longer in duration, and more extreme.  My senior year in high school I had to go outside between every class and start my car to make sure it would still run when school was over for the day so I could drive to work.  The –50 and colder temperatures for that particular cold snap lasted longer than 2 weeks straight.

Now, while we still have extreme temperatures here in Fairbanks, they’re not as frequent or as long-lasting.  I’d love to give extra tidbits about the strange adjustments we make to everyday life having to deal with the extremely cold weather in winter, but that’s for another post on another day.

Our summers have also seen noticeable changes.  In years past, our summers were warm and comfortable, but didn’t reach the level of heat that would require sustained use of air conditioning in my home.  However, the highs have seemed to be trending upward and the 90 degree weather in Alaska seems to be here to stay in the summers now.

Let’s talk about the freak weather – check out the photo at right that I took from my front porch of snow falling on April 30, 2008.  This was long after the snow had been melting and spring was almost giving way to summer!  It dumped inches of fresh snow on us that day, and I had to take a picture because it was so out of the ordinary.  

Perhaps the most shocking climate change effect to date for me living in Alaska is happening right now.  Every year, I use October 5th as a guideline for when our winter is officially here.  By that date I can usually count on the snow being here permanently until the following spring.  This year we’ve had a couple snows that only lasted a few hours, but there is no permanent snow on the ground and it is quite visibly Autumn still. 

I’ve half-joked and half-wished for many years that it would still be fall on Halloween so we could take our kids trick or treating door to door.  (Last year it was so cold that we had to drive from house to house, bundle the kids up in their winter gear, run to the door, run back, and repeat.  It was so cold that the baby only got to do 2 houses then had to stay in the car.)  Now here it is, October 15th, and the yellow and orange leaves on the trees are still falling to a crinkly, but not white, ground.  It’s Fall time in mid-October, which I’ve never seen in Alaska in all my life.  I’m starting to think we may get our snowless Halloween trick or treating after all!

What’s next – snowless Christmas in Alaska?!

We can all do our part to help fight climate change and lead a life that’s just a little greener than the year before.  The ideas for quick, easy ways to make a difference are endless: walk to the library instead of driving, take the bus to work, set up a carpool for your kids.  You can even add your name to a petition for President Obama to lead the way on climate change initiatives for us.

Thanks for joining me for my thoughts on how climate change is visible and very much here in Alaska.  Feel free to leave comments about your experiences and observations in the comments.  There’s still time to participate in Blog Action Day as well:  check them out online now!

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