Obama administration warns of ‘climate refugees’ due to rapid Arctic warming

The Obama administration has warned the US will need to deal with a wave of “climate refugees” as the Arctic continues to warm, joining with the Canadian government to express alarm over how climate change is affecting indigenous communities. Sally Jewell, US secretary of the interior, painted a stark picture of communities relocating and lives disrupted in her first official visit to Canada. The Arctic, which is warming at twice the rate of the global average, has just recorded its lowest recorded peak ice extent after what’s been called a “warm, crazy winter”.  “We will have climate refugees,” Jewell said. “We have to figure out how to deal with potentially relocating villages. There’s real tangible support we need to do from a government basis, working alongside indigenous communities as they make very difficult choices about what is right for them. “We can’t turn this around. We can stem the increase in temperature, we can stem some of the effect, perhaps, if we act on climate. But the changes are under way and they are very rapid.” The escalating Arctic temperatures, diminishing ice and rising sea levels are having consequences for humans as well as other animals such as polar bears and walruses. The ability to catch fish and travel – or even to hold the famed Iditarod dog sled race in Alaska – is at risk...more