Health & Social Impacts

Social and Environmental Changes for Arctic Peoples

In the past century, the indigenous peoples of the Arctic have experienced sweeping social and economic changes. In the past, groups of largely self-supporting hunters and gatherers lived on the land. Their traditional way of life was defined by the seasons and animal migrations. That has given way to permanent settlements with modern conveniences and a reliance on fuel, materials and food shipped from the south. In some respects, the changes have had major benefits:

• Life expectancy among Alaska Natives has risen from 47 years in 1950 to nearly 70 years today.
• Infant mortality has been greatly reduced.
• Great physical hardship and the potential for starvation are largely gone.

But not all changes have brought improvements.

Early explorers and adventurers brought diseases to the Arctic that devastated many groups. Social change has disrupted the ties between generations and among families. Economic change has led to reliance on goods and supplies manufactured elsewhere. That has often led to a dependence on transfer payments to support families and communities. And the industrial age has left its mark on even the most remote parts of the Arctic.

Environmental contaminants accumulate in Arctic food webs, despite the distance from industrial and agricultural sources of these pollutants. Contaminants create health risks and undermine confidence in eating traditional foods.

The development of infrastructure – roads, pipelines, causeways – can create barriers for fish and animals as well as people trying to obtain food for their families. The warming Arctic is dramatically altering the environment and creating conditions in which traditional knowledge is no longer fully reliable.

The diet of people living in the Arctic is changing rapidly as well. People are consuming more high-calorie convenience foods and less wild-harvested foods. That is contributing to significant increases in chronic illnesses such as diabetes, obesity, certain cancers and related disorders.

Social and demographic changes occur when a small indigenous community experiences a large influx of non-resident workers. That can exacerbate social strain and lead to increases in social and medical problems such as alcohol-related injuries, sexually transmitted infections and family violence.

Together, these changes have created anxiety and stress for local communities who wonder what the future will hold for them, their children and their cultures.

Cumulative Effects

Climate change is creating environmental stress for human communities and marine ecosystems in the Arctic. Socioeconomic changes are taking place as outside workers arrive to supply labor to new industries. When combined, these changes have a greater overall effect than as separate activities or events. Assessments that measure these cumulative effects are critical to providing informed, long-term management of resources.

The U.S. Council on Environmental Quality defines cumulative effects as, “the incremental impact of the action to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future actions…Cumulative impacts can result from individually minor but collectively significant actions taking place over a period of time.”

Stresses such as increased industrial activity may increase the vulnerability of these communities to climate change by reducing their capacity to cope with the effects of a changing environment. It is also important to consider the cumulative impacts of human-induced stresses on marine ecosystems already under pressure from climate change.