Posted 27 January 2009
Inupiat community endangered by climate change
High in the Arctic Circle the consequences of global warming are having a dangerous impact on the survival prospects of a native Inuit community in Barrow, Alaska.
While on an Arctic expedition, Dr Cara Augustenborg, a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the UCD School of Biology & Environmental Science, captured the threat to the Inuit community in a short documentary entitled The Inupiat People of Barrow.
Pictured far right: Post-Doctoral Researcher at the UCD School of Biology & Environmental Sciences, Dr Cara Augustenborg
The micro-documentary was voted among the top 10 of 83 films submitted to the World Bank's Film Contest for Climate Change.
“I was so moved by my conversations with the local people that I felt compelled to record some of their views on climate change,” says Dr Augustenborg. “Before the expedition, I knew climate change was affecting wildlife and the environment, but I had no idea it was already impacting people and their traditional customs.”
“My hope is that the film might inspire people to acknowledge their individual responsibility to help preserve traditional cultures around the globe by reducing their own carbon footprint here in Ireland,” she says.
The expedition was part of an International Programme organised by Ben & Jerry's Climate Change College, and supported by WWF International, to find innovative climate change solutions and practices.
Ben & Jerry's Climate Change College is a partnership between polar explorer Marc Cornelissen and Ben & Jerry's. The program included a two-week field trip to the Arctic, where the participants visited the WWF Arctic project and participated in climate change research.
As part of the programme, Dr Augustenborg also developed a popular wiki-based website called GreenDIY.ie to provide information and support for in-home action on climate change. The campaign aims to encourage Irish homeowners to take action against climate change and lower their carbon footprint by undertaking simple DIY projects in their homes.
