In 2009, thirty one Alaskan villages were deemed “imminently threatened” by erosion and flooding. One of these communities is Newtok, Alaska, the home of about three hundred and fifty people who still depend on the food they hunt, gather, and fish near the Bering Sea.

Bronen: “They need to relocate, that is the only adaptation strategy they have to protect themselves from climate induced environmental change.”

That’s Robin Bronen, Executive Director of the Alaska Institute for Justice, a nonprofit that protects the human rights of immigrants and refugees.

As the Arctic warms, the sea ice, which used to protect the coast from waves and storm surge, is melting. Permafrost is also thawing, causing the ground itself to sink or melt away, making the citizens of Newtok some of the world’s first climate refugees.

Bronen hopes the lessons of Newtok will help other communities as sea levels rise and climate refugees become more commonplace.

Bronen: “Protecting human rights is going to be critical as these relocations happen not only in remote Alaska, but all over the world.”

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.
Photo: The Newtok Planning Group logo: The relocation site is called Mertarvik, which in Yup’ik means, “getting water from the spring.” (Source: Alaska.gov)

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