Addressing Climate Vulnerabilities in the Aleutian and Bering Sea Islands

The climate is changing rapidly in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region. In 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defined two areas of special concern relevant to this effort: the Arctic, because of the impacts of high rates of projected warming on natural systems and human communities; and small islands where there is high exposure of isolated populations and human infrastructure to projected climate change impacts. Unlike many parts of the globe it wasn’t until 2013 that scientists were able to complete rigorous, region-wide downscaled climate projections for the Bering Sea and Aleutians. Using these recent projections we assessed climate vulnerabilities for a suite of species dependent on the interface of the marine and terrestrial systems as well as the implications for some of the world’s most isolated communities and the most productive fishery in the United States. This work brings together residents, stakeholders, scientists, and natural resource managers as they attempt to collaboratively identify priorities for addressing current and expected future impacts of climate change. We will share initial results of the vulnerability assessment and the challenges facing our future efforts to develop adaptation and mitigation actions that bridge the terrestrial and marine ecosystems of this remote region.