The Emerging Challenge of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Arctic

• In Event: Disasters and Resilience Policies in Global Cities

Abstract

Climate change is having the perverse effects of increasing human activity in the Arctic while simultaneously making Arctic communities more vulnerable to environmental disasters, coastal storms, flooding, and coastal erosion hastened by the loss of permafrost. This paper outlines the challenges of climate-related hazards and disaster governance in the Arctic, focusing on Alaska. The paper describes the nature of governance in Alaska, which differs from and is rather more complex than similar structures in the lower 48 states. These differences include weather extremes, vast distances, a small and dispersed population, and the unique system of local governments and native corporations in Alaska. The paper then describes the increasing attention being paid to the Arctic by various interests, which will be manifest in increased and varied human activities in the Arctic. The paper concludes with a summary of efforts currently being undertaken to understand the disaster management and governance challenges in the region. This research is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation for an interdisciplinary study comprising scholars from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , the University of Alaska-Anchorage, and NC State University.

Author

• Thomas A. Birkland, North Carolina State University