The Climate Reality Project -- Kotzebue

What can change in a day? Everything. On September 14, the world will focus its attention on the truth about the climate crisis. For 24 hours, we will all live in reality. Pick a faraway place or a city near you. Make it yours for one day. We’re hitting every time zone — but only once. 7 p.m. in your time zone. Choose a location and get involved.

Kotzebue -- 

Here’s a scary fact: In the last 50 years, Alaska has warmed twice as fast as the continental United States. And for a village that relies on “winter roads” (temporary roads made of ice and frozen ground), that temperature change is a serious matter.

Situated 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska’s western coast, Kotzebue is a village of about 3,000 people. About 70% of the population of Kotzebue is Native Alaskan.

As the thawing continues, Kotzebue and other villages in the region are struggling to manage the impacts not only on local ecosystems and industries, but on their roads and homes as well.A service and transportation hub for much of the northwestern part of the state, Kotzebue relies on a cold winter to move goods, equipment, and people around Alaska. Milder winters and permafrost warming have cut the length of the winter road season by half in some parts of the state. By the middle of the century, the amount of land area in Alaska accessible by winter roads may decline by 29%.