UA Press releases ethnography of climate change in Shishmaref

September 22, 2015

University Relations

The University of Alaska Press has released “Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground: An Ethnography of Climate Change in Shishmaref, Alaska” by Elizabeth Marino.

"Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground" is an ethnographic account of the impacts of climate change in Shishmaref, Alaska. In this small Iñupiaq community on Alaska's Seward Peninsula, flooding and erosion are forcing community members to consider relocation as the only possible solution for long-term safety. However, a tangled web of policy obstacles, lack of funding and organizational challenges leaves the community without a clear way forward, creating serious questions of how to maintain cultural identity under the new climate regime.

Marino analyzes this unique and grounded example of a warming world as a confluence of political injustice, histories of colonialism, global climate change and contemporary development decisions. The book merges theoretical insights from disaster studies, political analysis and passages from field notes into a text suited for a wide audience.

Elizabeth Marino researches circumpolar issues from her home in Cascades, Oregon.

For more information about this title and many more, please visit www.uapress.alaska.edu or call 800-621-2736.