ALASKA IN THE CROSSHAIRS: CLIMATE, ARCTIC ENVIRONMENT, AND THE RESURGENCE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

Alaska is at the crossroads of environmental climate change, Arctic transformation, and the resurgence of nuclear weapons. While much environmental activism is rightfully taken up with climate effects, nuclear weapons are a massive environmental threat, one so obvious it can be easily overlooked. Join experts from across multiple disciplines as we explore Alaska’s unique role as the sole US Arctic state, one of only six U.S. states that have endured nuclear weapons testing, and home to a crucial and world-renowned environmental habitat. Friday 2/16 at 7pm, Dan O’Neill, author of “The Firecracker Boys” will present a history of the evolution of these issues since the dawn of the nuclear era (with a coda by Alzred Steve Oomittuk). Saturday 2/17 from 9a-5p, a full day of presenters, including UAF's Dr. Phil Wight, and panel discussions will consider the challenges already on a collision course: the warming planet, coastal erosion, rising industrial navigation and development, and resurgent nuclear tensions, all challenging global residents and cultures that call the Arctic home. The biological, chemical, and physical changes occurring in the today’s Arctic are outpacing science. Our modeling of the interrelationships of systems is unreliable and the changes are rapid and dramatic, with global consequences. Added pressure from military and industrial infrastructure portends disaster, and those closely concerned with the environment must stay abreast of these issues, for “we all live downwind.”