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Posted on September 30, 2011
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Environment
Facing the Storm: Indian Tribes, Climate-Induced Weather Extremes, and the Future for Indian Country
American Indian/Alaska Native tribes are more directly affected by global climate change than the general U.S. population, due to their strong connection to the land, relatively poor infrastructure, and lack of resources needed to recover from ecological shifts and extreme weather events, a report from the National Wildlife Federation argues. The report, Facing the Storm: Indian Tribes, Climate-Induced Weather Extremes, and the Future for Indian Country (28 pages, PDF), illustrates how high poverty rates, dependence on land for economic development and maintenance of cultural traditions, and limited options for moving off reservations make tribal communities vulnerable to threats such as drought, wildfire, and flooding. Released in collaboration with the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, the National Congress of American Indians, the Native American Fish & Wildlife Society, the National Tribal Environmental Council, the Native American Rights Fund, and the University of Colorado Law School, the report calls for securing adequate financial and technical resources from government and agency programs to enable Indian tribes to adapt to and mitigate the effects of global climate change.
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