Climate Change and Migration for Scandinavian Saami: A Review of Possible Impacts

Kelman, Ilan; Næss, Marius Warg

doi:10.3390/cli7040047

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The influence of non-climate anthropogenic factors on reindeer pastoralism has recently received considerable attention (e.g., Brännlund and Axelsson, 2011;Vuojala-Magga, 2012;Löf, 2013;Turi and Keskitalo, 2014;Strøm Bull, 2015;Riseth et al, 2016;Tolvanen et al, 2019;du Plessis, 2020;Hausner et al, 2020;Kirchner, 2020, this study;see also López-i-Gelats et al, 2015. There is increasing recognition that the effects of human intervention may on occasion far exceed those of climate variation on reindeer pastoralism (Vitebsky, 2005;Anderson, 2006;Povoroznyuk, 2007;Tyler et al, 2007;Rees et al, 2008;Konstantinov, 2015;Uboni et al, 2016) particularly, but not exclusively, in the near-term (Kelman and Naess, 2019). We have focussed on non-climate loss of pasture which, in its various forms, is such a potent factor in Saami reindeer pastoralism in Norway.…”

Section: Human Intervention On Reindeer Pasture: Out Of Sight Out Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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The productive performance of large ungulates in extensive pastoral grazing systems is modulated simultaneously by the effects of climate change and human intervention independent of climate change. The latter includes the expansion of private, civil and military activity and infrastructure and the erosion of land rights. We used Saami reindeer husbandry in Norway as a model in which to examine trends in, and to compare the influence of, both effects on a pastoral grazing system. Downscaled projections of mean annual temperature over the principal winter pasture area (Finnmarksvidda) closely matched empirical observations across 34 years to 2018. The area, therefore, is not only warming but seems likely to continue to do so. Warming notwithstanding, 50-year (1969–2018) records of local weather (temperature, precipitation and characteristics of the snowpack) demonstrate considerable annual and decadal variation which also seems likely to continue and alternately to amplify and to counter net warming. Warming, moreover, has both positive and negative effects on ecosystem services that influence reindeer. The effects of climate change on reindeer pastoralism are evidently neither temporally nor spatially uniform, nor indeed is the role of climate change as a driver of change in pastoralism even clear. The effects of human intervention on the system, by contrast, are clear and largely negative. Gradual liberalization of grazing rights from the 18th Century has been countered by extensive loss of reindeer pasture. Access to ~50% of traditional winter pasture was lost in the 19th Century owing to the closure of international borders to the passage of herders and their reindeer. Subsequent to this the area of undisturbed pasture within Norway has decreased by 71%. Loss of pasture due to piecemeal development of infrastructure and to administrative encroachment that erodes herders' freedom of action on the land that remains to them, are the principal threats to reindeer husbandry in Norway today. These tangible effects far exceed the putative effects of current climate change on the system. The situation confronting Saami reindeer pastoralism is not unique: loss of pasture and administrative, economic, legal and social constraints bedevil extensive pastoral grazing systems across the globe.

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Section: Human Intervention On Reindeer Pasture: Out Of Sight Out Of Mindmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Tyler

Hanssen-Bauer

Førland

et al. 2021

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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“…The Circumpolar North has undergone rapid transformations since modern times: colonization, assimilation attempts, resource exploitation, environmental contamination, and immigration from southern states have impacted the social structures, livelihoods, and wellbeing of Northern communities (Csonka & Schweitzer, 2004;Kelman & Naess, 2019;Lehti et al, 2009;Young et al, 2012). Some of the early historical events include: the immigration of southern farmers into Saami territory in the 14th and 15th centuries; the arrival of European missionaries in Greenland (1721) and Arctic Canada (1860s); and the assignation of reindeer herds to collective farms in Siberia (1920) (Young et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and Indigenous mental health in the Circumpolar North: A systematic review to inform clinical practice

Lebel

Paquin

Kenny

et al. 2022

Transcult Psychiatry

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Climate change is disproportionally impacting the Circumpolar North, with particular impacts among Indigenous populations. Environmental changes are felt in many aspects of daily life of Northern communities, including both physical and mental health. Thus, health institutions from around the Arctic must meet emerging needs, while the phenomenon remains marginal to their southern counterparts. In this systematic review, we aimed to review current scientific knowledge on the mental health impacts of climate change in Indigenous Peoples across the Circumpolar North. Seven databases were searched. Original peer-reviewed research articles were included if they addressed links between climate change and mental health in Arctic or Subarctic Indigenous Populations. After extraction, data were synthesized using thematic analysis. Of the 26 articles that met inclusion criteria, 16 focused on Canadian Inuit communities and 21 were exclusively qualitative. Being on the land was identified as a central determinant of wellbeing. Immediate impacts of climate change on mental health were felt through restricted mobility and disrupted livelihoods. Effects on mental health were further felt through changes in culture and identity, food insecurity, interpersonal stress and conflicts, and housing problems. Various ways in how communities and individuals are coping with these effects were reported. Understanding climate-related pathways of mental health risks in the Arctic is crucial to better identify vulnerable groups and to foster resilience. Clinicians can play a role in recognizing and providing support for patients affected by these disruptions. Policies sensitive to the climate–mental health relationship must be advocated for.

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“…Additionally, permafrost degradation combined with drivers associated with human activities (e.g. oil and gas exploitation) are changing the traditional cultural heritage of indigenous pastoralist communities, which might be led to alter their herding routes 48 , 49 . This change might also contribute to increase the probability to cross hazardous areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Permafrost dynamics and the risk of anthrax transmission: a modelling study

Stella

Mari

Gabrieli

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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A recent outbreak of anthrax disease, severely affecting reindeer herds in Siberia, has been reportedly associated to the presence of infected carcasses or spores released from the active layer over permafrost, which is thawing and thickening at increasing rates, thus underlying the re-emerging nature of this pathogen in the Arctic region because of warming temperatures. Anthrax is a global zoonotic and epizootic disease, with a high case-fatality ratio in infected animals. Its transmission is mediated by environmental contamination through highly resistant spores which can persist in the soil for several decades. Here we develop and analyze a new epidemiological model for anthrax transmission that is specifically tailored to the Arctic environmental conditions. The model describes transmission dynamics including also herding practices (e.g. seasonal grazing) and the role of the active layer over permafrost acting as a long-term storage of spores that could be viable for disease transmission during thawing periods. Model dynamics are investigated through linear stability analysis, Floquet theory for periodically forced systems, and a series of simulations with realistic forcings. Results show how the temporal variability of grazing and active layer thawing may influence the dynamics of anthrax disease and, specifically, favor sustained pathogen transmission. Particularly warm years, favoring deep active layers, are shown to be associated with an increase risk of anthrax outbreaks, and may also foster infections in the following years. Our results enable preliminary insights into measures (e.g. changes in herding practice) that may be adopted to decrease the risk of infection and lay the basis to possibly establish optimal procedures for preventing transmission; furthermore, they elicit the need of further investigations and observation campaigns focused on anthrax dynamics in the Arctic environment.

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Climate Change and Migration for Scandinavian Saami: A Review of Possible Impacts

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

The Shrinking Resource Base of Pastoralism: Saami Reindeer Husbandry in a Climate of Change

Climate change and Indigenous mental health in the Circumpolar North: A systematic review to inform clinical practice

Permafrost dynamics and the risk of anthrax transmission: a modelling study

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