Infrastructural legacies and post-Soviet transformations in Northern Sakha (Yakutiya), Russia

Ignoring environmental change? On fishing quotas and collapsing coastlines in Bykovskiy, Northern Sakha (Yakutiya)

“…In Bulunskiy District, the degradation of permafrost destroys or impairs ice cellars, impacts the quality of fresh water and sea water, and jeopardizes the stability and functioning of transport and housing infrastructures. For example, the destruction of ice cellars endangers food security in remote rural communities such as Bykovskiy, as does the changing seasonality of ice roads, which are often the only means of connectivity and supply of vitally important fuel and food items (Schweitzer and Povoroznyuk 2022 ). While most of Soviet-era infrastructures in Tiksi remain stable, permafrost thaw has been contributing for decades to dramatic coastal erosion in Bykovskiy.…”

“…Our research has shown that most experts and residents in Sakha (Yakutiya) are aware of climate change impacts, have directly experienced them or have been living with them for a long time. However, their perceptions and framings of the observed climate and environmental changes appeared to vary between ignorance, indifference, and skepticism (Schweitzer and Povoroznyuk 2022 ). The predominant attitude of our interlocutors to the issue of the cemetery can be labeled as indifference.…”