STORM OVER KASEGALUK LAGOON | Oil and The Whales | 2006 | 68x86 inches

With climate change the Inupiat people of the Alaskan Arctic coastal region in recent years have been experiencing more frequent and severe intensity storms than anytime before that they remember. With more open water on the ocean (another climate change phenomenon) combined with severe storms are making their traditional hunting on small boats more dangerous. International scientific community has stated that rising temperatures are altering the Arctic coastline and much larger changes are projected to occur during this century as a result of reduced sea ice, thawing permafrost, and sea-level rise. Thinner, less extensive sea ice creates more open water, allowing stronger wave generation by winds, thus increasing wave-induced erosion along Arctic shores. Sea-level rise and thawing of coastal permafrost exacerbate this problem. The village of Shishmaref, located on an island just off the coast of northern Alaska and inhabited for four thousand years, is now facing the prospect of evacuation.