Shishmaref- Erin viaWikimedia Commons//CC BY 2.0
Shishmaref , Alaska , a tiny island small town near the Bering Strait , has voted to move . The Ithiel Town , inhabited by an Iñupiat community for four centuries , faces such a grievous peril from mood change that its occupant have opt to move elsewhere for fear that their homes will be swallowed into the sea , asInhabitathighlights .
The entire island is only 2.8 square mi — and just one naut mi wide — and clime change has melted the ice that previously acted as violent storm trade protection for the small town . Warmer temperatures have reduce into the community ’s ability to track down and fish on the ice and affected plant life in the region .
Already , some household have been moved as the shoreline has eroded . " I went to schooltime on the mainland , and when I came back , my mansion was fail , ” Leona Goodhope , one of Shishmaref ’s about 600 occupier , said in a federal reportin 2004 . “ They moved it to the other side of the village , or it would ’ve fallen in . ”
resident havespent yearsasking the federal government for backing to serve them move elsewhere , with no winner . They firstvoted to movein 2002 but never find a location to relocate to — or money to pay for it . Fusionreports that the cost to move the village would run about $ 200 million , and even after this voting , the villagers will still have to figure out how to fund it . While President Obama made abudget requestfor $ 400 million to relocate Alaskan villages jeopardise by climate variety in the first place this year , the Department of the Interior presently only has $ 8 million [ PDF ] uncommitted for tribal mood change version projects . So despite the recent vote , Shishmaref might not be going anywhere soon .
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