ИСТИНА

The communities of Alaska and Chukotka, adjacent to the coast of the Bering Strait, are inhabited by the indigenous people of the Arctic, possessing a common historical and cultural heritage. At the same time, well-documented changes in the natural environment and the difficult socio-economic conditions in the region have a significant impact on the traditional way of life of the local population and endangers its existence. Global climate changes, observed since the end of the 19th century, are 2 times more intensive in the Arctic regions than in the Earth as a whole. From 1880 to 2014 the increase in air temperatures at high latitudes was 0.65–1.06 С. A growth of air temperature provokes permafrost thaw, which lead to intensification of destructive geological processes, such as thermokarst, gully development, and waterlogging within and nearby the local communities. Warming of permafrost temperature causes decreasing of pile foundations stability and collapse of underground communal ice cellars for food storage. The increase in the open water period in the Chukchi and the Bering seas contributes to accelerated coastal erosion, which leads to the destruction of engineering facilities and requires the development of settlements relocation plans. According to different forecasts, the climate warming trend will continue in the future: by the middle of the 21st century, the average annual air temperature in the Bering Strait region will have increased by 1.4-4.9°С in compare to the multiyear average (1975–2005), and by 1.5-9.5°С by the end of the century. Our studies demonstrate that such changes will lead to an increase in seasonal soil thaw depth to 187% of current values and a lowering of soil surface within ice-rich deposits down to 3 meters by 2099; all remained communal ice cellars dug in permafrost won’t survive these changes. Such changes pose a threat not only to the traditional way of life of the indigenous peoples of the Chukotka-Alaska region, but also raise questions about the relocation of residents to safer, but less convenient for living and preserving the traditional nature management sites.