Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)
Thu Jan 23, 2014, 08:54 PM Jan 2014

Race to save Alaska's lost "melting villages"boosted by major research grant

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/01/race-to-save-alaskas-lost-melting.html#.UuG386_nYqQ

Dr Knecht added: “Since we started in 2009, the shoreline has retreated a full 10 metres. This is happening all around the arctic and because these were coastal people, the archaeological record is lost with it. But it’s not just an archaeological record – it’s one of the clearest records of the past that we know of anywhere in the north.”

Named ‘Nunalleq’ (meaning ‘the old village’) by village elders, discoveries at the site number tens of thousands and have included samples of human hair, ceremonial face masks and an ivory carving of a legendary river monster.

The dig has been carried out in full partnership with the local indigenous community. The pieces have been transported to the University of Aberdeen for preservation and archiving but remain the property of the people of Quinhagak and will be returned afterwards.

The site was inhabited between 1300 and 1650, during the Little Ice Age (shortly after 1400), which was a period of rapid global climate change. As well as providing a fascinating account of how the Yup’ik people lived hundreds of years ago, the project is also relevant to bigger issues concerning climate change in general.

2 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Race to save Alaska's lost "melting villages"boosted by major research grant (Original Post) Rowdyboy Jan 2014 OP
Climate Change is terrifying Amerincorporated Feb 2014 #1
Of course. How can there possibly be climate change with "polar vortexes" making it cold Rowdyboy Feb 2014 #2
1. Climate Change is terrifying
Sun Feb 9, 2014, 01:28 PM
Feb 2014

I don't understand how people can be so cavalier about climate change, they make up excuses and straw man arguments to stick their head in the sand about something that could wipe out humanity in their, or maybe their children's, lifetime. The most annoying arguments come from pseudo-intellectuals, who's arguments seem to stem from narcissism and an inflated ego, rather than any kind of honest beliefs. Libertarians who live completely in the realm of hypotheticals, yet whenever I ask them how long they've studied climate change they invariably pivot the argument to anecdotes about how the Earth's climate always changes, ignoring the facts about those changes. That the Earth has warmed and cooled, the GLARING difference being that it has never warmed this fast, and has NEVER been as warm as it's getting in all of human history. This is usually the point when they smile and change the subject. I don't understand normally intelligent people who refuse to believe the overwhelming opposition to their uninformed opinions. Like I said, I think it's a psychological issue with Libertarians-they're all extremely egotistical and hold their own opinions in high esteem over any contradictory facts.

Rowdyboy

(22,057 posts)
2. Of course. How can there possibly be climate change with "polar vortexes" making it cold
Sun Feb 9, 2014, 02:50 PM
Feb 2014

in the winter?

They refuse to look deeper because they don't want to acknowledge the truth. That would require affirmative action and that goes against the grain for shallow, lazy people.

Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»American History»Race to save Alaska's los...