Published

The Arctic is warming approximately four times faster than the global average.

This is not a future threat. This is happening now.

And Yukon and Alaska are experiencing it firsthand.

What's Happening:

Permafrost Thaw:

• Ground that has been frozen for thousands of years is melting
• Buildings, roads, airports are destabilizing
• Infrastructure repair costs escalating
• Some communities face relocation

Temperature Changes:

The North is rich. The North is fragile. Managing these two truths is the central challenge of northern governance.

What We Have:

Yukon:

• Significant mineral deposits (gold, silver, zinc, lead, copper)
• Mining as major economic sector
• Sustainable forestry (limited)
• Fisheries (primarily subsistence/recreational)

Alaska:

Indigenous peoples have lived in what is now Yukon and Alaska for at least 14,000 years. Probably longer.

The border between them was drawn in 1825 (Russia-Britain) and adjusted in 1867 (Russia-US purchase). Nobody asked the Gwich'in, the Hän, the Tlingit, the Yup'ik, the Iñupiat, or any of the other nations whose territories it bisected.

That border has separated families, disrupted traditional economies, and complicated governance ever since.

The Yukon Situation:

In 1896, gold was discovered in the Klondike region of Yukon. Within two years, 100,000 people set off for Dawson City. Most didn't make it. Those who did mostly didn't find gold. A few got rich. Everyone got a story.

In 1899, gold was discovered near Nome, Alaska. Another rush. Another flood of dreamers. Similar outcomes.

These two gold rushes shaped the modern North. They also happened to fall on opposite sides of a border neither the prospectors nor the Indigenous peoples had any say in drawing.

Klondike (Yukon):

Oil and gas built Alaska's economy. The Trans-Alaska Pipeline has been pumping crude from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez since 1977.

Yukon has been more ambivalent about pipelines. We've watched projects proposed, debated, abandoned.

A unified territory would need to reconcile these different relationships with fossil fuels.

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline:

The Arctic is melting. This is bad for many reasons, but one consequence is that suddenly everyone cares about the Arctic.

Russia is planting flags on the seabed. China is calling itself a "near-Arctic state" (it isn't). The United States has been neglecting its Arctic territories for decades. Canada talks a good game but underfunds northern defense.

Meanwhile, the people who actually live in the Arctic — including Yukoners and Alaskans — are watching superpowers argue about who owns their backyard.

The Current Situation:

REFERENCES FOR HAWAII ADOPTION

REFERENCES FOR OREGON ADOPTION

Sports bind communities. They also divide them. Both are useful.

The Current Landscape:

Hockey:

Hawaii: No hockey tradition (wrong climate, no ice)

Soccer:

Let's talk about what actually unites us: the cult of coffee.

The Coffee Landscape:

British Columbia: