Failing ice cellars signal changes in Alaskawhaling towns25 November 2019, by Rachel D'oro

This May 3, 2009, photo taken in Point Hope, Alaska,provided by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium,shows the entrance to an ice cellar, a type ofunderground food dug into the permafrost to providenatural refrigeration used for generations in far-northcommunities. Naturally cooled underground ice cellars,used in Alaska Native communities for generations, arebecoming increasingly unreliable as a warming climateand other factors touch multiple facets of life in the farnorth. (Mike Brubaker/Alaska Native Tribal HealthConsortium via AP)

For generations, people in Alaska's far-northvillages have relied on hand-built ice cellars dugdeep into the permafrost to age their whale andwalrus meat to perfection and keep it coldthroughout the year.

Scores of the naturally refrigerated food caches liebeneath these largely Inupiat communities, wheremany rely on hunting and fishing to feed theirfamilies. The ice cellars range from small arcticroot cellars to spacious, wood-lined chambers,some topped with sheds.

Now, a growing number of these undergroundcellars are being rendered unreliable as globalwarming and other modern factors force changes

to an ancient way of life. Some whaling villages areworking to adapt as more cellars—some stockedwith tons of subsistence food—turn up with poolingwater and mold.

"I'm worried," said Gordon Brower, a whalingcaptain who lives in Utqiagvik, the nation'snorthernmost community, which logged its warmestMay through September on record this year.

His family has two ice cellars: One is more than100 years old and used to store at least 2 tons (1.8metric tons) of frozen bowhead whale meat setaside for community feasts; the other was built in1955, and is used as the family's privatesubsistence-food cache.

Brower recently asked his son to retrieve somewhale meat from one of the cellars, and discoveredliquids had collected in both.

In this undated photo, two men look down a shaft inKaktovik, Alaska, leading to a new community ice cellar,a type of underground food cache dug into thepermafrost to provide natural refrigeration used forgenerations in far-north communities. Naturally cooledunderground ice cellars, used in Alaska Nativecommunities for generations, are becoming increasinglyunreliable as a warming climate and other factors touch

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multiple facets of life in the far north. (MarnieIsaacs/Kaktovik Community Foundation via AP)

"He came back and said, 'Dad, there's a pool ofblood and water at the bottom,'" recalled Brower,the North Slope Borough's planning anddevelopment director. He pulled the communitymeat outside and has kept it under a tarp becausethe weather is cold enough now to keep it fromspoiling.

"It seems like slight temporary variations in thepermafrost—that active layer—is affecting thetemperature of our cellar," Brower said.

Residents and researchers say the problem hasbeen building for decades as a warming climatetouches multiple facets of life in the farnorth—thawing permafrost, disruptions in huntingpatterns and shorter periods of coastal ice thathistorically protected coastal communities frompowerful storms. Other factors include developmentand soil conditions.

The changes have increased vulnerability tofoodborne illnesses and raised concerns about foodsecurity, according to studies by the Alaska NativeTribal Health Consortium. The group and statehealth officials say they have so far not heard ofanyone getting sick.

This Jan. 5, 2010, photo provided by the Alaska NativeTribal Health Consortium in Utqiagvik, Alaska, shows a

functioning ice cellar, a type of underground food cachedug into the permafrost to provide natural refrigerationused for generations in far-north communities. Naturallycooled underground ice cellars, used in Alaska Nativecommunities for generations, are becoming increasinglyunreliable as a warming climate and other factors touchmultiple facets of life in the far north. (MikeBrubaker/Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium via AP)

There were once at least 50 ice cellars in PointHope, an Inupiat whaling village built on a triangularspit surrounded by a large inlet and the Chukchiand Arctic oceans. Now, fewer than 20 remain,according to village services supervisor RussellLane, a whaling captain who has lived his 52 yearsin the community of 750. The problems with cellarshave become more pronounced in the past twodecades, he said.

To compensate, Point Hope whaling captains haveuse of three walk-in freezers that were donated foruse by the whaling community. But the much colderfreezers do not impart the taste of aged whale meatso favored throughout the region. Lane himselfinitially stores meat in the traditional ice cellar hiswife's family owns, frequently checking it until itreaches the right maturity before he transfers it to afreezer.

"It's definitely a challenge at this time to be able tofeed our people that acquired taste," Lane said.

Despite the unprecedented rate of climate changetoday, however, ice cellars failed in the past,including one account of a cellar developing mold inthe early 1900s, according to a study published in2017 that looked at traditional cellars in Utqiagvik,formerly named Barrow, following reports of floodedand collapsed cellars. The study, funded by theNational Science Foundation and GeorgeWashington University, found ice cellars don't meetfederally recommended temperature standards, butallow the culturally preferred aging to occur.

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This June 26, 2013, photo provided by the Alaska NativeTribal Health Consortium shows inside of an ice cellar inNuiqsut, Alaska. Naturally cooled underground icecellars, used in Alaska Native communities forgenerations, are becoming increasingly unreliable as awarming climate and other factors touch multiple facetsof life in the far north. (Mike Brubaker/Alaska NativeTribal Health Consortium via AP)

The study was inconclusive about the cause of icecellar failures, citing an absence of extensivescientific analysis. Researchers mapped 71 icecellar locations around town and monitored fivefunctioning cellars from 2005 to 2015, finding littlethermal change over that relatively short timeframe.One of those cellars has since failed, however, andanother is starting to collapse, according to one ofthe study's authors, George Washington Universityresearch scientist Kelsey Nyland.

The study concluded that while a changing climatehas great potential to affect ice cellars, there are

other factors, including soil conditions and urbandevelopment. For example, some Utqiagvikresidents might inadvertently warm the soil beneaththeir cellars by putting sheds on top of theentrances to keep them free of snow, Nyland said.

"Climate change, air temperatures, all thesephysical changes are affecting them," she said."But also, a lot of it has to do with development andmodern life in an arctic setting."

To adapt to the new environment, the village ofKaktovik, on the Beaufort Sea coast, took ambitioussteps after it lost all but one family's cellar toflooding.

This undated photo in Kaktovik, Alaska, showsinstallation of a shelter covering the entrance to a newcommunity ice cellar, a type of underground food cachedug into the permafrost to provide natural refrigerationused for generations in far-north communities. Naturallycooled underground ice cellars, used in Alaska Nativecommunities for generations, are becoming increasinglyunreliable as a warming climate and other factors touchmultiple facets of life in the far north. (MarnieIsaacs/Kaktovik Community Foundation via AP)

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This undated photo in Kaktovik, Alaska, shows a sheltercovering the entrance to a new community ice cellar, atype of underground food cache dug into the permafrostto provide natural refrigeration used for generations in far-north communities. Naturally cooled underground icecellars, used in Alaska Native communities forgenerations, are becoming increasingly unreliable as awarming climate and other factors touch multiple facetsof life in the far north. (Marnie Isaacs/KaktovikCommunity Foundation via AP)

This Sept. 23, 2019, photo in Point Hope, Alaska, showsan abandoned, eroded ice cellar, a type of undergroundfood cache dug into the permafrost to provide naturalrefrigeration used for generations in far-northcommunities. Naturally cooled underground ice cellars,used in Alaska Native communities for generations, arebecoming increasingly unreliable as a warming climateand other factors touch multiple facets of life in the farnorth. (Anne Jensen via AP)

In 2013, the village launched a project to build acommunity ice cellar incorporating traditionaldesigns with contemporary technology used inAlaska's North Slope oil fields—thermosyphons, off-grid tubelike refrigeration devices that cool theground by transferring heat outside.

The hand-excavated cellar was ready for use in2017, but it has yet to be filled. Whaling captainswant to expand it first, according to whaling captainGeorge Kaleak Sr., who represents Kaktovik on theAlaska Eskimo Whaling Commission.

Temperature sensors inside the cellar show it'sworking as intended, Kaleak said. He expects theexpansion to begin as early as next spring.

In the meantime, subsistence foods are stored inthree 40-foot (12-meter) village freezer vans. Butthat equipment is no substitute for imparting thataged taste so prized in the region, Kaleak noted.He hopes the new cellar mimics that process.

"There's nothing that tastes better than ice cellarfood," he said.

© 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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APA citation: Failing ice cellars signal changes in Alaska whaling towns (2019, November 25) retrieved22 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2019-11-alaska-native-ice-cellars-environmental.html

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