"A thawing of permafrost in beaver-built wetlands can release vast stores of greenhouse gases to warm the climate, but Native peoples are already feeling the rodent’s impacts."
"When the beavers came to streams near the Alaskan village of Venetie, the fish disappeared.
For generations, the Gwichʼin people of the tiny Arctic village depended on the bounty of white fish pulled from Martin Creek.
“We don’t fish there anymore,” said tribal elder Eddie Frank. “The fish are gone. When the beavers came, they changed the creek.”
Over the last several decades, people in remote Alaska communities have observed an influx of beavers as the warming climate has fostered the growth and expansion of woody vegetation, providing more forage and dam construction materials for the eager engineers.
Recent studies have highlighted a vicious circle of expanding Arctic beaver populations and global warming. As climate change creates new habitats for beavers in the High North, their dams can cause more permafrost to thaw, releasing huge stores of greenhouse gases to further warm the atmosphere."
David Hasemyer reports for Inside Climate News January 31, 2022.
