Tracking the consequences of greenhouse gas in the Arctic

Melting permafrost, erratic temperatures, forest fires—a perfect storm of global warming has helped cull the Porcupine Herd of caribou from 189,000 to 120,000. At stake is the sustenance of the millennia-old culture of the Gwich'in “caribou people,” and hunters like Charley Swaney. But in a way we are all people of the caribou. If the ancient hunt is to endure, the U.S. and other industrial countries would have to eliminate or meaningfully reduce greenhouse gases. In doing so, members of the industrial world would not only be saving indispensable traditional knowledge. They would be saving themselves.