The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium has received a nearly $75 million federal grant to help Native communities cope with rising global temperatures.

Alaska News Source said the investment will contribute to regional capacity building, benefiting nearly 100 communities affected by climate change.

ANTHC was one of 19 fellows who have collectively received more than $500 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce to build climate resilience.

“Alaska is an underserved state, on the front lines of climate change – related impacts that alter the Arctic landscape and affect all aspects of life in isolated Alaska Native communities,” NOAA said on the grant website. “The most effective way to increase preparedness and reduce exposure to negative impacts is to increase the region’s capacity to understand risks and develop and implement solutions.”

NOAA’s website called the spending “a historic investment that advances NOAA’s efforts to build climate-ready coasts.”

At a joint news conference, NOAA Deputy Administrator Jainey Bavishi said the money would help Alaska Native communities face challenges like climate-related relocation, food sovereignty , mental health behavior and well-being. She added that Alaska is warming twice as fast as any other state.

According to the US Environmental Protection AgencyAlaska Native communities are already experiencing the effects of global warming, including melting permafrost that threatens their health, economies and cultures.

“Alaska Natives face the realities of climate change every day,” said Natasha Singh, president of ANTHC, at the press conference. “From the changing rivers we fish in to the changing terrain of the traditional lands we hunt on, climate change is one of the major public health challenges in Alaska.”

Declining sea ice has affected the state’s wildlife: for example, mass seal strandings have increased and polar bears have limited access to prey, according to the USDA Climate Centers Website.

This is just one of many programs designed to increase climate resilience in the United States. For example, the federal government invests more than $179 million in water reuse projects in the American West to help states like Utah and California better cope with droughts. In Louisianaanother climate resilience project involves reconnecting wetlands to the Mississippi River to improve storm protecting local communities and returning surrounding lands to their natural state.

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