For thousands of years Alaska Natives have adapted to a changing environment. The mission of the Center for Climate and Health (CC) is to help the Alaska Tribal Health System adapt to climate change, and other new or emerging impacts on community health. CC combines ANTHC's engineering, environmental health and community health expertise to provide local and regional partners with a broad range of health resources.

Climate change is emerging as an important health issue for rural Alaska. Alaska Natives are witness to a wide range of environmental change: to the land as thawing permafrost causes damage to critical infrastructure; to the water as tundra ponds disappear and river banks erode and fill with sediment; to vegetation as drought-driven fires result in the loss of thousands of acres of forest; to the wildlife as new species become established and traditional subsistence resources move, adapt, or perish. These changes affect the health of Alaska Natives in many ways, increasing the risk for injury and disease and causing interruption or damage to health infrastructure such as water systems and health clinics.

Health effects from climate change can be positive or negative. Along with our tribal health partners, CC works closely with governments at the local and regional level, academic institutions and public and private organizations to understand local health effects, and to develop strategies that encourage wellness, resilience and sustainability. With funding from the Indian Health Services, CC is performing comprehensive local and regional surveys of health effects related to climate change. We also provide consultation on climate adaption and mitigation.

CCH maintains a current Climate Events map for Alaska:

Contact us at akaclimate@anthc.org to add a climate event to the map:

Click here for archived climate event maps.

We are located at 4000 Ambassador Drive Suite 449, at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Campus in Anchorage, Alaska.

For more information please contact us at (907)-729-2464 or (907)-729-4493

Or by e-mail at akaclimate@anthc.org