[New post] Another Hook For Climate Change – Alaska’s Iditarod Sled Dog Race
devongeography posted: "Teachers are constantly searching for interesting and novel ways to introduce a lesson or topic. That all important 'hook' to grab the students' attention in the first few minutes – the so called 'meerkat moments' – is essential to lesson planning. Here's"
Teachers are constantly searching for interesting and novel ways to introduce a lesson or topic. That all important 'hook' to grab the students' attention in the first few minutes – the so called 'meerkat moments' – is essential to lesson planning.
Here's another possible hook for any lessons on climate change – the effect global warming is having on dog sled racing in Alaska.
For the 49th year, the world-renowned Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has taken place in Alaska. But this could be the last time it is held here.
Image; REUTERS/Nathaniel Wilder
The winner, Dallas Seavey, completing the merciless competition in 7 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes and 57 seconds. However, this year's trail was shortened from 1,000 miles to 850 miles, and competitors were rerouted around most rural villages which normally serve as checkpoints to avoid breaching COVID protocols.
Competitors typically race from Willow (after a ceremonial photo-op in the state's largest city, Anchorage) in a winding route across the wilds of Alaska. The race ends in Nome, a town of fewer than 4,000 people on the edge of the Bering Sea, some 50 miles from Russia.
Parts of the Iditarod trail were used by the Inupiaq and Athabaskan indigenous communities for centuries before settlers travelled the route to Alaska's oil and gold fields in the late 1800s. It became a supply and mail route between towns in areas inaccessible except for by dog sled. In 1925, some 20 mushers and about 150 dogs relayed across the state to bring medical supplies to Nome during a diphtheria epidemic which threatened to wipe out the population. This became known as "The Serum Run" and forms part of the current route.
Teams race with packs of 12-16 dogs across the tundra and through forests, taking in mountain passes and river crossings. Only breeds suited to the harsh conditions, Siberian huskies and Alaskan malamutes, are allowed to race.
Even without the ripples caused by the pandemic, change has been long coming to the Iditarod. Alaska is on the front lines of the climate crisis. The state is warming at twice the speed of the rest of the US, and average winter temperatures have risen by more than 3C since the 1950s. Glaciers are cleaving apart, permafrost is thawing and sea ice extent is on the retreat.
Image: The Guardian
The planet is heating more quickly overall. The 10 warmest years have all occurred since 2005 and 2020 was tied with 2016 for the hottest year on record.
On the Iditarod trail, some frozen expanses are no longer reliable. Temporary bridges have been built in a section called the Dalzell Gorge, a particularly treacherous section of the trail where open water is now a problem. Vegetation has sprung up in new places, and exposed rocks and tree roots can make it tough on the dogs and mushers.
In the long run, climate change is likely to dramatically change the Iditarod route. And if the competition is forced to move further north to find more suitable conditions, then an existential question arises: Is it still the Iditarod?
Teachers are constantly searching for interesting and novel ways to introduce a lesson or topic. That all important 'hook' to grab the students' attention in the first few minutes – the so called 'meerkat moments' – is essential to lesson planning.
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