Water in mind: Investigating the Cultural Implications of Climate Change in Siberia

Dr. Susan Grate is an assistant professor of Human Ecology in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University. Dr. Crate is engaged in research focused on gauging the local socio-cultural context of unprecedented climate change. Her talk explores the cultural implications of the uncertain water regimes brought about by global climate change for Viliui Sakha, native horse and cattle breeders of northeastern Siberia, Russia. Ninety percent of respondents to a 2004 survey confirmed that climate change is causing unprecedented change in their local areas, threatening to undermine their subsistence economy, their health and their cultural orientation to their local environment. 

One of the main effects of climate change for these communities is increasing water on the land. Inhabitants expressed not only concern about their future ability to continue to raise horse and cattle in an increasingly flooded environment but also a common fear that they would go under water. After providing project context and initial findings, the talk focuses on these water issues and how local perceptions of and responses to changes in water regimes brought about by global climate change are framed by a cultures past and evolving narratives of water. New narratives are imported to a culture by media, researchers, and local and regional policy efforts. In order for local adaptation and policy interventions to be effective, they need to integrate and accommodate not only the physical realities of altered water regimes but also their cultural implications. This talk will explore these cultural implications and how these findings can be used to inform local adaptation and regional policy.