Final blog and ...The Awards...

I hope everyone is sitting down...yes,  there were  difficult choices.  So many delights to choose from but we narrowed it down.  Sorry some of you will have to share the limelight.

Best Picture Award Categories Are:

"Most Diverse Photos Used"-- Berb's Blabber & Woven Ideas

"Best use of Wildlife Photos"--Daves Explore Alaska & Hansons Climate Page

"Best Movie Pictures Used in Blog"-- Closing Cultural Gap

"Best Blog Awards"--Life in Alaska(also best use of G.Bush in comic form)

"Most enjoyed for Adults XXX only"--Kobuk River Valley People--didn't view....kidding=)

"Best and Most visited Blogs" --Dave Explore Alaska & Bill Alaska Geoscience

"Most Controversial Blog"--BrendasExploreAlaska, a great read but hard on these old eyes...


Final Blog...with little to no sites or photos, since photo awards have been given...seems redundant...
How is everything connected: Native and Western sciences.

Explain:

Northern Natives have existed and thrived for centuries, living off the land, rivers and oceans.  They have discovered through their own experiences, observations and experiments of climate, wildlife, rivers, oceans and landforms how it works and works with them. Their lives are intertwined with the climate, wildlife and landforms.  The Indeginous People have accumulated and documented  knowledge over time and passed it on to newer generations orally.  This knowledge has helped them them thrive for centuries.  Western scientists have developed theories also based on observations but use a more scientific process based on hypothesis and experimenting based on data collecting.  Both systems show merit and great value and in many ways.

The findings over time, observations experiments are vastly similar.  Both Native and Western science approach have demonstrated that change is happening in the world but the majority has been felt in the Northern Regions of the Earth. Global warming is a fact and is showing some the detrimental impact.   This impact has greatly affected the Native cultures who inhabit these regions.  An example, many Indeginous People rely on the salmon runs for food that are throughout Alaskas rivers and streams during the summer and fall.  The salmon population is decreasing due to the warmer temperatures.  Salmon must have a cool and consistent temperature in the streams, rivers and lakes to develop properly.  Temperatures are warming and the salmon are decreasing and the affects are felt by the natives that rely on the salmon for food supplies.  Many Natives have entered the field of science to better help their community and bridge a gap between their culture and Western science.  Not only is a bridge gapped but also a tighter bond develops the two entities.  Steve MacLean, an Inupiaq scientist works on the Bering Sea; La'ona DeWilde, Athabascan biologist; Dolly Garza, a Tlinget & Haida biologist; and Richard Glenn an Inupiaq geologist are just afew local Natives that have turned to the field science.  These scientists are helping the changing areas and people in the communities they live.  These people have broken barriers that others have built, as well as contributed to Western science and offered their rich cultural background to the mix.  Here again the connection is gapped between the cultural holistic and spiritual understanding of nature of the world systems and the step-by-step process of hypothesising, collecting and recording data of the Earth's systems.  The power is extreme when both worlds unite and hold the key to help solve and deal with the warming temperatures of the Earth and all that entails.  The Earth  is experiencing many changes statistics are proving.   The change in the cryrosphere, glaciers, atmosphere and climate show the delicate shift in the many ecosystems that exist, such as the salmon population.  These ecosystems will play a roll in the cultures that depend on them.