Impacts of Climate Change on the Karuk Tribe (two-page brief)

Impacts of Climate Change on the Karuk Tribe (full report)

In November of 2022, California state scientists released a new report that shows how the impacts of climate change are rapidly accelerating in the state. Key findings in the Fourth Edition of the Indicators of Climate Change in California report illustrate an exponential increase in wildfires and point to a hotter, drier environment driven by megadrought.

The Fourth Edition is the first to consider in detail the impacts of climate change on Tribal Nations within the state’s boundaries. Included in the tribal section is the Impacts of Climate Change on the Karuk Tribe report. Recognizing the Karuk Tribe’s accomplishments in researching/documenting climate vulnerabilities and its comprehensive climate adaptation planning work, state scientists collaborated with staff at the Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources to co-author this 28-page overview of climate change’s impacts on Karuk landscapes and cultural resources.

“Self-described as ‘fix the world people,’ the Karuk Tribe has relied
on fire and ceremony to manage their lands since time immemorial.
The threats of climate change, acting alongside non-climate factors,
are an opportunity for the Tribe to return to traditional management,
which includes the use of 22 key cultural indicator species to gauge
ecosystem health and to guide appropriate action.”

Impacts of Climate Change on the Karuk Tribe

Read the full report or the two page brief to learn more!