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Blog
Ocean Currents
We are in a Climate Crisis
Reflections from Nome on cruise ships navigating an increasingly ice-free Arctic
Austin Ahmasuk is a lifelong Nome resident, hunter, trapper and fisher.
When the passenger vessel The World came to Nome on September 10, 2019, I could no longer sit by passively and let our climate crisis continue on without some kind of direct action. So, I took the day off from work to protest about cruise ships navigating an increasingly ice-free Arctic and increasingly warmer Bering Sea in hopes that I could interact with the passengers and let my fellow hometown residents know that I was willing to be vulnerable about an issue that is important to all of us. Nome is my home. I was born just a couple of blocks from where I set up my one-person protest. Behind me was the largely forgotten location where I went to school from kindergarten through 6th grade. It’s now the tourist hotspot for people wanting to get their picture taken in front of a ridiculous looking gold pan.