Indigenous people’s extensive understanding of both environmental impacts and adaptation strategies “should be recognized by both science and climate policy,” researchers argued in a new analysis.  

The analysis was released on Wednesday, coinciding with the United Nations annual tribute to Indigenous populations. 

“We celebrate young Indigenous Peoples, and their role in creating change and shaping the future,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a Wednesday statement. “They are leaders in the global climate action movement.”  

There are an estimated 476 million Indigenous individuals spread across 90 nations, according to the U.N. And although these people represent only 5 percent of the global population, they comprise 15 percent of the world’s poorest inhabitants.   

Yet Indigenous populations have an outsized responsibility when it comes to natural resources: They protect about 80 percent of the Earth’s remaining biodiversity, as highlighted by the World Economic Forum in a post prior to the U.N. celebratory day. 

Describing Indigenous individuals as “experts at small-scale community food production,” the post stressed how crucial these methods could be to ensuring a sustainable food supply in the future.  

While Indigenous Peoples and local communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, they often have a nuanced awareness when it comes to coping with these shifts, the authors of Wednesday’s analysis agreed. 

“Connected with their natural environment across generations, they have a holistic understanding of the cascading effects of climate change impacts,” lead researcher Victoria Reyes-García, of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, said in a statement. 

That expertise, she explained, extends “from changes in atmospheric, physical and biological systems to impacts on their livelihoods.” 

Reyes-García and her colleagues at the Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts project spent five years combing through 52 case studies in Indigenous and local communities, who often depend on nature-based livelihoods.  

They explored a wide range of issues, including how weather instability jeopardizes farming, the increasing risk of sea-ice hunting, how changing tides are thwarting octopi catches and the difficulties reindeer herders face on the job.  

Up against such challenges, many Indigenous individuals have implemented adaptive responses that the scientists believe could help inspire similar such pathways in other vulnerable communities. 

Yet despite the role of Indigenous people “as legitimate custodians of knowledge regarding climate change,” their expertise is not usually incorporated into climate change reporting and policies, according to the analysis.  

“Indigenous Peoples and local communities should have a more central role in the scientific and political processes of understanding and adapting to climate change,” the authors concluded. 

Welcome to The Hill’s Sustainability newsletter, I’m Sharon Udasin — every week we follow the latest moves in the growing battle over sustainability in the U.S. and around the world.

Heat-related illnesses among Grand Canyon visitors could soar by the end of the century, as the impacts of climate change leave tourists unprepared for weather extremes, a new study has found. 

Perilous peak heat: Such illnesses could surge by anywhere from 29 to 137 percent over 2004-2009 levels, depending on which of several climate scenarios prevails, according to the study, published on Wednesday in PLoS ONE.  

• The incidence of these events will likely peak during the “shoulder season” — times of year when visitors may be less prepared for extreme heat. 
• The authors defined this peak period as April 1 through Sept. 30. 

Frequent and fatal: “The climate crisis is the greatest public health threat of the 21st century,” wrote the authors, from the National Park Service and the University of Pennsylvania.  

“Excessive heat is responsible for more deaths than any other extreme weather event,” they added, warning that the intensity and frequency of such events is increasing due to climate change.  

Unprepared: Physical exertion and sudden exposure to excess heat, combined with a lack of adaptive resources to these conditions, are linked to a greater risk of enduring heat-related illness, the authors noted. 

At the Grand Canyon, this risk is only expected to increase as the effects of climate change worsen, according to the study.  

Projecting what may come: To draw their conclusions, the researchers first used previously published data on heat-related illnesses among Grand Canyon National Park visitors and records of daily weather conditions. 

• From this information, they developed a model to estimate heat-related illness risk.
• They then incorporated future climate projections from the World Climate Research Program to model future such risk under varying climate scenarios. 

Rising heat, rising risk: Ultimately, the researchers found that heat-related illness was significantly linked to maximum daily temperature and minimum relative humidity — more common during the shoulder months.  

• For the years 2004-2009, they found that the average number of heat-related illnesses per week was 2.68 events.
• They estimated a 29-137 percent increase in illnesses through 2100, assuming that there is no change in park visitation.
• Such events would likely increase by a multiplicative factor of 0.03 for every 1-degree Fahrenheit in maximum temperature.  

Finding opportunity: Emphasizing the need to ensure “safe recreation experiences for the benefit of this and future generations,” the authors said they hoped that their study could help inform policy and minimize further harm. 

“Excessive risk during the shoulder season months presents an opportunity to increase preventative search and rescue and education efforts to mitigate increased risk,” they concluded.