The Gales of October –

 I am not a climatologist. Not a weatherman. Not a politician. Not a hippie.

There are some people that believe everything they read on the internet. And then there are people that question everything. I suppose I’m somewhere in the middle.

Climate Change has been a hot button topic for a while now. The idea that human growth, expansion, discovery and exploration is outpacing the physical ability of our Earth and its atmosphere to keep up is controversial at best. Are humans, pollution, new technologies and bad decision making affecting the layers of the atmosphere that filter out and let in just the right amount of sunlight and energy to balance things beautifully on this here 3^rd Rock? Some call it global warming. Other use climate change. Whatever the catch phrase, there’s no denying that my Inupiaq friends in coastal Alaska are in danger.

Perhaps 50 years ago, there would have been enough sea ice built up by now along the barrier islands of the Northwest Arctic to protect its coastline from harsh ocean weather. That I don’t know. What I do know, is that 10 years ago when I was one of a few Naluagmiu living in Kivalina, an October storm from the Chukchi Sea threatened to punch a new channel through the middle of the village. As the wind and waves battered the shore, residents scrambled with heavy equipment and Volkswagen sized sandbags to avoid a breach.

Yesterday, Oct. 8, 2025, it’s happening again.

The Gale’s of October are pounding the coast from Kotzebue to Kivalina. Facebook is alive with videos from my Eskimo friends who have “never seen it like this”. The scalloping waves are rising and relentlessly eroding the banks. A non-mandatory evacuation order has been sounded. As of last night, some elders and a few children have hit the road and were bused inland to the new school.

When I googled Kotz and KIVILS – an Alaska Daily News story with video topped the feed. I saw familiar places and heard the voices of familiar friends. Although I left 10 years ago, I guess I’m still attached.

I cried for a second and then began to pray.

I’m no climatologist but I know what I saw.

                                                                    Pic. from 2015