How Climate Change is Shaping the Future of the Arctic with Dr. Robert Orttung

August 28, 2022

Bring your winter jacket as we heat to the Arctic!

On this episode, hosts Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham head north with Dr. Robert Orttung to discuss how climate change is shaping the future of the Arctic. A new study finds that the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the globe, which is a higher ratio than most scientists have predicted. The phenomenon, known as Arctic amplification, indicates that climate models systematically tend to underestimate the speed of increasing temperatures. As these changes occur, how will people see the Arctic and what new economic interests will emerge? Robert W. Orttung is a research professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and Director of Research for Sustainable GW. He is the author of Urban Sustainability in The Arctic.

Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.