Newtok is a small village located on the Ninglik river, close to the Bering Sea in northwestern Alaska. It covers an area of approximately 2.8 km2 and it's home to 354 people. Newtok community is facing forced recolation because of the negative impacts of climate change, mainly erosion and permafrost melt. Newtok is losing ground at a dangerous rate infact erosion is causing the Ninglick river to move closer to the village causing significant damage to infastructure as well as water and sewage systems and therefore reduction of potable water. Climate change is negatively affecting both the abundance and composition of flora and fauna in the region. This in turn affects fish stocks and migration patterns of bird and animal life. Considering that these communities relay havily on hunting and fishing for their survival it is clear that their food security is at risk. Back in 1994 Newtok community began searching for a possible relocation site and selected the northwester part of Nelson Island . The community decided to call the new site Mertarvik. The relocation process began in 2006 but improvments have been slow mainly beacuse of poor funding and a huge gap in US legislation. Therefore In 2012 Newtok launched a website (newtokmoves.org9 in order to raise funds to support the relocation process and show what is taking place in their village. If erosion continues at such a pace the land will eventually be overrun with water. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in an average year the river swallows 83ft of land. Residents fear their houses will by swallowed up by the river too because their homes flood regularly. In 2005 the barge landing was swept away by the river after a huge storm making it almost impossible to deliver basic supplies to the village. Flooding turned the village into an island for several days. These episodes are causing stress and fear in relation with security and safety. After the catastrophic events of the last few years Newtok story has recived massive media coverage and has been featured in the Al Jazeera 2015 documentary Fault Lines.When the water took the land. On December 24, 2016, the village made a disaster declaration request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for disaster assistance due to flooding, erosion, and permafrost degradation which are forcing the relocation of the Yupik Tribe . The request has been turned down early this year by the former president Barack Obama.

Written by: Elisa Veritti

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Newtok: an arctic village struggling for survival