Alaska's communities are experiencing impacts from unprecedented climate-related changes in the harvests of natural resources. Residents of rural Alaska are reporting heretofore unseen changes in the geographic distribution and abundance of marine resources, increases in the frequency and ferocity of storm surges in the Bering Sea, changes in the distribution and thickness of sea ice, and increases in river and coastal erosion. When combined with ongoing socio-economic change, climate, weather, and changes in the biophysical system interact in a complex web of feedbacks and interactions that make life in rural Alaska challenging. We present a framework of indicators to assess three basic constituents of community vulnerability: exposure [...]
