2. Factors, risks, and challenges to the indigenous communities in climate change in the Arctic

We can rightly call the Arctic zone a "locomotive" of the modernization of the Russian economy [6]. In this vein, state policy is being drawn up, investments are attracted, and projects are being implemented to extract natural resources (gas, oil, gold, rare earth metals, etc.). Almost every one of these projects implemented in the northern regions of the country, one way or another, affects the territories of traditional nature use—the habitat of indigenous peoples of the North. Therefore, the issue of research and assessment of changes in these territories under the impact of climate change and industrial development is very relevant, since it has a multifactorial specificity, centered on the unique culture of the northern people, its traditions, and its customs. In Russia, indigenous peoples of the North, as a rule, live in the rural areas of the Arctic zone, which population, according to the Federal State Statistics Service, declines annually. Therefore, it is important to study the changes in these territories and develop policies aimed at preserving not only local communities as a carrier of culture and traditions of northern peoples but also traditional economic activities (reindeer herding, fishing, hunting, etc.), since the reindeer herding is the basis of the traditional culture of the North (Figure 2).

The future of the Arctic territories is connected, on the one hand, with the expansion of the zone of industrial development and the extraction in deposits and on the other hand the increasing pressure on the unique ecosystem of the Arctic, the changes in the territories of traditional nature use, the transformation of indigenous

use for inclusion in economic circulation. Undoubtedly, industrial development of indigenous peoples' habitats at the present time determines the prospects for their further socioeconomic and ethno-cultural development. Considering the strategic nature of the state interests in the Arctic region and the attention paid to the development of deposits in Siberia and the Far East, it is necessary to devote harmonization of interests of industrial development of these territories and preservation of the habitat of indigenous communities, creation of mechanisms for interaction of task forces on optimization of economic, and social and environmental interests of all stakeholders in the territories of traditional nature use [10].

Indigenous Communities in the Arctic Change in Socio-Economic and Environmental Perspective

The impact of climate change on indigenous peoples is diverse. This is especially reflected in health and the traditional way of life. Health as a factor in the well-being of indigenous peoples worsens, which shows itself in a high level of mortality with relatively high birth rates, problems with alcoholism, and diseases of the digestive system due to poor-quality drinking water. Significant climate change resulting in the increase of natural disasters, abnormal winter and summer temperatures, floods, mudflows, and landslides increases the number of deaths from unnatural causes, injuries, and subsequent health problems. Climatic changes are also the cause of more serious phenomena, as the deterioration of the parasitic and epidemiological situation. Degradation of permafrost in areas where this type of soil has been preserved for centuries, and on the basis of which the habitat of indigenous peoples and their feeding systems has been formed, leads to catastrophic consequences. Moreover, changes in the permafrost sometimes have unexplained causes, which raise an active discussion in the scientific community. So, in 2014 in Yamal, a giant dip of a soil of unknown origin was discovered. A huge funnel was noticed by helicopter pilots who serve the oil and gas fields on the Yamal Peninsula. The fault is located next to the Bovanenkovo gas field (Yamal LNG), one of the largest in Yamal—the place of one of the most innovative projects of modern Russia for liquefied gas production jointly implemented with Italy, France, Japan, and China

Later Russian scientists from Yamal managed to descend for the first time to the bottom of this dip—to a depth of 200 m. The hole has a cone-shaped view with dimensions of 60 and 40 m. They took more than a dozen samples for chemical analyses, including ice and soil. It turned out that the Yamal "black hole" from the

Yamal hole in 30 km from the Bovanenkovo gas field. (source: https://www.moya-planeta.ru/news/view/

uchenye\_vpervye\_issledovali\_dno\_yamalskoj\_voronki\_8251/)

2.1 Climate change impacts on the traditional way of life

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80765

(Figure 3).

Figure 3.

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#### Figure 2.

The numbers of the permanent population of the land territories of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation as of January 1, 2018 (number of people) [7].


#### Table 1.

Indicators of the social development level of territories of traditional nature use in Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation in 2017 [9].

population's way of life, and tribal communities under the influence, including climate change. In Table 1 the main indicators describing the territories of traditional residence and traditional economic activity of the indigenous peoples of Russia are presented. This type of territory is located in 21 regions of the Russian Federation with reindeer pastures, hunting grounds and rich fishing opportunities, and gathering of wild plants on a total area of 994.2 million hectares, including lands used directly as reindeer pastures—407.0 million hectares [8].

Climate change leads to the transformation of the traditional way of life and also forces regional and local governments to seek new approaches to managing these changes, allowing them to adapt and adequately respond to emerging challenges. Prospects for the revitalization of the industrial development of the North in the future involve the withdrawal of an increasing number of lands of traditional nature Indigenous Communities in the Arctic Change in Socio-Economic and Environmental Perspective DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.80765

use for inclusion in economic circulation. Undoubtedly, industrial development of indigenous peoples' habitats at the present time determines the prospects for their further socioeconomic and ethno-cultural development. Considering the strategic nature of the state interests in the Arctic region and the attention paid to the development of deposits in Siberia and the Far East, it is necessary to devote harmonization of interests of industrial development of these territories and preservation of the habitat of indigenous communities, creation of mechanisms for interaction of task forces on optimization of economic, and social and environmental interests of all stakeholders in the territories of traditional nature use [10].
