Elegy for the Alaskan Tundra

In my travels to nearly 90 countries, I’ve never encountered a landscape as distinct as the Alaskan tundra. Its surface—thick with mosses and lichens—feels like stepping on memory foam: a bed of countless delicate plants that withstand the Arctic cold. This biome offers a powerful testament to life’s ability to persist under extreme conditions. But the tundra is changing. Warming temperatures are killing vegetation, increasing wildfires, and thawing permafrost. This accelerates the release of greenhouse gases, creating a feedback loop that intensifies climate change. The 2023 IPCC Assessment Report estimates that permafrost emissions could equal 14–175 billion tons of carbon dioxide for every 1°C of warming. Thus, the health of the Alaskan tundra reflects the health of our planet. In Elegy for the Alaskan Tundra, I reflect on the biome’s past century of change and imagine its uncertain future. I mourn the possible loss of caribou moss and lichen—and consider how this loss affects us all. This piece serves as a celebration, a remembrance, and a warning, urging us to take action—not just for the tundra, but for the future of our world.