ORIGINAL-

Climate change threatens ecosystem services that many communities depend on including clean air and water, subsistence foods, medicine, fiber, fuel, and cultural services, such as cultural heritage and identity, spiritual, aesthetic, and educational values, and recreation and tourism opportunities. Rural communities, many of whose livelihoods are tightly tied to the agriculture and forestry sectors, and migrant workers, who provide a large share of agricultural labor in some regions, are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Many communities who are exposed to the impacts of climate change are already burdened by air and water pollution and other environmental health hazards. Health risks of climate change may compound existing health issues in Tribal and Alaska Native communities, including risks from the loss of traditional food and practices, community displacement, new infectious diseases, and other effects of climate change.