YUKON MEN In Alaska Adapting To Survive As Climate Shifts

NEW YORK - Sept. 16, 2015 - PRLog -- YUKON MEN enters its 4^th season with more intensity and focus on shifting weather patterns as it impacts the 250 villagers' survival on which the show is based.

Life in remote Alaska is already a deadly struggle, and the traditions of hunting and trapping for food and clothing is becoming an ever-increasing struggle as the wolf population increases, and the moose numbers are slowly but steadily decreasing. Families live off the land, and for centuries villagers have lived in balance with nature; yet that balance is being threatened.

This season of YUKON MEN, the villagers are worried about the future, and must adapt for 1000's of years of tradition to go on. Adaptation is necessary, or they risk losing their way of life as they know it. Less food for man and predatory animals means the wolves are approaching closer to the villager’s home, getting closer than ever before.

Ice is cracking in places it never did before, along dog sledding routes as temperatures are rising. Villagers do what they have to do to survive but it is getting tougher and tougher each season as we face increasingly worrisome climate changes to our planet, and even the village of Tanana is seeing the shift.

The village of Tanana is located 75 miles from the Arctic Circle, isolated on the Yukon River, and 2/3 of the villagers don’t have running water. With only 4 hours of sunlight, each day is race against time to make the most of what daylight they do have, yet work continues in the darkness of night in temperatures of 50 below zero. Threats of animal predators at night are very real, and one must be armed for any attack.

Frigid temperatures and darkness can never impede the villager's daily task of making 5 feet deep holes in the ice of the Yukon River to transport water back to home, or setting traps to catch animals for their meat, and fur. Fish traps on the river can provide food for an entire family for a year, but one accident that destroys the trap, and disaster ensues, resulting in catastrophic hunger which can become a life or death situation for a YUKON MAN and his family.

These families have been living this way for 1000’s of years, and have been successful because of their ability to adapt. Season 4 of YUKON MEN is the most dramatic yet, as we see first hand how living off the land is becoming more and more difficult due to our changing planet.

YUKON MEN is produced for Discovery Channel by Paper Route, where Alan LaGarde and Brian O'Toole are Executive Producers.

Audio Post Production for Yukon Men by Creative Audio Post, Manhattan, NYC. Jacques Boulanger, Chief Engineer, and Holly Grace In-House Producer.