Photos: Presidential visit to Kotzebue

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Well-wishers wave to President Obama's motorcade during his visit to Shore Drive in Kotzebue on Wednesday, September 2, 2015.

Climate change was front and center in President Barack Obama's unusual trip to the Arctic on Wednesday, in which he flew over the flood-threatened village of Kivalina and stopped at the Inupiat hub town of Kotzebue, which has also grappled with erosion.

But the president also took time to cuddle a puppy from former Iditarod champion John Baker's kennel and, in a speech to an energetic crowd of more than 1,000, briefly touched on broader challenges facing rural Alaska that range from high energy costs to poverty.

Read more: Obama touts support for Alaska in visit to Kotzebue