“I have noticed the changes and especially this last year. It has not really snowed at all this year. In that I mean a real snowstorm, and we have yet to experience a blizzard this winter. There are reports of blizzards on the radio, but that is only natiruviaq, a small blizzard, not a real one”
The Nunavut Climate Change Centre is devoted to including Nunavut communities in their projects and outreach. Over the last few years, we have had the opportunity to visit multiple communities including Rankin Inlet, Arviat and Cape Dorset.
This research looks at the causes of search and rescue (SAR) and more broadly unintentional injuries on the land in Nunavut. We focus on SAR because of the health and cultural importance to being on the land. Further, SAR costs the Government of Nunavut roughly $850,000 annually and in 2015 represented over 450 individuals requiring assistance.
The People, Animals, Water, and Sustenance (PAWS) Project is interested in gaining a better understanding of the relationships Iqaluit Inuit have with dogs, water, and food. Currently there are gaps in our understanding of the interactions between dogs, water, and food in a Northern context. In-depth interviews on these topics coupled with sampling of dog feces, water, and clams will help us understand how these relationships interact together and how these relationships may be changing.
In 2005, Sheila Watt-Cloutier and 62 Inuit elders and hunters from Canada and the United States joined forces with environmental lawyers in the US and submitted a petition before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Why was this project important?
Mercury (Hg) is a toxic heavy metal that changes into various chemical forms through geochemical processes. It is an element that occurs naturally in the environment but with industrialization, humans have altered its cycle by adding more mercury in the water, air, and soil.
The Nunavut Climate Change Partnership (NCCP) was a collaborative partnership between the Government of Nunavut, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, and Natural Reosurces Canada to build capacity for community-level adaptation planning.
The Nunavut Climate Change Partnership (NCCP) was formed in 2008. Entitled "Atuliqtuq: Action and Adaptation in Nunavut" the Partnership’s three main themes are:
• To build capacity for climate change adaptation planning within the Government of Nunavut and communities
A community project in Pond Inlet. We are a group of 3 young Mittimatalirmiut and we wish to research water quality and develop more skills in research! Access to healthy water is of paramount importance for Mittimatalirmiut. Water is important to keep us alive, sturdy and healthy; and bad water can be harmful for our people- our beloved elders, youth and infants. Water also an important cultural value to our people since many of us are going out on the land in order to provide our family with fresh water, just as our elders used to and they proudly taught us.