“The snow is really hard now. Although it would not seem to be hard, it would still be all drift snow. And, the snow crystals you would expect to find under this snow, pukajaaq, there seems to be no more occurrences anymore. Perhaps this is due to the wind. Although we find some crystals, they are not the same. Generally, you find them in areas where there is some wind, but also some protection. There is hardly any more pukajaaq snow”
“Most of the areas that we use for our travel are not as useable and due to the lack of snow, they are not really navigable. It has really affected some of the hunters as the lack of snow is hindering the harvesters. Although we would want to go hunting inland, it was getting tiresome waiting for the snow to arrive so that we could use our snow machines to go hunting with. It was quite an unnerving experience especially since this is so unusual to not have snow on the ground for weeks at a time”
“Sometimes the ice would not melt away until late summer, other years it would melt a little earlier, always within the time frame identified by the elders. It used to melt off in July and sometimes in late July here in Iqaluit when we first came here. Other years sometimes it reached into August. I recall one year where it did just that. The ice left in August that year, but nowadays, these last few years, the ice is no longer staying to June even. These days now some families are bringing their boats as the ice now stays only for a short time and then leaves”
“(Sea ice) has really changed, big time. I recall (in my youth) that the ice never used to go out until July. Then the ice would soon reform within a matter of two months. It used to get cold quite early even before November. I recall that we would have ice, really thick ice by November. Usually, by the first week of November, the ice was useable and we could go places. There would be quite a bit of snow on the ground, prior to the ice freezing over.
“It has been snowing not at the right time. It has been snowing in the middle of the summer and it even covers the ground.”
“In the older days when it got warm it would be warm for quite a number of days or weeks, it used to stay warm for quite a while. Also when it got colder it stayed cold long but right now seems like it will warm up but it will get warm probably for one day and then it gets cold already.”
“I used to go egg hunting but now it is too dangerous to travel by ice so I cannot go to the places that I used to go to. I think it is mainly the ice on the sea that has affected me the most.”
“The ice is becoming thinner than it used to be; seems to be affected the most by the climate change.”
“The permafrost has changed and it is noticeable. There are some areas that are eroding and there are some areas that are drying up.”
“It is much warmer now, even in winter. It used to be really cold in January and December but it is not so cold now. The temperature has changed. “