Climate Change Projects | Nunavut Climate Change Centre

"Today we don’t seem to be prepared for the changes that affect everyday life. People are dying of exposure and they are not prepared for the unpredictable weather."

John Nukik

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What's Being Done — And What You Can Do To Help!

Below is a list of climate change-related projects in Nunavut. Some are complete, while others are ongoing, and offer a way for local residents to get involved:

Community Research Projects

Project Title	Project Categories	Post Date	Summary
Sea Ice of the Arctic	Aquatic Environment, Sea Ice & Ice	03-06-2012	This project brings together key sea ice researchers to examine the processes that cause the observed changes in sea ice dynamic and thermodynamic processes, snow cover, and physical coupling across the ocean-sea ice-atmosphere (OSA) interface.
Past and present changes to the ocean and sea-ice in the Arctic Archipelago	Aquatic Environment, Sea Ice & Ice, Sea Level	03-06-2012	The goal of this project is to provide the modelling framework for future impact studies on the Canadian Arctic Archipelago’s pack ice, oceanography and marine food web.
Climate change and commercial shipping development in the Arctic	Resource Development, Transportation	03-06-2012	To what extent will shipping develop in the Northwest and Northeast Passages, and with what kind of shipping: will it be transit shipping, fishing, tourism, transportation induced by natural resources mining?
Industrial development and Arctic communities: environmental and social change	Resource Development, Terrestrial Environment, Traditional Activities	03-06-2012	This project will explore the cultural, economic and environmental impacts of mineral exploration and development on four Arctic communities.
Impact of climate change on the life of the Arctic Ocean floor	Animals, Aquatic Environment, Traditional Activities	03-06-2012	Climate warming is driving a rapid transformation of polar ecosystems, and we urgently need to study the vulnerability of seafloor biodiversity to changes that are already underway.
The emerging Arctic security environment	Security & Safety	03-06-2012	Our project examines the fundamental questions: what is Arctic security? What should policy makers anticipate that the circumpolar world will look like in the future, given the various forces that are now transforming this region?
Impacts of climate change for the marine Arctic	Animals, Aquatic Environment, Sea Ice & Ice, Terrestrial Environment	03-06-2012	Some implications of climate change for the marine Arctic ecosystem are fairly intuitive. For instance, polar bears and ringed seals are bound to be negatively impacted by the loss of ice that provides the physical platform for their hunting and reproduction. Other consequences are less obvious.
Climate change and food security in regional Inuit centers	Food Security	03-06-2012	Using in-depth case studies, this project will identify and characterize the vulnerability of food systems in four regional Inuit centers (RIC) (Iqaluit, Arviat, Inuvik and Kuujjuak) to climate change as a basis for identifying adaptation entry points.
Instability of coastal landscapes in Arctic communities and regions	Security & Safety, Terrestrial Environment, Weather & Precipitation	03-06-2012	Seasonal changes in the northern landscape, together with extreme weather events, can create instability and hazards, including flooding, landslides, thaw failure and subsidence, coastal ice push, storm surges, and coastal erosion. Our project team is measuring both the drivers of change and the effects of instability in community landscapes at selected sites across the Arctic.
Effects of climate change on carbon exchange dynamics in the Arctic	Terrestrial Environment	03-06-2012	A study of the absorption and release of carbon dioxide by the Arctic Ocean.