Inuit are the human face of climate change

Putting the “human face” on climate change in Inuit communities: that’s the focus of another section of the ACIA report, to be released in January.

From 2000 to 2004, workshops, jointly organized by Nasivvik, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the National Aboriginal Health Organization, were held in 12 communities in Canadian Inuit regions to explore how Inuit are adapting or may adapt to climate change.

Unpredictable weather, more dangerous travel conditions and differences in spring and fall ice were among the changes communities said they are already dealing with.

To help Inuit cope in the future with even more change, the workshops recommended:

more and better communication, both between and within communities, in the face of unpredictable weather patterns;
improved weather forecasting as a way of avoiding difficulties in travel;
more community freezer programs to offset the increased challenges of reaching traditional hunting grounds due to climate change;
more monitoring and research.
“It will be important to continue investigating and learning with communities about the nature and extent of local impacts particularly in sensitive Arctic ecosystems where people live in such a close relationship with their environment,” concludes the chapter in the ACIA report.

The report called Unikkaqatigiit: Putting the Human Face will be available in early 2005 at www.itk.ca, www.naho.ca/inuit and www.naisivvik.ulaval.ca.