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Weber, B. (2018, Nov 13.) Nunavut has too many polar bears, Inuit say; Draft management plan contradicts scientists. The Toronto Star.

Although there is growing scientific evidence linking the impacts of climate change to reduced body condition of bears and projections of population declines, no declines have currently been attributed to climate change.  Inuit knowledge acknowledges that polar bears are exposed to the effects of climate change, but suggests that they are adaptable.

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Borgerson, S. (2008, April) Arctic meltdown: the economic and security implications of global warming. Foreign Affairs. Vol. 87(2)

The Arctic Ocean is melting, and it is melting fast. This past summer, the area covered by sea ice shrank by more than one million square miles, reducing the Arctic icecap to only hall the size it was 50 years ago. For the first time, the Northwest Passage--a fabled sea route to Asia that European explorers sought in vain for centuries--opened for shipping. Even if the international community manages to slow the pace of climate change immediately and dramatically, a certain amount of warming is irreversible. It is no longer a matter of if, but when, the Arctic Ocean will open to regular marine transportation and exploration of its lucrative natural-resource deposits.

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Weber, B. (2018, Nov 13.) Nunavut has too many polar bears, Inuit say; Draft management plan contradicts scientists. The Toronto Star.

Although there is growing scientific evidence linking the impacts of climate change to reduced body condition of bears and projections of population declines, no declines have currently been attributed to climate change.  Inuit knowledge acknowledges that polar bears are exposed to the effects of climate change, but suggests that they are adaptable.

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Murray, N. (2018, Mar 14).  Nunavut Not Prepared For Climate Change Impacts, Auditor General Says . CBC News.

This newspaper article highlights the recent developments in Nunavut, an area located in northern Canada having sparse population. The debate related to this area’s environment and climate change has been ongoing since a long time since the Canada's climate data indicated the average temperature rise of 2.7 degrees C in Nunavut. The dire consequences and repercussions of this climate change have been indicated to include severe climatic conditions like permafrost and precipitation. 

In the concluding paragraph of the article, the author emphasizes that in some areas of Nunavut, warming permafrost has led to imminent climatic hazards for the residents. These hazards have prominently affected the land-based travel routes, and have even posed the archaeological sites to great risks. The issue of thawing permafrost is creating a plethora of hazards and risks to infrastructure. Problems like shifting and foundation distress have been observed in many buildings of Nunavut.

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Weber, B. (2019, Mar 31). Two decades on Nunavut celebrates economic success, while facing poverty and challenges. National Post. 

This newspaper article pinpoints the economic challenges faced by Nunavut as it turns 20 this year. The article discusses different economic and social dimensions linked with climate change that has been happening in this place since about 50 years. The prominent impact of the climate change on its economy and the fact that some Inuit want self-government, have been thoroughly discussed in this article.

Moreover, the author also explains that the brief and shortened ice season of Northern Canada has created widespread damaging effects for the people who regularly depend on sea ice for travelling. The inability to travel through sea ice has also affected the cultural connections and daily activities including hunting and fishing. The climate change in Nunavut has therefore affected the overall income and food security of the residents of Nunavut.

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McKay J. (2019, Jun 05).  Iqaluit students walk out of school protesting inaction on climate change. CBC News.

This newspaper article highlights the news in which the student organizer Angela Austria organized a protest of about 100 students who walked out of Inuksuk High School in Iqaluit. These students actively protested against the rampant inaction on climate change. They said that they wanted to ask the Government of Nunavut to start a youth advocacy group. They also asked the officials to implement new and refined climate change policies to benefit the environment. Other demands by the students included the demand to pass a motion for announcing a climate emergency for local residents, to create a feasible and practical environmental action plan for the City of Iqaluit, and also to make a huge effort to make the public more aware on climate change. 

The author reports that the students did the protest by holding signs which were emblazoned with slogans such as "like the oceans we rise" and "why should we go to school if you won't listen to the educated,". Amongst the three students who actively took part in the protest were, Angela Austria, Cassidy-Ann Nester and Macintosh Pavia. Moreover, the author highlights that the Nunavut's Premier Joe Savikataaq and other members of cabinet were spotted by the protestors looking out the window of the legislature building during this protest.

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George J. (2019, Mar22). Climate change action could make Arctic oil and gas ‘uneconomic,’ Nunavut regulators hear. Nunatsiaq News. 

In this newspaper article, the author highlights the news that the action to stop the climate change may snuff out Nunavut’s gas and oil development. The author further reports that this possibility was raised during a presentation from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. During the second day of the Nunavut Impact Review Board’s final public hearing in Iqaluit.  The NTI presentation considered two scenarios, one with gas and oil development, the other with none. The author discusses that the envisioned and planned development would occur at the Saglek Basin in Baffin Bay, with its Hekja field located about 120 kilometers from Inuit-owned lands on the Hall Peninsula.

However, the author raises the point that during the NTI presentation, it was discussed that if the project received a go-ahead in the 2020s, production might not take place until 2055 — and by then the world may have decided to stop the use of fossil fuels, such as oil and gas. As NTI mentioned, the 2015 Paris Agreement in which the Canada participated, set goals to keep any global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius and committed to big emission cuts of climate-warming fossil fuels, like oil and gas, to make that happen. Moreover, the Qikiqtani Inuit Association said that the oil and gas development activities shouldn’t take place unless there are “clear benefits and opportunities” for Inuit. The author also points out that the federal government imposed a moratorium in 2016 on new oil and gas activities in all offshore Canadian Arctic waters that is scheduled to be reviewed in 2021.

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Environment and Climate Change Canada. (2018, Sep 10). The governments of Canada and Nunavut announce investments in energy efficiency upgrades that help residents save energy and money. News wire. 

This news article focuses on the recent development according to which the Government of Canada's Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund will help make homes and buildings more energy efficient, comfortable and affordable to run. This is being done to efficiently curb and cut out the greenhouse emissions in Nunavu, The author reports that the Nunuvat Housing Corporation will oversee energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits of approximately 1000 of the 3300 public-housing units. Moreover, the article also highlights the feasibility studies done which have estimates that a new district heating system in Sanikiluaq will displace approximately 124 000 litres of fuel and 340 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually and up to 174,000 litres of fuel and 480 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in Taloyoak. According to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna, a huge federal investment of almost $12 million will go toward energy efficiency retrofits for Nunavut's public housing and the installation of new district heating systems in the communities of Sanikiluaq and Taloyoak.

Furthermore, the article also pinpoints the fact that under the Government of Canada's Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund, Nunavut is eligible to receive $31 million for programs that reduce carbon pollution and strengthen the economy. The Nunavut Housing Corporation will work on the new insulation, window replacements, and hot-water tank upgrades for improved air quality and reduced carbon emissions. The author explains that the Government of Canada's Low Carbon Economy Leadership Fund is focused to provide approximately $1.4 billion to provinces and territories that have adopted Canada's clean growth and climate action plan, called the Pan-Canadian Framework. This unique plan is aimed to deliver on commitments to reduce carbon pollution and strengthen Canada's economy.

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Showalter G. (2017, Sept 11). Climate Change and Public Health in the Canadian North. 

In this article, the author thoroughly discusses the on-going issue of the Arctic food security. The author explains that the lack of access to food resources has been well documented in the Canadian Arctic. The statistics and data show that about 28% of households in Nunavut are now facing extreme and severe food insecurity which is alarming. a 2007 survey shows that about 60% of respondents of the survey were upset about not finding enough food and the increasing costs of food. 

The article highlights the fact that the climate change worsens issues linked to food security problems in the North and the warming temperatures have led to precipitation and increased fuel prices. Nutritional deficits in people have also led to health issues like diabetes, and Vitamin D deficiency. Lastly, the author talks about the fact that less ice means less protection of the local people in Nunavut. The locals have to be protected from waves and storm surges. The most vulnerable coastal communities as mentioned by the author are that of Clyde River, Kugluktuk, and Hall Beach, which can face hazards like flash floods and coastal erosion.

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Zerehi, S. (2015, Dec 15). Arctic communities will need help to deal with climate change. CBC News 

This news article focuses on the role of Arctic communities in dealing with the North Arctic climate change. The author has highlighted the words spoken by Okalik Eegeesiak, the chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, who said that the northern communities, the First Nations communities, get forgotten about in funding arrangements. These views were given by this climate change leader after the historical signing of a global pact which was aimed to fight climate change. After the pact was signed, the Inuit leaders and Nunavut politicians said that Arctic communities will also play their part and move forward to help reduce the carbon emissions. The 'Historic' Paris climate deal had a great significance for the Arctic communities according to the environmental lobby of Inuit. Moreover, the author has also discussed regarding the prominent role of Paris climate conference, COP21 in which nearly 200 nations came together. The agreement was aimed to keep global warming from rising more than 2 C over pre-industrial levels, 

Commenting on a statement made by Justin Trudeau to move toward a climate-resilient economy and to adopt clean technologies, Eegeesiak pointed out that she wished that the Arctic communities were also included in that promise.  She also discussed that most of the governments that were in the famous Paris pact had announced significant amounts of money for developing countries but it seems that the northern communities are cornered out and get forgotten in funding arrangements. Apart from that, the author has also highlighted the words spoken by Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, who talked about the financial constraints within Arctic communities. Next, the author has also pinpointed the words of John Smol, Canada's Research Chair in Environmental Change who has been engaged in the research in Nunavut for 30 years.  

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Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK). (2019, June 7). Climate Leadership By And For Nunavut Inuit Media Centre. 

In this report, the author has talked about the climate change policies and decision making in which Sheila Watt-Cloutier, the popular Canadian Inuit activist who is also a prominent political representative from the region of Inuit, has played a significant role. The activist has spoken regarding the imminent climate change at both national and international levels. The Canadian climate change activist has also played a pivotal role as the International Chair for Inuit Circumpolar Council. The contributions of Watt-Cloutier have been dynamic and persistent as she has pressed upon the impact of organic pollutants on the environment in terms of global warming.  Moreover, being an advisor to Canada's Ecofiscal Commission, she has played an efficient role in the changes and developments of climate change policy in Inuit. 

Apart from that, the Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI) Vice-President, James Eetoolook from Taloyoak, Nunavut spoke about Inuit knowledge in climate policy and decision making at the release of the National Inuit Climate Change Strategy in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada. Eetoolook has been a prominent climate change leader and has discussed about the climate knowledge obtained every year by Inuit and how it is reflected in the process and policy of federal environment initiatives in the Arctic. This knowledge is also applied for food security and to gain access to sustainable and affordable energy systems. In this release, the strategy for Inuit led initiatives which were announced by the Honorable Minister of Environment and Climate Change for the Government of Canada, Catherine McKenna, has also been highlighted. The author describes that Iqaluit, which was formerly known as Frobisher Bay, is the hub for business for the Baffin region and this place is also the capital of Nunavut. 

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Jodoin-Pilon, S. Transnational Climate Change Mobilisation: The Impact Of The 2005 Inuit Petition. Nunavut Climate Change Centre. 

This article highlights the commendable efforts of the Canadian and United States climate change activists, by explaining their contribution towards the 2005 Inuit Petition. The article describes that in the year 2005, an Inuit climate change activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier along with another 62 Inuit elders from two countries i.e. Canada and the United States, joined their efforts together to approach the environmental lawyers residing in the US. 

All of them submitted a petition before a commission called the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In this particular petition, they put forward an argument that the USA was vehemently violating the human rights. This is being done by the major role it is playing towards addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and consequent global warming. Although the Commission refuted this argument and even denied to hear to this petition, the Inuit Petition is considered to be a great move towards lessening climate change and protecting basic human rights of the people of Inuit.

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Murray, N. (2018, Mar 14).  Nunavut Not Prepared For Climate Change Impacts, Auditor General Says . CBC News.

This newspaper article highlights the recent developments in Nunavut, an area located in northern Canada having sparse population. The debate related to this area’s environment and climate change has been ongoing since a long time since the Canada's climate data indicated the average temperature rise of 2.7 degrees C in Nunavut. The dire consequences and repercussions of this climate change have been indicated to include severe climatic conditions like permafrost and precipitation. 

In the concluding paragraph of the article, the author emphasizes that in some areas of Nunavut, warming permafrost has led to imminent climatic hazards for the residents. These hazards have prominently affected the land-based travel routes, and have even posed the archaeological sites to great risks. The issue of thawing permafrost is creating a plethora of hazards and risks to infrastructure. Problems like shifting and foundation distress have been observed in many buildings of Nunavut.

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CBC News. 2010. Protect us, not polar bears: Inuit officials. . The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Nunavut Inuit who do not want polar bears listed under Canada's Species at Risk Act say they should be the ones being protected from the Arctic bears. Speaking Wednesday before the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board (NWMB) in Iqaluit, Inuit elders and officials voiced their opposition to a proposal by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) to have the polar bear listed as a species of special concern in Canada. "We have to listen to our communities, we have to listen to Inuit, and we get our direction and also from our executive," said Paul Irngaut, a wildlife adviser with Inuit land-claims organization Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.

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Gérin-Lajoie, J. et al. (2016). The Caribou Taste Different Now: Inuit Elders Observe Climate Change - Book Review. Nunavut Arctic College.

The Caribou Taste Different now is a book that compiles the words and experiences of Inuit Elders on how environmental changes across the Canadian Arctic are affecting tundra vegetation, with a particular emphasis on the impacts of change on the ecology of tundra berry plants.  The book is a compilation of field research and community-based monitoring, interviews and mapping consultations with an impressive input by over 145 participants over a 3 year period for Nuanvut, Nunavik and Nunatsiavut.

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Ford, J. (2008). Climate Change in the Arctic: Current and Future Vulnerability in Two Inuit Communities in Canada. The Geographic Journal.

This paper characterizes the current and future vulnerability to climate change of two Inuit communities in the Arctic. The first community is Igloolike, a coastal Inuit community of 1538 people. The second community is Arctic Bay, a coastal Inuit community of 690 people. Changing Inuit livelihood have resulted in various emerging vulnerabilities. There is a continued importance of cultural coping mechanisms. Global and regional climatic projections have been analyzed in terms of existing vulnerabilities and the capacity to adapt. 

This paper demonstrates that vulnerability to climate change is dynamic and that altered climatic conditions along with altered harvesting behavior increase vulnerability to climatic risks. These risks are largely novel and unknown. Magnitude and frequency cannot be accurately predicted. However, the capacity to adapt is important. Young Inuit with limited economic resources will have a decreased adaptive capacity. 

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Ford, J.D., et al. (2015). Evaluating climate change vulnerability assessments: a case study of research focusing on the built environment in northern Canada. Mitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change. Vol 15. 

This research identifies and evaluates Vulnerability Assessments (VAs) focusing on the built environment in northern Canada. 16 completed VAs are documented, ranging from engineering-based studies of the vulnerability of specific infrastructural assets (e.g. building foundations, roads) to community-based assessments characterizing the vulnerability of the built environment in general in specific communities. Then projects are evaluated based on the extent to which they incorporate best practices for vulnerability assessment, informed by a review of the scholarship and interviews with practitioners and knowledge users in the north. 

While completed VAs have increased an understanding of the risks posed by climate change, none perform well across all evaluation criteria, and interviewees identified the need for improvement to VAs to inform decision making. Specifically, there is a need for greater emphasis on stakeholder engagement and effective communication of research findings, and interdisciplinary collaboration to capture the multiple drivers of vulnerability, cost impacts, and examine the performance of infrastructural assets under different climate scenarios.

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Archer, L. et al. (2017). Longitudinal assessment of climate vulnerability: a case study from the Canadian Arctic. Sustain Science. Vol. 12.

Longitudinal assessment was conducted of climate change vulnerability; drawing upon fieldwork conducted in 2004 and 2015 in Ikpiarjuk (Arctic Bay), Nunavut, and focusing on risks associated with subsistence harvesting activities. Specifically, the same conceptual and methodological approach is employed to identify and characterize who is vulnerable, to what stresses, and why. This is for assessing how things changed over time, including a re-interviewing of individuals involved in the original study.  Similarities were found between the two periods, with many of the observed environmental changes documented in 2004 having accelerated over the last decade, exacerbating risks of land use: changing sea ice regimes and wind patterns are the most widely documented at both times, with new observations reporting more frequent sighting of polar bear and orca.

Socio-economic and technological changes have altered the context in climate change impacts are being experienced and responded to, both exacerbating and moderating vulnerabilities compared to 2004. The adoption of new technology, including GPS and widespread use of the internet, has helped land users manage changing conditions while sharing networks remain strong, despite concern noted in the 2004 study that they were weakening. Challenges around access to financial resources and concern over the incomplete transmission of some environmental knowledge and land skills to younger generations continue to increase sensitivity and limit adaptive capacity to changing climatic conditions.

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Ford, J. et al. (2006). Vulnerability to Climate Change in Igloolik, Nunavut: What We Can Learn from the Past and Present. Polar Record. Vol. 42(2).

This paper argues that the starting point to understand how future climate change may affect communities is analysis of past and present experience of, and response to, climate variability and change. Using a vulnerability approach, the paper provides an historical account of changing vulnerability to climate-related risks among Inuit in Igloolik, Nunavut. The research demonstrates that Inuit in Igloolik have been highly adaptable in the face of climatic stresses. This adaptability has historically been facilitated by traditional Inuit knowledge, resource use flexibility and diversity, group mobility, and strong social networks. However, societal changes, and more recently biophysical changes, have increased the susceptibility of people to climatic risks and have undermined certain aspects of adaptive capacity. The research indicates that the implications of future climate change will be influenced by the interaction between biophysical and societal changes, will vary over time in response to forces internal and external to the community, and will be differentiated among social groups.

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Blanchfield, M. (2019, May 8). U.S. denies climate-change effect on Arctic; Dismays allies, including Canada, and Inuit leaders at Arctic Council event. The Toronto Star.

Canada is disappointed the United States has blocked the Arctic Council from issuing a unanimous declaration acknowledging climate change but has no choice but to keep working with a key ally, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says.