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Two coastal communities in Nunavut faced with increasing hazards as the oceans warm will receive federal funding to help study the impact on their safety.
With rising temperatures and changing weather patterns, glaciers are melting, which produces coastal instability, steeper beaches and more danger for hunters, fishers, and the worried residents of Kugluktuk and Ausuittuq (Grise Fiord).
"We're seeing more storms more often," said Marty Kuluguktuk, a long-time resident of Grise Fiord and secretary-treasurer of the Iviq Hunters and Trappers Association. "Blizzards are more common in winter, and in the summer, the sea is rougher than before.”
To help address these challenges, the federal government is investing $2.2 million in coastal adaptation projects to support researchers and community members in developing adaptation strategies.
The project, funded through the Climate-Resilient Coastal Communities Program, will focus on assessing and addressing climate risks to the livelihoods and safety of Nunavut’s coastal communities.
Grise Fiord, facing the Davis Strait between Ellesmere Island and Greenland, has been experiencing coastal erosion for 20 years, with storm waves reaching up to three metres and putting homes and infrastructure at risk. Preventing that kind of damage could mean building barriers or even moving buildings inland, like Tuktoyaktuk in the Western Arctic already has.
But first, they need to understand exactly what they’re up against.
Environmental monitoring
Researchers from Université du Québec à Rimouski are using drones, still cameras and time-lapse photography to monitor environmental changes like coastal erosion, flooding and ice conditions.
The collaboration started in 2020 after direct requests from local organizations and community members who noticed changes in their environment. They wanted to understand what was happening and find solutions before more damage occurred.
In Kugluktuk, the riverbanks were eroding. In Grise Fiord, there were questions about tsunamis triggered by landslides and the impact of glaciers on coastal dynamics, noted David Didier, a coastal geography professor from the Université du Québec à Rimouski, who has studied coastal erosion in Arctic communities.
In the summer of 2020, their research team traveled to these communities to conduct 3D mapping of coastal erosion hotspots and recorded 24-hour videos of sea movement, with guidance from the community residents on where the mapping and recording should occur.
Still cameras were placed in key locations like glaciers to monitor tidal changes and ice conditions. Youth and community members learned to operate drones for aerial views. With internet access now widespread, residents and hunters can use these tools. As a result, they are able to conduct frequent surveys along the coast.
The project combines Inuit traditional knowledge with scientific research to create 3D maps of coastal erosion hotspots, measure glacier sediment, monitor sea movement and study the impact of storms on permafrost.
“The technology, like the drones and still cameras, is proving invaluable. We are able to predict based on these still photographs of what might be happening and what has happened," Kuluguktuk said.
As their research reveals the coastline is eroding — with stormy waters encroaching upon the community — the members are also guiding research teams to remote locations, while trying to minimize environmental impact during their expeditions.
"We try to avoid using heavy-duty transportation means like helicopters or airplanes. We work with them to travel by boat, bus, snowmobile or whatever the situation requires," said Kuluguktuk.
Along with monitoring, a goal of the project with the new funding is to initiate community workshops, enabling residents to share their insights and help shape the project's direction to develop solutions.
“It's really on people, on networking and on establishing relationships between individuals, to be able to really look at coastal adaptation through the lens of a people-centred approach,” Didier said.
The projects are part of a broader national strategy under Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation Program, which has allocated over $46 million to 63 projects across the country. The focus is on developing tools, resources and community-led strategies to mitigate climate risks in northern and Indigenous communities.
“For the rest of the world, we are the living thermometer, and it's important that we know that and the rest of the world knows what is going on in our environment,” said Kuluguktuk.
Sonal Gupta / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
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