Changing access to ice, land and water in Arctic communities

J D Ford; D Clark; Tristan Pearce; L Berrang-Ford; L Copland; J Dawson; M New; S L Harper

doi:10.1038/s41558-019-0435-7

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Changing access to ice, land and water in Arctic communities

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Changing access to ice, land and water in Arctic communities

J D Ford, D Clark, Tristan Pearce, L Berrang-Ford, L Copland, J Dawson, M New and S L Harper

Nature Climate Change, Vol.9, pp.335-339

2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0435-7

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Abstract

Arctic climate change has the potential to affect access to semi-permanent trails on land, water and sea ice, which are the main forms of transport for communities in many circumpolar regions. Focusing on Inuit Nunangat (the Inuit homeland in northern Canada), trail access models were developed drawing upon a participatory process that connects Indigenous knowledge and science. We identified general thresholds for weather and sea ice variables that define boundaries that determine trail access, then applied these thresholds to instrumental data on weather and sea ice conditions to model daily trail accessibility from 1985 to 2016 for 16 communities. We find that overall trail access has been minimally affected by >2 °C warming in the past three decades, increasing by 1.38-1.96 days, differing by trail type. Across models, the knowledge, equipment and risk tolerance of trail users were substantially more influential in determining trail access than changing climatic conditions.

Details

Title: Changing access to ice, land and water in Arctic communities
Authors: J D Ford (Author) - University of Leeds, United Kingdom
D Clark (Author) - McGill University, Canada
Tristan Pearce (Author) - University of Leeds, United Kingdom
L Berrang-Ford (Author) - University of Leeds, United Kingdom
L Copland (Author) - University of Ottawa, Canada
J Dawson (Author) - University of Ottawa, Canada
M New (Author) - University of Cape Town, South Africa
S L Harper (Author) - University of Alberta, Canada
Publication details: Nature Climate Change, Vol.9, pp.335-339
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
Date published: 2019
DOI: 10.1038/s41558-019-0435-7
ISSN: 1758-678X
Organisation Unit: University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Sustainability Research Cluster
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99450889202621
Output Type: Journal article

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