Key Message

Nearly a decade ago, the Inuvialuit of Sachs Harbour helped document the initial, worrying effects of a changing climate. Their stories provide an early warning of the consequences of a warming world, and demonstrate the contribution of traditional knowledge to understanding global environmental change.

Inuit Observations of Climate Change

Project Snap Shot

Between 1999 and 2001, IISD worked with the Inuvialuit Community of Sachs Harbour to document the early impacts climate change on their lives and community. As described below, the community was already witnessing changes in sea ice patterns, melting of permafrost and the arrival of new birds and animals.

One of the outputs of this project was Sila Alangotok, a 42-minute video that documents the experiences of the Inuvialuit's relationship with the land and sea, and how this relationship is being altered by climate change. The messages of this video continue to find resonance with people around the world, as witnessed by its inclusion in a number of current exhibitions and educational initiatives.

On Banks Island in Canada's High Arctic, Inuvialuit hunters and trappers have a close relationship with the natural world. As they travel over the tundra or harvest fish from the sea, they notice even the smallest changes in their environment. Recently, changes have been significant and worrying. The climate has become unpredictable; the landscape unfamiliar.

Autumn freeze-up occurs up to a month later than usual and the spring thaw seems earlier every year. The multi-year sea-ice is smaller and now drifts far from the community in the summer, taking with it the seals upon which the community relies for food. In the winter the sea-ice is thin and broken, making travel dangerous for even the most experienced hunters. In the fall, storms have become frequent and severe, making boating difficult. Thunder and lightning have been seen for the first time.

Hot weather in the summer is melting the permafrost and causing large-scale slumping on the coastline and along the shores of inland lakes. The melting has already caused one inland lake to drain into the ocean, killing the freshwater fish. Around the town of Sachs Harbour, it is causing building foundations to shift.

New species of birds such as barn swallows and robins are arriving on the island. In the nearby waters, salmon have been caught for the first time. On the land, an influx of flies and mosquitoes are making life difficult for humans and animals.

These changes tell local people that the climate is warming. The residents of Sachs Harbour wonder if they can maintain their way of life in the face of further changes.

Given the dramatic changes that local people have observed, IISD and the Hunters and Trappers Committee of Sachs Harbour initiated a year-long project to document the problem of Arctic climate change and communicate it to Canadian and international audiences. The project team worked in partnership with specialists from aboriginal, government and academic organizations to develop an innovative method for recording and sharing local observations on climate change. The approach combined participatory workshops, semi-structured interviews, community meetings and fieldwork to better understand the extent of local knowledge of climate change.

During the two-year initiative, the project team produced a number of outputs, including:

The project's video was originally launched in November 2000. Since then, its images and voices have been included in a wide variety of radio and television interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, and conference and workshop presentations. It has been broadcast (in whole or in part) on 14 major television networks, including the BBC series Earth Report.

A teacher's guide to accompany the video was also developed by Manitoba Education and Youth in 2003, in partnership with IISD.

This project was made possible through the initiative and support of the community of Sachs Harbour and financial contributions from: the Climate Change Action Fund (Public Education and Outreach); the Walter & Duncan Gordon Foundation; the Climate Change Action Fund (Science, Impacts and Adaptation); Indian and Northern Affairs Canada; and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Generous in-kind support was given by the Hunters and Trappers Committee of Sachs Harbour; the Inuvialuit Game Council; the Inuvialuit Joint Secretariat; the Inuvialuit Communications Society; the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba; the Department of Fisheries and Oceans; the Government of the Northwest Territories; and the Geological Survey of Canada.