ArcticNet Western & Central Canadian Arctic

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1 ArcticNet Western & Central Canadian Arctic In this bulletin: ArcticNet Page 1 The ArcticNet IRIS framework Page 2 CCGS Amundsen and ArcticNet field work Page 3 Regional Impact Assessment Page 4 ArcticNet Inc. Steering Committee & Partnerships Page 5 NEW - ArcticNet Western & Central Arctic bulletin Welcome - this bulletin provides an overview of a climate change research initiative in the Canadian Arctic. Learn about the ArcticNet research and its goals for developing climate change policy and management tools for regional decision-makers. Eastern subarctic regional impact assessment Page 5 Introducing ArcticNet ArcticNet is a research program and network of scientists partnering with Inuit Organizations, businesses, and provincial, territorial and federal government departments. Together this network studies the impacts of climate change in the coastal Canadian Arctic. For more information please visit A. Gaden Students conducting landscape surveys Page 1 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011

2 ArcticNet goals and the IRIS Framework ArcticNet is in the process of developing impact assessments, tools which can be used to create strategies and policies to address climate change impacts and protect resources through an Integrated Regional Impact Study framework (IRIS). IRIS synthesizes climate change knowledge generated in a specific region to produce a future projection of the extent and magnitude of change in that region (Yarnal 1998). ArcticNet identified the boundaries of four key regions in the Canadian coastal Arctic for these IRISes: (1) Western & Central Arctic; (2) Eastern Arctic; (3) Hudson Bay; (4) Eastern Subarctic (see map at right). The four ArcticNet IRIS regions The ArcticNet IRIS 1 region encompasses the western and central Canadian coastal Arctic, including all of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (ISR) and the Kitikmeot region of Nunavut. IRIS 1 activities are coordinated at the University of Manitoba by Gary Stern and Ashley Gaden. Gary Stern is the IRIS 1 leader and a senior research scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Freshwater Institute) in Winnipeg, MB. Gary has worked 19 years in the Arctic specializing in climate change and contaminant cycles. In the IRIS 1 region he has been involved in dozens of research programs and projects. Ashley Gaden is the IRIS 1 coordinator and a research associate at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, MB. She has a background in environmental science studying contaminants in Arctic marine mammals. Page 2 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011

3 CCGS Amundsen Research Vessel Have you seen this ship? In 2003 the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS), took its first voyage as Canada s newest research icebreaker (formerly the CCGS Sir John Franklin). The ship is 98 m long and can travel up to 16.5 knots. Laboratories, equipment for underwater, snow, air and ice sampling, and a remotely operated vehicle complement the infrastructure onboard the CCGS Amundsen. G. Stern Visit to learn more about the CCGS Amundsen. The CCGS Amundsen has been the primary platform for many research programs including: ArcticNet Schools on Board CASES (Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study) Qanuippitaa (the Inuit health survey) IPY-CFL (International Polar Year Circumpolar Flaw Lead Various ArcticNet research projects in IRIS 1 Berry picking and vegetation surveys have been carried out with the help of high school students near Kugluktuk, NU Beaufort Sea Interviews have been conducted with community members from Ulukhaktok, Aklavik, Tuktoyaktuk, NT, and Kugluktuk, NU, to research Inuit vulnerability to climate change Residents of Sachs Harbour, NT, have been interviewed to assess ideal strategies to communicate contaminant information for Northeners Lakes near Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, NT, have been sampled with the help of the Aurora Research Institute Northwest Territories Nunavut Locations in IRIS 1 where various ArcticNet projects have been conducted Permafrost, coastlines and landforms have been mapped in the western and central Arctic Page 3 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011

4 Regional Impact Assessment To cope with the quickening pace and extent of climate change many Inuit have expressed the need to develop capacity for climate change adaptation in the Arctic (Nickels et al. 2005, SCE Overview 2008). Inuit want knowledge to plan livelihoods and deal with climate change and associated socioeconomic and cultural change. In response to Inuit needs, regional-scale climate models and impact assessments are being developed. One benefit of these regional tools is higher accuracy in predicting climate trends and impacts at smaller scales. Adaptive policy aims to improve climate risk management and is especially effective when enforced at various levels of One of the key objectives of the Integrated Regional Impact Studies is to develop specific (regional) climate change impact assessments government (Ford et al. 2010). In the hands of regional policy-makers and managers, local organizations and governments, a regional impact assessment could be used to make informed, sustainable choices in adapting to climate change. One of the key objectives of the Integrated Regional Impact Studies is to develop specific climate change impact assessments, examining the impacts to the environment and the socioeconomy in each of the four IRIS regions. A compilation of these climate change impacts along with associated adaptation strategies and recommendations will be published in turn for each IRIS. Plans for a Regional Impact Assessment in IRIS 1 are underway. ArcticNet scientists, in partnership with regional representatives of the ISR, NTI, territorial and federal governments and organizations, will begin the initial development and writing stages of the assessment in The publication of the IRIS 1 regional impact assessment is planned for late 2012/early A. Gaden Page 4 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011

5 IRIS 1 Steering Committee A steering committee has been formed to act as the decision-making body with respect to the structure and content of the regional impact assessment. The committee is comprised of regional representatives from Nunavut and the ISR as well as from Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) and The IRIS 1 team thanks Andrew Dunford (NTI), Jennifer Johnston (IRC), Norm Snow (ISR Joint Secretariat), Pitsey Moss- Davies (ICC) and Meghan McKenna and Eric Loring (ITK) for serving on the IRIS 1 steering committee. the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC), ensuring that the content presented in the impact assessment is pertinent towards issues faced in the western and central Arctic. Partnerships & Collaboration In addition to the organizations represented on the IRIS 1 steering committee, the IRIS 1 team welcomes the participation and partnership of additional regional and national organizations with interests into the IRIS 1 process. Collaborative efforts will not only enhance the regional impact assessment by making it more relevant and useful to decision makers in the western and central Canadian Arctic, but also they will help to prevent duplication in climate change efforts among various organizations. Currently the steering committee holds discussions with members of the Joint Secretariat of the ISR (including the Inuvialuit Game Council and the Fisheries Joint Management Committee) and the Social, Cultural & Economic Working Group of the Beaufort Sea Integrated Management Plan. The IRIS 1 team seeks to partner with additional representatives from Nunavut, including Kitikmeot, and the North Slope, Yukon. Interested parties should contact Gary Stern or Ashley Gaden for more information (see last page of this bulletin). Eastern Subarctic Regional Impact Assessment The first regional impact assessment was conducted in IRIS 4, the eastern subarctic. Since 2009, IRIS 4 s collaborative partnerships have achieved an unprecedented product. Scientists, governments, private organizations and other regional representatives from Nunatisavut and Nunavik have worked together in developing and writing the assessment. Its scheduled completion is for Page 5 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011

6 To learn more about ArcticNet and the Western & Central Arctic IRIS process please contact Gary Stern or Ashley Gaden in Winnipeg, MB. Gary Stern Ashley Gaden IRIS 1 Leader IRIS 1 Coordinator (204) (204) Gary.Stern@dfo-mpo.gc.ca Ashley_Gaden@umanitoba.ca References Ford JD, Pearce T, Duerden F, Furgal C, Smit B Climate change policy responses for Canada s Inuit populations: the importance and opportunities for adaptation, Global Environmental Change 20, Nickels S, Furgal C, Buell M, Moquin H Unikkaaqatigiit Putting the Human Face on Climate Change: Perspectives from Inuit in Canada; Joint publication of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Nasivvik Centre for Inuit Health and Changing Environments at Université Laval and the Ajunnginiq Centre at the National Aboriginal Health Organization, Ottawa Social, Cultural and Economic Working Group Social, Cultural and Economic Overview and Assessment Report for the Beaufort Sea Large Ocean Management Area; Inuvik: Beaufort Sea Partnership Yarnal B Integrated regional assessment and climate change impacts in river basins, Climate Research 11, Page 6 Western & Central Arctic Bulletin ArcticNet April 2011