CLIMATE CHANGE: Scientists Turn to Inuit People For Clues

• by Claudia Ciobanu* - IPS/TerraViva (copenhagen)
• Sunday, December 13, 2009
• Inter Press Service

'The Arctic is at the epicentre of climate change. Inuit traditions and subsistence practices have already been assaulted,' stated the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) in a call for action at the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, underway in the Danish capital.

'Government leaders at CoP15 must take the strongest possible measures to protect our Arctic homeland,' read the call for action from the ICC which represents approximately 160,000 Inuit living in Greenland, Russia, Canada and the United States..

Temperatures in the extreme North are rising faster than elsewhere around the world, causing ice to melt at an accelerated pace. In turn, this has led to a shortening of the hunting season, with negative impacts on livelihood provision. The air has become more humid in spring, making it more difficult to keep up with the traditional practice of drying up the fish.

The fauna in the Arctic and sub-arctic regions are changing too in response to global warming, with scientists warning that some of the large mammal populations might decline.

Wind patterns and the shape of ice formations that were used as landmarks for generations have altered. This means that fishermen and hunters can no longer use traditional means to orient themselves.

Kasper Brandt, an Inuit hunter from Greenland, told researchers from ICC that a barometer used for generations in his family 'does not have faith in the weather anymore.' 'The Inuit no longer have the same mobility that they used to, as a consequence of modernisation in their lifestyle, so they are not as flexible to adapt to the changes in weather patters,' explained Lene Holm, ICC Greenland’s director for environment, here on Saturday.

Changes in the Arctic region will affect not just the Inuit. Alarm bells are sounding about the melting of the Siberian permafrost, leading to the release of massive quantities of greenhouse gases (GhG) in the atmosphere, further accelerating anthropogenic global warming.

And the melting of ice sheet in Greenland could raise sea levels by seven m, explained environmental biologist Stephen Schneider from Stanford University, in Copenhagen on Saturday.

Schneider, also a leading climate change scientist, said current research is insufficient to understand clearly at what global temperature increase such sea level rise will happen, but was sceptical that these drastic changes can be prevented.

Using a metaphor, Schneider said that reaching the tipping point at which a seven m rise in sea level can occur is like going towards the top of a hill after which the bus will uncontrollably go down. 'The problem is that while we assume that the bus is driven by a professional driver, it’s actually being driven by some quarreling teenagers,' Schneider commented.

Not only are political leaders around the world not doing enough to limit global warming but also the best of mainstream science still cannot properly predict the impact of climate change in the Arctic.

This is one reason why researchers are turning to the experience of the Inuit themselves to read the signs of global warming. ICC researchers and veteran polar explorers like Will Steger among others have started interviewing Inuit hunters, fishermen and farmers in an attempt to mix mainstream science with traditional knowledge to better understand nature.

The Inuit, who know the weather and relief patterns and see the alterations brought about by global warming before their own eyes, are also being included in mapping exercises with the aim of gaining precise local effects of climate change.

The involvement of the Inuit is crucial also because alterations brought on by climate change increases the chances of intervention in their lifestyle, impossible a decade ago.

Schneider explained that ice sheet melting in Greenland is now making it possible for Alcoa, the world’s largest producer of aluminium, to conduct mineral exploitation in the region. Cruise ships can also penetrate areas where they could not go before, increasing the number of tourists in the Arctic.

'This can represent an economic opportunity for the Inuit,' said Schneider, 'but it will also bring about a tremendous impact on Inuit culture and lifestyles.' The researcher stressed the importance of the Inuit being in control of these developments.

The call for action submitted by the ICC to CoP15 is a good indication of what kind of investments are favoured by the Inuit. ICC leaders declared: 'We Inuit leaders live in so-called developed countries. Yet we are getting ready to relocate entire communities and rebuild our infrastructure as our permafrost melts and our shorelines erode.'

They added that a successful deal in Copenhagen should 'incorporate mechanisms to assist local communities with green technology.' And they specified that it is the development and transfer of 'small-scale, appropriate technologies to Inuit communities' which are needed.

(* This story appears in the IPS TerraViva online daily published for the CoP 15 at Copenhagen.)

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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