As the impacts of climate change threaten vital historical sites across the Northwest Territories, the territory's climate change archaeologist is working with communities to mitigate the damage.
The slump is so close to the Alaska Highway, the Yukon government is moving the road, creating a new section that will help protect the only year-round road linking parts of the Yukon, and the U.S. state of Alaska, to the rest of the continent.
The community of Aklavik, N.W.T., persevered when devastating floods led the government to attempt to relocate it. Now it faces another existential crisis as climate change thaws the permafrost, forever changing the community’s landscape and wildlife.
The heat wave sweeping through the N.W.T. and Yukon will have a major impact on permafrost thaw in both territories, experts warn.
Northern freshwater lakes are turning brown as permafrost thaws and introduces more organic carbon into the water, according to a new study published in the journal Limnology and Oceanography Letters.
"If we can protect the shoreline for another 30 years, it will give us time to move inland because we all can't up and leave tomorrow," Mayor Elias said.
For years now, buildings in Inuvik have been sinking due to thawing permafrost. It's part of a worrying trend across the Arctic, writes David Michael Lamb.
An advocacy group has put a price tag on the heaving roads and leaning buildings ubiquitous to the Northwest Territories.
Climate change could be altering northern ecosystems more quickly and profoundly than anyone surmised, suggests a study that focused on a large Arctic lake.
Permafrost underneath the structure is believed to have melted since last fall and key parts of the building might not be able to withstand strong winds or an earthquake, according to a professional engineer hired by Dawson City.
While it researches long-term solutions, Iqaluit is looking at small fixes, like flexible pipe connectors, to stop pipes from breaking and leaking.
Government scientists have found an island in the Beaufort Sea that is shedding as much as 40 metres of ground each summer.
A Yukon school could soon require constant electricity during the summer merely to avoid sinking. The 'active refrigeration system' would freeze ground under the Ross River school. The device would be the first of its kind in Yukon.
A historic site in Yoho National Park will be dismantled and removed this spring because of effects caused by climate change, Parks Canada announced Thursday.
A permafrost scientist in the N.W.T. is leading an experiment that compacts snow near the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway to see if that will slow down permafrost thaw and protect buildings and roads built atop it.
"Roads are actually getting worse in the springtime than they were even [a few] years ago. In a perfect world, we'd be able to re-engineer all of our roads and get them paved. It's going to be a long-term process to get there." say Deputy Mayor Kyle Sheppard.
All Topics
All Countries
Any Date
Apply