June Weather In April, Collapsing Igloos - The New World Of The Inuit

[hatrack]

IN THE remote Arctic village of Puvirnituq, in Northern Quebec, just south of Baffin Island, they know a good deal more than most about global warming. After thousands of years on the ice they are closely allied to their environment and notice even small changes.

In April they experienced temperatures normal for June, and visiting Canadian officials there to discuss climate change were forced to decamp to a tent when their igloo collapsed in the heat. Spring has been arriving in the area earlier and earlier for the past six years.

Eva Inukpuk, 41, from Inukjuak, just south of Puvirnituq, said: "My mother is 70. She grew up when they still lived in igloos. She used to be able to just look out of the window and tell me what the weather would be like the next day. Now, it could be anything." Quara Irnikayak, who works at the municipal office in Ivujivik, a village to the north, complained about the lack of snow. "I look out at the mountains and I can see the rock," she said. "And there is open water in the bay!"

Mario Aubin, of the Nunavik Arctic Survival Centre in Puvirnituq, has spent most of his life with the Inuit and knows the cost of the shorter winters. "Pack ice to the white man seems like a barrier, something to fear. But to the Inuit it is their highway. It's their communication system, their freedom, their livelihood, their independence." When the survival school started six years ago, Mr Aubin could guarantee clients five months of winter cold enough to build igloos. Now there are only six weeks - from mid January. "I had to cancel a course actually inside the Arctic Circle this March because there wasn't enough ice."

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/climate-forces-inuit-onto-thin-ice/2006/05/26/1148524886121.html

[Systematic Chaos]

1. Wow. Just... WOW

So I guess the 99 degrees they had last summer up there in Nunavut will yield to something in the triple digits sometime soon? :eyes:

[acmavm]

2. Yeah but according to the bush** admin & big business, global

warmiing is just an Al Gore scare tactic. Dishonesty and fear mongering.

How can anyone doubt global warming when all these horrible events are happening. Siberian ice is melting to nothing, Inuit eskimos near the pole who've lived in igloos forever are losing the shelters because the ice is melting, water levels are rising.

How can anyone be so stupid or corrupt to ignore this? They really must love their money more than their children or grandchildren.