The Arctic is warming faster than any other region on Earth, with some estimates that it is warming over three times the average global rate (Comiso, 2016). While exact numbers may not be common knowledge, the fact of the warming Arctic is not new news; we know that sea ice is melting and that polar bears are dying, but what is often left out of the picture is how this is affecting the people who live in these regions.
Many of the people who live in Northern Canada are the Inuit; a people whose culture is deeply intertwined with the land. The land is not a separate entity from the individual, but instead part of them (Figure 1) (Baikie, 2012; Mercer, 2018). The suicide rate in Inuit communities can be up to eleven times greater than the national average (Kielland and Simeone, 2014), and while the changing climate is by no means the only cause of this, it is thought to be a contributing factor (Mercer, 2018). Current Inuit generations are among the first who cannot fully make use of the life skills and teachings that have been taught to them by their elders, taking away a key piece of their identity (Reygorodetsky, 2011; Mercer, 2018). This is compounded by the fact that Inuit elders have a vast collective knowledge of the land and weather patterns and are keen observers of it (Figure 2). This observational quality makes them only more aware of the changes that are happening to the land around them (Baikie, 2012; Reygorodetsky, 2011).
Climate change has had a day-to-day effect on the lives of Inuit as well, through the accessibility of travel and hunting routes (Derry and Stallones, 2015; Mercer, 2018). Historically, Inuit have understood weather patterns and were able to predict when and where it was safe for hunting. Due to the change in these patterns, this is no longer the case. Additionally, the melting of sea ice has led to the inaccessibility of previous travel and hunting paths (Figure 2) (Derry and Stallones, 2015; Baikie, 2012). This has caused a large increase in reliance on extremely expensive and processed store-bought foods, as opposed to traditional diets (Mercer, 2018). It is currently estimated that around one-half of Inuit have experienced food insecurity within the last month (Arriagada, 2017).
When talking about climate change, it is important to remember that it is not an abstract concept; it has real effects on real people. While it may be possible to ignore the extinction of animals you have never seen before, it becomes much harder to ignore the suffering of your own species. Soon enough, it won’t just be other people who are suffering from the effects of climate change, but it will be you as well.
Works Cited:
Arriagada, P., 2017. Insights on Canadian Society: Food insecurity among Inuit living in Inuit Nunangat. [online] Statistics Canada. Available at: <https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2017001/article/14774-eng.htm>.
Baikie, C., 2012. Inuit Perspectives on Recent Climate Change. Skeptical Science. Available at: <https://skepticalscience.com/Inuit-Climate-Change.html> [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
Comiso, J.C., 2016. Global Surface Temperature Trends and Arctic Amplification. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, 2016, pp.GC53H-06.
Derry, K.R. and Stallones, L., 2015. New risks, New Strategies: Greenlandic Inuit Responses to Climate Change. International Journal of Epidemiology, 44(suppl_1), pp.i147–i147.
Kielland, N. and Simeone, T., 2014. Current Issues in Mental Health in Canada: The Mental Health of First Nations and Inuit Communities. (2014), p.12.
Mercer, G., 2018. ‘Sea, ice, snow … it’s all changing’: Inuit struggle with warming world. The Guardian. [online] 30 May. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/30/canada-inuits-climate-change-impact-global-warming-melting-ice> [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
Nasogaluak, B., 2006. Bear Falling thourhg Rotting Ice. [Stone Carving].
Pitsiulak, T., 2011. [Pencil crayon on paper].
Reygorodetsky, G., 2011. Why Traditional Knowledge Holds the Key to Climate Change – United Nations University. [online] United Nations University. Available at: <https://unu.edu/publications/articles/why-traditional-knowledge-holds-the-key-to-climate-change.html> [Accessed 9 Nov. 2019].
Comments
5 Responses to “The Cost of Climate Change in the North”
Hi Mary Anne,
This was a very well-written (and very scary) article about an incredibly interesting and interdisciplinary topic. I thought you did a great job conveying the importance of this topic while remaining scientific.
I have a few suggestions for small changes you may wish to make:
– Please change “eleven time” to “11 times”.
– Instead of saying “I find it interesting…” in the Figure 2 caption, perhaps you should say “It is interesting…” or “It is noteworthy…”.
– Make sure to have an in-text citation for the Figure 2 caption and include its name in the Works Cited.
– Instead of saying “your same species”, maybe say “the same species”.
I hope that my suggestions were helpful. Happy editing!
Take care,
-Spencer Arshinoff
Hi Spencer,
Thanks for your suggestions and taking the time to help me improve my post!
Mary Anne
Hello All,
Thanks for taking the time to read over my blog post! We’ve talked a lot about the increased effects of global warming in the Arctic during our climate change classes, and this encouraged me to research how this affected the people living there. I must say that it was quite disheartening, as there are already quite a few systemic barriers for people living in Northern Canada, and the rapidly changing climate is only exacerbating this. There’s a few areas of the post that I’m a bit unsure about, so any feedback on the following would be greatly appreciated:
1) Title. I was having trouble coming up with something that was interesting, yet adequately described the content of the post.
2) Figure captions. I wanted to tie the artworks to the information that I had been writing about, but let me know if you think they relate to the content and help to describe the figures
3) The writing tone. I struggled a bit writing this in a way that would match what I was writing about; it’s a more serious topic for a blog post than I generally write about, so let me know if you think I covered it in an appropriate manner.
As always, any other comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Mary Anne
Hi Mary Anne,
I really enjoyed reading your blog post! It is extremely well written and such an important topic. I know you said you struggled a bit with the tone in which you wrote this blog, but I personally think it sounded great. I think you chose the perfect level of formality and seriousness for this kind of topic, while balancing it with the slightly more relaxed blog-post tone that individuals often write in. I also think your current title is good! It intrigued me and got me reading your blog, but also adequately gives a very simple overview of what your topic is about! Here are just a few suggestions:
1. Very minor but in your second paragraph you say “up to eleven time”, when I think it should read “up to eleven times”.
2. It may be beneficial to elaborate on what you mean by not being able to live the life taught to them by their Elders in your second paragraph. Maybe giving specific examples as to what aspects of their culture, ways of knowing, and ways of being have been taken away from them before diving specifically into hunting.
3. In general, you wrote this piece from a third-person perspective, but then switched to first person in the figure caption for Figure 2. I like the way you wrote in third-person, so I would suggest changing the second figure caption to third-person, but as long as you have consistency either is okay.
4. I would suggest rewording your second-last sentence as follows: “While it may be possible to ignore the extinction of animals you have never seen before, it becomes much harder to ignore the suffering of your own species.”
Overall, I really really enjoyed your blog post and thought you did a great job!
Happy Editing!
Maggie
Thanks for the suggestions Maggie, and I appreciate the feedback to my questions. I’ve made the changes that you suggested, and I feel that they help to improve the piece!
Mary Anne