In recent years, Arctic sea ice has been thinning, retreating, and changing its patterns of freeze up and break up. For many indigenous communities in the Arctic, sea-ice use and human-sea ice relationships that are deeply rooted in time, as well as identity, are being challenged. There is an urgent need for scientists, decision makers, and others to better understand the human and social dynamics surrounding Arctic sea-ice change, what is at stake for coastal communities, and what the responses might be. Using the unique approach of an international, multidisciplinary, and multicultural "sea-ice knowledge exchange," the investigators, in partnership with indigenous sea ice experts (hunters and Elders) from three regions of the Arctic (Barrow, Alaska; Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada; and Qaanaaq, Greenland), will conduct a comparative study across these three communities. Bringing together traditional knowledge, science, and methods from social sciences (e.g. interviews; participatory observation) and physical science (e.g. analysis of remote sensing imagery and meteorological data), the research team will examine: (1) characteristics of sea ice and its use by humans, including the role of the human-sea ice relationship in social organization of the three communities; (2) changes in human use patterns over time; (3) changes to sea ice, with particular attention to the features most crucial for human uses; (4) recent human responses to changes in sea ice; (5) societal impacts from sea ice changes and human responses; and (6) implications for future changes, impacts, and adaptation.
The results of the research will (a) provide important insights into present and anticipated changes to Arctic ecosystems at scales most significant to coastal inhabitants and ecosystems; (b) insights into present and potential adaptations by local residents; (c) involve local residents in the study, thereby increasing their capacity for collaborative participation in scientific research while improving capabilities to communicate results effectively to the local communities; (d) involve young investigators (graduate student, junior scientists, and local high school students); (e) increase the capacity of groups such as the Inuit Circumpolar Council and local Hunters and Trappers Associations to take a substantial role in Arctic research; (f) provide training and infrastructure for sea ice research in communities (e.g. ice monitoring equipment and oral history training) and build a network of researchers and Arctic residents across three countries; (g) create models and tools for studying human-environment relationships in the Arctic, as well as linking indigenous knowledge and science; and (h) contribute data sets and analysis to ongoing research efforts by organizations such as the Canadian Ice Service and the Inuit Circumpolar Council. The study expands on issues identified by the international Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA 2005) and will contribute to the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008.
An award resulting from the FY 2006 NSF-wide competition on Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) supports this project. All NSF directorates and offices are involved in the coordinated management of the HSD competition and the portfolio of HSD awards.
Our team of Inuit and scientists have shown that bridging science and indigenous knowledge can reveal new understandings about changing Arctic sea ice. Using an innovative approach to exchanging knowledge (on-ice, in-person team exchanges), the Siku-Inuit-Hila (sea ice-people-weather) Project (NSF title ‘HSD: The Dynamics of Human-Sea Ice Relationships: Comparing Changing Environments in Alaska, Nunavut, and Greenland’) has documented changes in the ice, including new comparisons between sea ice break up processes in Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Residents of northern coastal communities are on the front lines of ongoing changes in the Arctic. Through resident-scientist collaboration we are improving our ability to observe and understand these changes and their impact on Arctic societies and ecosystems. The end-of-summer minimum extent of Arctic sea ice has made headline news for the last several years in light of ongoing and possibly accelerating retreat that some believe will lead to a summertime ice-free Arctic in the next few decades. However, our ability to set current changes in a longer historical context or predict local impacts of these changes is hampered by a lack of observations from what is a data-sparse part of the globe. By working closely with local hunters and Elders, we have documented local sea ice conditions in three Arctic communities and how these have changed over multiple generations. We also enlisted the help of local partners in maintaining sea ice observing stations where we continue to monitor the annual growth and melt of sea ice.
