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ARCTIC SCIENCE

From trails to models

Nature Climate Change volume 9, pages 259–260 (2019)Cite this article

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The Arctic climate is changing rapidly, but quantifying outcomes for Inuit has been elusive. Now, research starts with trail-use instead of models, and finds that the effects from climate change are modest compared with the role of skill and risk-tolerance of the travellers.

Studies of Inuit and their use of sea ice, snow and the ocean have documented extensive and detailed knowledge of a wide range of conditions, features and changes7, as well as reduced hunting opportunities due to increasing wind and other factors8. While some studies have quantified the relationship between one or two variables, such as wind and ice cover, and resulting hunting outcomes, Ford et al. develop a suite of indicators of trail viability based on interviews with Inuit in nine communities in the eastern Canadian Arctic. These indicators include standard meteorological items such as temperature, wind and precipitation, and also variables of particular interest to Inuit travellers, such as visibility and ice thickness. Each is given a threshold value for three types of travel: over snow on land, over sea ice and on open water. These values are then compared with weather records for the past 30 years to determine the number of days in a given year that had conditions suitable for each type of travel.

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  1. Independent researcher, Eagle River, AK, USA

    Henry P. Huntington

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  1. Henry P. Huntington
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Correspondence to Henry P. Huntington.

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Huntington, H.P. From trails to models. Nat. Clim. Chang. 9, 259–260 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0439-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0439-3

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