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The Sea Ice is Our Highway: The Human Dimension of Arctic Change

The Sea Ice is Our Highway: The Human Dimension of Arctic Change
Type: 
Plenary
Time: 
17 March 2010 - 9:05am - 9:35am

Chester Reimer, Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada

I will be speaking on the human dimension of changes in the Arctic. The Arctic is not an uninhabited tundra. It is home to Inuit who continue to travel great distances in search of our subsistence. Today's Inuit increasingly use modern means of transportation, but a recent ICC Canada study indicates that Inuit are still out on the ice hunting and fishing, using the sea ice as our highway as we have since time immemorial.

Because the Inuit homeland covers much of the circumpolar Arctic, Inuit are affected by virtually all that goes on in the Arctic, whether it relates to conservation of Arctic wildlife, changes in the climate and environment, shipping, oil and mineral extraction, or political wrangling over which country owns what portion of the territory. All of these things impact upon Inuit and, as the 2009 Circumpolar Inuit Declaration on Sovereignty in the Arctic asserts, Inuit therefore have a responsibility and a right to be meaningfully involved in the decisions that are being made.

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National Science Foundation | Division of Arctic Sciences
National Science Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Arctic System Science Program
Arctic System Science Program
US Arctic Research Commission
US Arctic Research Commission
North Slope Science Initiative
North Slope Science Initiative
International Arctic Science Committee
International Arctic Science Committee
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Department of Energy
Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
World Wildlife Fund
WWF
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
International Study of Arctic Change
International Study of Arctic Change
ArcticNet
ArcticNet
DAMOCLES
Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the ARCUS Cooperative Agreement ARC-0618885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.