Inuit Research Advisors

Phase 3 (2011-2014)

IRIS 4 Research (Eastern sub-Arctic)

The Eastern Subarctic IRIS encompasses the Inuit territories of Nunavik (northern Quebec) and Nunatsiavut (northern Labrador). Both territories have a form of self-government that is evolving towards greater autonomy. Population size is about 10800 residents in Nunavik and 10550 in Nunatsiavut. Demographic growth from 2001 to 2006 was very high in Nunavik at 10.4 % while the population of Nunatsiavut was decreasing at a rate of -6.0 %.

The region is bounded by seas on three sides (Hudson Bay to the west, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay to the north, and the Labrador Sea to the east). This geography results in a continental-type climate with higher precipitation, particularly snow, than at similar latitudes west of Hudson Bay. The region lies totally within the Canadian Shield. Highest elevations are in the Torngat mountains along the boundary between Nunavik and Nunatsiavut, where the only glaciers east of the Rockies are found in continental Canada. Both transitions from forest to tundra and from discontinuous to continuous permafrost occur across the region.

The climate of the region has been warming rapidly since the early 1990s and models project an increase of temperatures by 3-4°C and precipitations by 10 to 25% for the middle of the century relative to the 1960-1990 period. Current climate change already impacts the thermal regime of permafrost and the dynamics of the active layer. A 2°C temperature increase 4 m deep over the whole territory, affects transportation infrastructures and communities. Stakeholders support ongoing research targeted at improved land planning and technical solutions for adaptation. Thaw lakes are forming in great numbers in areas of ice-rich, fine-grained soils and wetlands, with a feedback on the generation of greenhouses gases. Changes in vegetation cover are reported both by Inuit and researchers. Shrubs, particularly, are expanding in the forest-tundra. Trees, mostly larch in the eastern Ungava bay region, are extending the tree-line upwards on hillsides. Expected impacts on key animal resources such as the large caribou herds and the Arctic charr populations will likely be through a series of complex interactions between climate factors, food availability, vegetation dynamics, water temperature, ice cover duration and thickness on lakes, population dynamics, herbivory and predator-prey relationships. Therefore, adaptation processes for humans living on these resources will require multiple approaches over the geographical domain.

Leader: Michel Allard
Coordinator: Mickaël Lemay

Projects and Project Leader(s):

Chan, Laurie (University of Northern British Columbia); Furgal, Chris (Trent University)
Project 4.1 Food Security, Ice, Climate and Community Health: Climate Change Impacts on Traditional Food Security in Canadian Inuit Communities (Community Health). Contributes to IRISes 1 & 2.

Power, Michael (University of Waterloo); Furgal, Chris (Trent University)
Project 4.2 Growth Variability and Mercury Tissue Concentration in Anadromous Arctic Charr (Arctic Charr). Contributes to IRISes 1 & 2.

Dewailly, Éric (Université Laval)
Project 4.3 Marine Fatty Acids in a Changing Canadian Arctic (Marine Fatty Acids). Contributes to all 4 IRISes.

Allard, Michel (Université Laval); Pollard, Wayne (McGill University)
Project 4.4 Permafrost and Climate Change in Northern Coastal Canada (Permafrost). Contributes to all 4 IRISes.

Côté, Steeve (Université Laval)
Project 4.5 Population Dynamics of Migratory Caribou in Nunavik/Nunatsiavut (Caribou).

Bell, Trevor (Memorial University of Newfoundland); Sheldon, Tom (Nunatsiavut Department of Lands and Natural Resources)
Project 4.6 Understanding and Responding to the Effects of Climate Change and Modernization in Nunatsiavut (Nunatsiavut Nuluak).

Dewailly, Éric (Université Laval)
Project 4.7 International Inuit Cohort Study: Developing the Next Phase (Inuit Health Cohort). Contributes to all 4 IRISes.

Duhaime, Gérard (Université Laval)
Project 4.8 Integrated Analysis of Human Development in the Canadian Arctic (Human Development). Contributes to all 4 IRISes.

Furgal, Chris (Trent University); Sheldon, Tom (Nunatsiavut Government)
Project 4.9 Inuit Knowledge and Geospatial Ontologies in Nunatsiavut (Inuit Knowledge).