Program Co-ordinator: Michel Allard

Context

• The Arctic region of Quebec, north of the 55th parallel, covers 20% of the province and is home to over 10,000 people, mainly Natives, in 14 villages along the shoreline.
• This population is experiencing rapid demographic growth and is currently undergoing major economic and cultural changes. While wildlife and plant resources are still heavily used and traditional hunting, fishing and gathering activities still play an important economic role, the villages are becoming increasingly urbanized and the local economy is diversifying.
• Infrastructures are built directly on the permafrost, since the mixture of soil and ice can support heavy loads.
• The region saw no change or even slight cooling between 1950 and the early 1990s, followed by unprecedented warming, on the order of 0.2°C per year, or about ten times the observed global mean.
• Already, studies are showing that the permafrost is deteriorating, with an impact on the natural environment because of the thermokarst, while many buildings, villages and transportation infrastructures are suffering damage.

Objectives

• Determine the impacts of climate change and collaborate on developing adaptation measures for:
  • the built environment,
  • local populations (safety, local transportation, access to resources, health),
  • the natural northern environment,
  • the northern region (economic activity).

Research projects

• Access to land
• Vulnerability of communities
• Vulnerability of airports
• ArctiNet
• Vulnerability of shipping infrastructures