Rankin Inlet (Jun 21/06) - Well, it's official. The spring of 2006 has entered the record books as the Kivalliq's warmest since meteorologists began tracking highs and lows almost six decades ago.

That only confirms what Whale Cove's Louie Loklaga had suspected.

"This is the warmest spring I can remember," said the 46-year-old who has lived in the Kivalliq his entire life.

"A lot of people have been setting out on the land on their four-wheelers to fish much sooner than normal."

The balmy temperatures also mean the ice on Hudson Bay should clear weeks ahead of usual, continuing what experts are calling an undeniable warming trend in the Arctic.

"The climate is changing in the North," said Yvonne Bilan-Wallace, an Edmonton-based meteorologist with Environment Canada. The long-time Northern forecaster stopped short of linking the heat wave to global warming, though.

"Where is it going from here? We'll have to wait and see."

Environment Canada has been keeping tabs on Arctic weather since 1948. Seven of the 10 warmest summers on record have come since 1980, said Bilan-Wallace.

Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake and Arviat basked in temperatures about 10C above seasonal norms last week. The mercury touched 21C in the southernmost Kivalliq community Tuesday. The same day, Rankin and Baker shattered record highs with 19C and 18C respectively.

The weather is a continuation of a year-long trend that made for a relatively warm fall and winter across mainland Nunavut, said Bilan-Wallace.

Normally, a vortex of cold, Arctic air forms near the northwest corner of Baffin Island and sweeps across the Kivalliq. But Bilan-Wallace said the vortex did not appear this year and instead warm air from the southwest blanketed the region.

"We didn't see much (of) the really cold stuff," she said.

The relative heat wave is expected to have a dramatic affect on the ice that covers Hudson Bay, according to scientists from the joint Canadian/U.S. North American Ice Service.

A channel running north from Churchill, Man., should open between July 15-17, about a week ahead of the average date, a study released two weeks ago revealed. The Hudson Bay ice is expected to clear Aug. 3-5, two weeks ahead of normal.

While the warmth can be enjoyable, Loklaga said it's also cause for concern.

"I'm starting to get worried for the polar bear and the other animals," he said. "I think this is a sign of global warming."