Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 07/99) - Warmer weather is something Northerners appreciate more than most people, but global warming could bring a host of other effects that will change the North forever.

Looking for answer One of the central debates among scientists concerning global warming is whether or not it exists. But when you turn to people who have spent their lives on the land, the debate doesn't last long. Iqaluit outfitter Meeka Mike said the season for travelling on sea ice has been growing steadily shorter. "When I started my dog team, I was going out (on the sea ice) until the first or second week of July," said Mike. "The second year went to the end of June. Last year we went until the beginning of June and this year until the end of May. "The ice is melting sooner every year. It's varying from two weeks to a month shorter each year," said Mike. Hunter Peter Amaraulik, born and raised in Resolute Bay, said that's also the consensus in his community. "Over the years, people have been thinking it's getting warmer," said Amaraulik. "Last year, the ice in the bay melted away and it had never done that before. Usually the ice would only break when the (sea lift) comes in." Though science is still decades away from determining if the burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming or if the warming is part of a natural weather cycle, scientist Henry Hengeveld is still waiting for absolute proof. "If you're looking for hard proof, like in a criminal case where there's no doubt, it will be a few decades yet," said Hengeveld. "That's not to say there's no hard evidence. There's plenty of hard evidence."

"(Global warming) is going to change the whole character of the tundra," said Environment Canada science advisor Henry Hengeveld.

"Our ecosystems are adapted to today's climate. They are not suitable to a different climate, whether it's colder or warmer. If you get rapid change, you get problems."

Hengeveld was referring to the rapid changes of global warming. One of the problems surfaced last year. The decline of the Peary caribou herd was attributed to the increased snowfall warmer winters bring.

In winter, caribou must dig through the snow to get to the sparse vegetation they rely on to survive. When the snow is too deep they spend more energy getting to the food than it provides and slowly starve to death.

A population survey indicated the herd's numbers dwindled to 1,100 in 1998, from 24,320 in 1961.

On Bathurst Island, where GNWT researchers were based, the population dropped to 75 in 1998 from 3,000 animals in 1990.

Recent research indicates that increased precipitation in the North will accelerate the warming.

Ohio State University researchers last year artificially increased the snowfall on plots of Alaskan tundra. They found carbon dioxide emitted by the plants increased 112 to 326 per cent. Carbon dioxide emissions are one of the causes of global warming.

More snowfall also means a shorter growing season, more runoff erosion and more insects: all of which alter the balance of nature in the North.

The melting of permafrost will also cause a number of changes, said Hengeveld, including an increase in the emission of methane, another greenhouse gas, contained in the frozen ground.

"It may also dry out some of the wetland regions, because the wetlands are there because of the permafrost beneath it," said Hengeveld.

That's something Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development field biologists have been noticing in recent years said RWED manager Ray Case.

Case said NWT biologists are anticipating a number of changes because of warming, including increased incidence of forest fires, encroachment of trees on the tundra, shifting of animal populations with changes in their ecosystems, a proliferation of insects and other pests that are now limited by the cold.