Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk

Published purpose

Across Inuit Nunangat, critical infrastructure, navigation routes, homes and food and water security in coastal communities are threatened by erosion, subsidence and related flooding. Amongst the most dramatic examples of the challenges faced by Arctic communities is Tuktoyaktuk (also known as Tuktuyaaqtuuq), Northwest Territories, where the northwest portion of the Hamlet will potentially be lost due to coastal erosion within the next 20 years, while nearby areas will suffer increased flooding. The critical issues that are being faced are varied and complex, and the impacts of these issues will be both direct and indirect. As a result of recent research advances and continued community discussions it has become evident that many of the core problems that the region faces are based on changing ground conditions. For example, the loss of land through coastal erosion damages infrastructure, forces relocation, and releases hazardous material in the form of floating obstructions and pollutants or chemicals that are harmful to marine life. A warming climate has also resulted in accelerated degradation of permafrost, and the resulting subsidence damages infrastructure and access routes, increases the likelihood of flooding, and turns a vegetated landscape into sprawling mud slump complexes that remove habitats and produce very dusty environments. The potential physical impacts of these changes on people are clear, but the extent and timing of future trends remains uncertain due to the limited availability of targeted and appropriate data. Additionally, the wider effects on mental health and on social, economic, and cultural wellbeing within the community remains poorly understood. Therefore, strategic decision-making and effective mitigation and adaptation urgently require new sustainable (community-driven) solutions to changing ground conditions. The Nuna (Inuvialuktun for ‘land’, ‘country’ and ‘soil’) Project draws together a diverse and interdisciplinary team that will provide regionally-appropriate new tools and solutions to mitigate and adapt to ground instability impacts. Specifically, Nuna will equip and train community climate monitors to develop new and significantly more accurate predictions of future erosion rates using 3D processing techniques, which the team has already successfully piloted. Advanced ground survey approaches will produce the first subsidence vulnerability maps for current and planned settlement sites. New low-cost monitoring technologies will provide an early warning system for preventative action before damaging levels of change occur, and will assess the success of nature-based solutions to ground instability. Nuna will also provide new information on the real-time health threats from air quality changes from new dust sources in the changing landscape and from water-based threats such as driftwood or contaminants released during storm events. Nuna will also help to determine which of the many potential cultural social, economic and health impacts need to be prioritized and will enable working with residents to produce effective and culturally appropriate mitigation strategies that will extend well beyond the communities directly involved.