In Sachs Harbor, an Inuit community in the Candian Arctic, there’s nothing theoritical about global warming. Locals hunt and fish following traditional techniques, but as the climate changes, tradition isn’t working so well anymore. Some species that have been hunted for generations, like polar bears and seals, are becoming hard to find as they move farther north. Caribou aren’t so common anymore as they now tend to fall through the sea ice, which isn’t as solid as it used to be.
National Geographic’s online NGNEWS reports that since 1998, Sachs Harbor Inuit have been participating in a video project to record the changes taking place in their formerly frozen homeland. The symptoms reach far beyond the disturbing changes in native animal migrations. Rising sea level and thawing permafrost are reshaping the landscape, cutting off road access, and causing buildings to lean. A project officer involved with the effort describes the far northern community as “the canary in the coal mine” of climate change.