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Arctic Yearbook 2013
Communicating Climate Change
survive the land and be a good person.‖ Elijah Nowdlak adds: ―we were taught to care for wildlife
and harvest only what we required. We only hunted animals when we needed food.‖
Life was not dependent on money but knowledge of the environment was invaluable. ―In 1940 it
was extremely cold,‖ notes Jamesie Mike from Pangnirtung. ―The temperature went down to -60
Celsius. Even stove fuel turned to slush when it was this cold. I‘ve seen this happen twice, once in
1953.‖ Simon Idlout from Resolute Bay noted that, ―Ten years ago, it was very hot, everything
melted. For two straight weeks it was +35 Celsius. For the first time we were in shorts with no tops,
working outside. During that period, and now they keep melting since that time it was +35 outside.
There are only a few glaciers left. ‖
Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Nobel Prize nominee, explains: ―the warming of our climate is connected to
the sun. According to my knowledge and research, pollution is like a blanket over our earth. Our
earth is having a hard time breathing and then overheats. The blanket is the pollution in our
atmosphere.‖
Mary Simon, national Inuit leader states, ―[climate change] is dangerous to people worldwide. Not
only in the Arctic but everywhere. However, it‘s most noticeable in our homeland. We‘re a hunting
culture and animals are our livelihood. It affects both Inuit and Southerners. Scientists talk about
climate change with studies on pollution and toxins. Whereas Inuit discuss the effects as they occur
within our lives. The whole world is changing. What alarms me is the potential and global damages.
On the topic of environment, Southerners focus on borders, which prevents them from getting
connected. When Inuit talk environment we are one.‖ As the IKCC comes to a close Elisapee
Ishulutaq states: ―Our environment is changing. And so are Inuit. All of us are changing.‖
Kunuk and Mauro‘s film IKCC depicts a view of Arctic warming that draws on local knowledge of
environmental change to both examine local perspectives and to link that knowledge to the larger
debate on climate change. By juxtaposing Mike‘s comment on extreme cold with that of Idlout‘s
observation of extreme heat and melting glaciers, the viewer is made to understand that warming has
occurred rapidly over the short span of a lifetime. While Watt-Cloutier‘s metaphorical explanation of
warming elicits a visual description of pollution as a factor of warming, Simon draws on the
differences between Inuit and ‗Southerners‘ to make the point that Westerners are disconnected
from the global implications of pollution and climate change. However, in stating, ―when Inuit talk
environment we are one,‖ Simon gives the impression that all Inuit think alike on issues resulting
from climate change.
To the contrary, although Inuit leaders have successfully achieved unity on issues such as self-
determination, the intersection of climate change and resource development gives rise to
contentious debate (Wilson & Smith, 2011). For instance, in an assessment of competing Inuit
perspectives on resource development, Wilson & Smith (2011) delineate three different perspectives.
Broadly, the first perspective equates climate change with economic opportunity to secure further
autonomy. In particular, this perspective reflects the view of Greenland‘s former premier Kuupik
Kleist who defended the right of Greenland to develop resources ―at a scale that will secure
Greenland‘s economic base and our future livelihoods (Kuupik as cited in ibid: 916). The second